Inference to the best action and its basis in clinical expertise

Mark Fedyk; Mark Fedyk; Jessica Draughon Moret; Nicolas T. Sawyer

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1032453

Frontiers in Psychology (Nov 2023)

Inference to the best action and its basis in clinical expertise

Mark Fedyk,
Mark Fedyk,
Jessica Draughon Moret,
Nicolas T. Sawyer

Affiliations

Mark Fedyk: Division of General Internal Medicine and Bioethics, Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
Mark Fedyk: Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
Jessica Draughon Moret: Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States
Nicolas T. Sawyer: Department of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis, Sacramento, CA, United States

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1032453
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 14

Abstract

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Can contemporary cognitive science explain clinical expertise? We argue that the answer could be “no.” In support of this, we provide an analysis of two of the most essential expressions of clinical expertise in nursing and medicine, the ability to run a code blue and the ability to diagnose congestive heart failure. We show how it makes sense to treat both as examples of what we call inference to the best action, and we then argue that two of the standard explanatory paradigms of cognitive science — the Humean and Bayesian paradigms — are unable to provide a plausible analysis of inference to the best action.

Published in Frontiers in Psychology

ISSN: 1664-1078 (Online)
Publisher: Frontiers Media S.A.
Country of publisher: Switzerland
LCC subjects: Philosophy. Psychology. Religion: Psychology
Website: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology

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Abstract

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