Moderated by Uzoma Ikone

Multiple theories of cognition inform our understanding of clinical reasoning and diagnostic error. These theories range from “micro” theories, that focus on what goes on “in the head” to “macro” theories that extend the boundaries of clinical reasoning to what goes on “out in the world.” The most well-known “micro” theory is Dual Processing Theory. Embodied cognition, ecological psychology, situated cognition and distributed cognition are a family of social cognitive theories that offer progressively more “macro” accounts of reasoning and error. Collectively, they help us understand the mind as embodied (i.e., interacting with the body), embedded (i.e. interacting with the environment) and extended (i.e., interacting with other people and artifacts in larger systems) which can have profound impacts on how we think about teaching and assessment.