[Medical diagnosis]

The diagnostic process holds a firm position in medical practice, but is often claimed to be part of the "art of medicine", partially beyond reach of rational and logical analysis. Research in clinical cognition, decision analysis and artificial intelligence have, however, elucidated essential parts of medical diagnosis. A characteristic feature of diagnosis is the manner in which uncertainties are handled. Early generation of hypotheses about the nature of the condition present seems to be useful method. Similarly, probabilistic, causal and deterministic reasoning can be illustrated by diagnostic models which have found favor during recent years. A certain type of cognitive process (heuristic) is employed when assessing information of probabilistic nature. The diagnostic models are partial and concern the parts of the process, which may be represented verbally and consciously. This raises the question of how the clinician actually draws upon experience (background knowledge), which preconditions shape the generation of applicable diagnostic hypotheses and how the diagnostic capability of the individual physician can be facilitated.