VELOSO, Ella Beatrice House MD Paper

PSY 107 B November 21, 2017

Maternity (S01E04)

In the fourth episode of the 1st season of House MD,

1. What problem was he trying to solve?

2. WHATS THE EPIDEMIC?? WHERE IS IT COMING FROM?? HOW DO WE CURE IT ??

2. Discuss his problem solving process using the frameworks of problem-solving.

Or

Initial State
Operators/actions
Path constraints (obstacles)
Goal state

Problem Identification Identified that it is an epidemic, 2 pa There is a

Definition of the problem
What exactly is our problem?
lang. there is a problem, and its not problem, it not a
like what other doctors think (theyre bacteria
unrelated, and of differing illnesses)
Finding what the cause of the illness What the cause is
is

Constructing a strategy for problem Divergent: listed down common Divergent

solving bacterial infections Its a virus
Convergent Narrow down
assigned treatments/certain drugs thousand viruses
for specific bacteria to six, then
To find out which one it is

Organizing information about a Divergent: listed down common Get 8 vials of

problem bacterial infections blood
- we gather information about Convergent Lymphocyte test
the problem and solution, assigned treatments/certain drugs Autopsy
determining which elements of for specific bacteria Mothers
the situation are germane to To find out which one it is antibodies
the problem and which are MRI
incidental, as well as any o X FIND ANYTHING
elements we may wish to add DO ALL STRONGEST
to it. ANTIBIOTICS
- How do the various pieces of URINE TESTS
information in the problem fit AZTREONAM AND
 together? VANCOMYCIN DONT WORK
ITS NOT A BACTERIA, BUT A
VIRUS
o NARROW DOWN
THOUSAND OF VIRUS
TO SIX
o CHECK EVERYONE,
EVEN HEALTHY KID
WE NEED ALL INFO WE CAN
GET
TEST MOMS = CHECK WHAT
THEY DONT HAVE ANTI-
VIRUS FOR
ECHOVIRUS 11

Allocation of resources o ONE KID OFF Trial again

o Time? Effort? Money? VANCOMYCIN And test the
Delegation of tasks? o ONE KID OFF mothers
o Therapeutic trial; find AZTREONAM Give the correct
cause of infection treatment

Monitoring problem solving Monitor and

o Am I on track? WHICH DRUG IS CAUSING asked. No news.
THE KIDNEY FAILURE Talked to
EITHER AZTREONAM OR foreman.
VANCOMYECIN
Both are not working

Evaluating problem solving - Evaluate: what did I do Was not shown.

o Did I solve the problem wrong
correctly? - Its not a bacteria

3. Was the problem well-structured or ill-structured? Why so?

Well-structured
o Path = clear
o Goal = clear
o Operations = clear
o Know were getting closer to goal
Ill-structured
o Solution path not clear
o X sure if were reaching the goal
o What operatots to apply?
o How do we represent the problem?
4. What we some PS and DM heuristics and obstacles he had that were keeping him from solving his
problem?

Group decision makin at first

Representativeness Heuristic
o Judge the probability of an uncertain event according to
How obviously it is similar or representatitve of the population from which it is
derived
its always a bacterial infection in the hospitals/its always mrsa in hospitals
o Base our jusgment based n characteristics of days it rains
o Base rate
Base rate that it is a bacterial infection is higher than a virus
A major effect on probability is base-rate frequency. For example, even though
Steve has the characteristics of a librarian compared to a farmer, the fact that
there are many more farmers than librarians in his population needs to be taken
into account when assessing the likelihood of him having one occupation over
the other. If in Steves population there are a lot of farmers because of the rich
soil in his area, the base-rate frequency suggests that Steve is more likely to be a
farmer than a librarian.

5. What are some PS and DM aids and heuristics he had that helped him in problem solving?

Generate and Test

o Generate alternative courses of action
Working forward
Working backward
Means-end analysis

Or

Functional fixedness
Positive transfer
Negative transfer
Intentional transfer
incubation

6. What makes House an expert? (show evidence from the show)

Organization of knowledge
o See deeper, x superficial
Elaboration of knowledge
o Interconnected organized units of knowledge
Reflection on PS
o Long setting up of prob
 o Recognize pattern
Automatic expert processes
o Lots of working memory = analyze

Double space, 11/12