Abstract:
This paper presents an approach to conceptual representation, informed by theories
and methods from cognitive psychology. Our investigation of clinical case comprehension
and reasoning from textual information has shifted from instantiation models in which
text processing is carried out through schema fitting to more dynamic models that
account for how schemata are constructed by a process of construction and integration
of meaning, which depends on specific situations. We give an example involving doctor-patient
dialogue to illustrate this point. Nonetheless, our main approach has been propositionally-based.
As we conduct research into more specific aspects of medical understanding, such as
understanding of physiological systems, we have included alternative approaches, such
as qualitative functional graphs. We present examples of their use in our research.
These representational formalisms allow us better to capture reasoning and understanding
in dynamic systems.
Keywords:
Conceptual Representation - Cognitive Models - Clinical Reasoning
