Reply by Jerome Kagan to a recent article by Block, Gjerde, and Block (1986) which questions the validity of the construct of reflection-impulsivity. Kagan alleges flaws in the logic of the authors' (Block, Gjerde, Block) position and in the inferences drawn from their data. (Author/RWB)

Responds to the arguments and evidence adduced by Kagan (1987) in his reply to the Block, Gjerde, and Block (1986) study questioning the validity of the Matching Familiar Figures Test (MFFT) as a measure of "reflection-impulsivity." (Author)

Human infants are sensitive from birth to some intrinsic properties of objects; they are also sensitive to position. During the first weeks of life, pertinent dimensions of differentiation between objects are relative to global properties of the entire object or pattern. Position is defined by the direction of a displacement: the trajectory…

Two theories of clinical problem solving are contrasted; studies of medical problem solving are described; evidence is presented to highlight the central role of experience in development of problem-solving competence; and implications for teaching and assessment of problem solving, especially in medical education, are suggested. (MBR)

Artificial intelligence (AI) is the field of scientific inquiry concerned with designing machine systems that can simulate human mental processes. The field draws upon theoretical constructs from a wide variety of disciplines, including mathematics, psychology, linguistics, neurophysiology, computer science, and electronic engineering. Some of the…

Although medical education currently emphasizes problem solving skills, recent evidence from psychological studies of clinical reasoning suggests that medical expertise is characterized by the gradual accumulation of experience in memory. This results in an ability to perceive, organize, and recall the extensive information given by the patient.…