title: The capability of static and dynamic features to distinguish competent from genuinely expert practitioners in pediatric diagnosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The authors describe the development of a new, more objective method of distinguishing experienced competent nonexpert from expert practitioners within pediatric intensive care.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Expert performance involves the acquisition and use of refined feature-event associations (cues) in the operational environment. Competent non-experts, although experienced, possess rudimentary cue associations in memory. Thus, they cannot respond as efficiently or as reliably as their expert counterparts, particularly when key diagnostic information is unavailable, such as that provided by dynamic cues.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study involved the application of four distinct tasks in which the use of relevant cues could be expected to increase both the accuracy and the efficiency of diagnostic performance. These tasks included both static and dynamic stimuli that were varied systematically. A total of 50 experienced pediatric intensive staff took part in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The sample clustered into two levels across the tasks: Participants who performed at a consistently high level throughout the four tasks were labeled experts, and participants who performed at a lower level throughout the tasks were labeled competent nonexperts. The groups differed in their responses to the diagnostic scenarios presented in two of the tasks and their ability to maintain performance in the absence of dynamic features.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Experienced pediatricians can be decomposed into two groups on the basis of their capacity to acquire and use cues; these groups differ in their diagnostic accuracy and in their ability to maintain performance in the absence of dynamic features.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The tasks may be used to identify practitioners who are failing to acquire expertise at a rate consistent with their experience, position, or training. This information may be used to guide targeted training efforts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia 2109. thomas.loveday@mq.edu.au
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Loveday
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Wiggins
authors.forename: Ben J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Searle
authors.forename: Marino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Festa
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schell
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards*; D003463:Cues; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales; D010371:Pediatric Nursing / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D010372:Pediatrics / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D000078329:Workforce