Showing papers by "Stephen G. Pauker published in 1976"
TL;DR: In this article, the use of the computer as a laboratory for the study of clinical cognition is described, and the results show that the computer can be used as a good laboratory for clinical cognition.
441 citations
TL;DR: A data base and methodology are presented that allow the physician to apply decision analysis to individual patients with coronary artery disease and find coronary by-pass surgery was found to be the preferred therapy in many patients with disabling angina.
Abstract: The choice between coronary by-pass surgery and medical therapy in patients with angiographically documented coronary artery disease was examined. This decision analysis included considera...
135 citations
TL;DR: Thumbnail dominance, reported by Pittsley and Shearn, is a finding that can be used to illustrate this principle: any clinical finding must be interpreted within the context of all other information known about an individual patient.
Abstract: To the Editor— Any clinical finding must be interpreted within the context of all other information known about an individual patient: the proper interpretation of a new fact depends both on the likelihood of that finding in patients who have each diagnosis under considerationandon the likelihood of each diagnosis before the new fact was known Thumbnail dominance, reported by Pittsley and Shearn, is a finding that can be used to illustrate this principle Two assumptions must first be made about the data that the authors provide: (1) the individual physician will make the same classifications as the two observers involved in the experiment, ie, he will correctly classify 75%, he will misclassify 8%, and he will be equivocal in 17% of cases; (2) his ability to make these classifications does not depend on whether the patient is actually right-or left-handed The physician must first estimate the likelihood of