Running Head: UNIT TWO 1

Unit Two: Dr. Mary Learns a New SystemCognitivist Perspective

Lauren Fowler-Carter

University of Houston – Clear Lake

UNIT TWO 2

Unit One: Dr. Mary Learns a New SystemCognitivist Perspective

For 23 years, Dr. Mary Thomas and her staff have been keeping their office and patient medical records in paper form. Mary has a computer of her own that her children bought her for her 60th birthday, but she rarely uses the computer.

Remember information from a conference she attended, Dr. Mary decided that it may be time for her business to transfer their paper records into electronic format in order to keep her business current the newest technologies.

After the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software is installed the training on the new system began. Dr. Mary missed of the training, but she hoped that her staff would be able to remember the information given to them. Her nurses were able to rehearse how to operate the new system with Dr. Mary. They told her to refer back to when she took the computer class at a local community center to help her navigate on the computer.

The nurses went over how to navigate the EMR system and the proper steps to take. Dr. Mary still had some difficulties, but she tried to remember how hard it was when she first got a cell phone, she knew eventually she would understand the system. Some of the nurses decided to create and place signs in all the exam rooms, which would help Dr. Mary remember the steps she needed to take when seeing patients. The signs were a vertical acronym spelling out SOAP: Subjective, Objective, Assessment and Prescription.

Though Dr. Mary initially had troubles with the new system, she is now able to accomplish her tasks using the new system.

Initial Focus Questions & Answers

1. What is Dr. Mary learning in this story?- Dr. Mary is learning how to use a new electronic medical system by the usage of the

semiotic theory and remembering past events/skills obtained.

2. Is semiosis used in this story? If so, please present details.- The nurses decided to create a signs for Dr. Mary. The use of the signs would be

semiosis.

3. What role did the nurses play in this story? Why?- The nurses essentially became the instructors in this story, because they took on the role

to help Dr. Mary in her learning of the new system. They also provided the retrieval of information for Dr. Mary.

4. What is used when Dr. Mary refers back to when she took the computer class at the local community center?

- Retrieval

5. The more information that Dr. Mary learns in reference to the EMR system, what happens?

- The more Dr. Mary learns about the EMR system, her cognitive structure becomes more elaborate.

UNIT TWO 3

6. Did the sign the nurses created represent 1) an index, 2) an icon, or 3) a symbol? Explain- The sign represented a symbol, because it was an acronym that represented the steps Dr.

Mary should take.

7. Did Dr. Mary have to chunk any information in order to process it?- With the information given it is not conclusive of if Dr. Mary needed to chunk any large

sequences in order to process the information. The answer based off the story would be no.