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Título: Lay reasoning and decision making related to health and illness
Autores: Cytryn, Kayla N.
Fecha: 2001
Publicador: McGill University - MCGILL
Fuente:
Tipo: Electronic Thesis or Dissertation
Tema: Reasoning (Psychology)
Problem solving.
Expertise.
Diagnosis.
Descripción: Research in decision making has identified the importance of prior knowledge and heuristics on decision making behaviour. These develop with experience in a fashion similar to how domain experts develop specialized knowledge structures and heuristic reasoning patterns. This research is extended to the domain of health and lay decision making in a series of studies characterizing conceptualizations of health and illness, information-seeking strategies, and the impact of medical information on lay decision making. Lay subjects included those with diabetes, heart disease, and no identified ongoing medical diagnosis.
Semi-structured interviews and think aloud methodology were employed. Interviews focused on understanding of health and illness, prior knowledge and beliefs, and decision making. In Study One, subjects were presented with health-related problem scenarios and instructed to think aloud as they reasoned through them to make decisions. In Study Two, subjects (lay and medical) were presented with a telecommunications device and scenarios of data to enter into the system. All data were audiorecorded, transcribed, and analyzed for factors and strategies related to information-seeking and decision making behaviours.
Lay understanding of health and illness was characterized as feeling well and functioning in everyday life. The knowledge used in making decisions was based on experience and socio-cultural tradition. Knowledge about disease was found to be decoupled from decisions to act related to illness. Additional information was sought using four criteria grounded in common experience: accessibility, familiarity, complexity, and credibility. These characteristics influenced interactions between lay people and domain experts, such as health care providers, and with technology designed by experts for lay users.
Both technical and lay people make decisions with incomplete information and uncertain outcomes. For lay people making decisions about health-related issues, this incomplete knowledge is filled in based on everyday life rather than medical and scientific facts.
Idioma: en