Cognitive diagnosis

Ohlsson, S. Langley, P. Identifying solution paths in cognitive diagnosis. (Technical Report CMU-RI-TR-84-7). Pittsburgh, PA Robotic Institute, CMU. 1985. 

What methods of cognitive diagnosis are required to track the acquisition of abstract knowledge How do we assess whether a student knows a particular concept or principle ... 

Advocates of the global approach would argue that human activities are essentially goal-directed (the cognitive view expressed in Chapter 2), and that this cannot be captured by a simple decomposition of a task into its elements. They also state that if an intention is correct (on the basis of an appropriate diagnosis of a situation), then errors of omission in skill-based actions are imlikely, because feedback will constantly provide a comparison between the expected and actual results of the task. From this perspective, the focus would be on the reliability of the cognitive rather than the action elements of the task. 

Process transients and equipment failures may require workers to develop a new strategy to control the process. Detection, diagnosis, and fault-compensation are tasks in which workers may have little experience and the information needs may be different from those of familiar tasks. Again, methods of task and error analyses, particularly those concerned with human cognitive functions, may be useful in deciding what information should be displayed to help workers detect process transients, diagnose their causes and develop new strategies. 

Diagnostic criteria for inhalant use disorders in DSM-IV-TR are similar to those in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) (World Health Organization 1992). These criteria include biological, cognitive, and behavioral dimensions. The DSM-IV-TR diagnosis of inhalant dependence is given when three or more of the seven criteria are present (see Table 8-2). The first criteria to be considered here are tolerance and withdrawal. These phenomena are considered to be forms of adaptation to chronic administration of these compounds and were discussed extensively earlier in this chapter. 

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