ERIC Number: EJ1311893
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2021
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2365-7464
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Serial Dependence in the Perceptual Judgments of Radiologists
Manassi, Mauro; Ghirardo, Cristina; Canas-Bajo, Teresa; Ren, Zhihang; Prinzmetal, William; Whitney, David
Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications, v6 Article 65 2021
In radiological screening, clinicians scan myriads of radiographs with the intent of recognizing and differentiating lesions. Even though they are trained experts, radiologists' human search engines are not perfect: average daily error rates are estimated around 3-5%. A main underlying assumption in radiological screening is that visual search on a current radiograph occurs independently of previously seen radiographs. However, recent studies have shown that human perception is biased by previously seen stimuli; the bias in our visual system to misperceive current stimuli towards previous stimuli is called serial dependence. Here, we tested whether serial dependence impacts radiologists' recognition of simulated lesions embedded in actual radiographs. We found that serial dependence affected radiologists' recognition of simulated lesions; perception on an average trial was pulled 13% toward the 1-back stimulus. Simulated lesions were perceived as biased towards the those seen in the previous 1 or 2 radiographs. Similar results were found when testing lesion recognition in a group of untrained observers. Taken together, these results suggest that perceptual judgements of radiologists are affected by previous visual experience, and thus some of the diagnostic errors exhibited by radiologists may be caused by serial dependence from previously seen radiographs.
Descriptors: Radiology, Allied Health Personnel, Error Patterns, Screening Tests, Recognition (Psychology), Visual Perception, Visual Stimuli, Bias, Prior Learning, Clinical Diagnosis
Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link-springer-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (DHHS)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: R01CA236793
Author Affiliations: N/A