EXPERTISE AND RADIOLOGICAL-DIAGNOSIS - I - THEORETICAL ADVANCES

From the cognitive point of view, experts are characterized (1) by the ability to directly perceive large meaningful structures due to the d evelopment of numerous links within their knowledge networks, particul arly between categories that, in manuals, are described as mutually ex clusive (2) by the automation of diagnosis. Even in the best experts, some biases remain, mainly due to filters in facts and hypotheses sele ction. These filters are based upon the resemblance of the case with p rior knowledge, and upon the likelihood of previous encountering simil ar cases. Biases are partially balanced by heuristics which are reason ing processes, valid for a majority of cases, but which induce same er rors on atypical cases.