This volume is based on a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held in Italy in 1991, the purpose of which was to examine the impact of models of cognition on medical training and to outline future research programmes relating to cognition and medical education.

Cognitive science is a multidisciplinary science concernedwith understanding and utilizing models of cognition. It hasspawned a great dealof research on applications such asexpert systems and intelligent tutoring systems, and hasinteracted closely with psychological research. However, itis generally accepted that it is difficult to applycognitive-scientific models to medical training andpractice. This book is based on a NATO Advanced Research Workshop heldin Italy in 1991, the purpose of which was to examine theimpact ofmodels of cognition on medical training andpractice and to outline future research programmes relatingcognition and education, and in particular to consider thepotential impact of cognitive science on medical trainingand practice. A major discovery presented in the book is that the researchareas related to artificial intelligence, cognitivepsychology, and medical decision making are considerablycloser, both conceptually and theoretically, than many ofthe workshop participants originally thought.