The Development of Radiologic Schemata Through Training and Experience

Abstract

Research underway in our laboratory suggests that radiologists may develop a visual representation of a prototypical radiograph (a schema) in the course of clinical training. This schema appears to guide radiologists' interpretations of chest radiographs. Cognitive psychologists have demonstrated schematic processing for familiar events or scenes. In our experiments, experienced radiologists (18.5 years average experience), junior staff radiologists (3.5 years), and first-year radiology residents participated in a simple recognition/memory test of chest radiographs. The test phase followed a training phase in which each radiograph was viewed for 500 milliseconds. Both abnormal and normal chest radiographs were used. Correct responses were recorded during the test phase for measuring recognition memory. Residents showed no significant difference in memory between normal and abnormal films. Observers with greater radiologic experience exhibited poorer memory for normal films and better memory for abnormal films compared with less experienced observers. We hypothesize that the development of radiographic schemata as a result of experience accounts for these findings.