The purpose of this study was to analyze the properties of the Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI) in relation to learners' perceptions and performance in the beginning of professional training. The inventory was applied by consecutive sampling to 423 medical students of both sexes. Different measures of learning perceptions and cognitive achievement were also obtained. Several analyses were undertaken to establish the internal and external validity of the instrument, including reliability and correlation studies. The results confirmed the internal consistency and temporal stability of the DTI. Positive and significant correlations of the DTI scores with objective knowledge indicators and mostly with subjective learning perceptions were also revealed. Overall, the findings suggest that DTI responses reflect, in addition to specific knowledge and skills, the perceptions of personal efficacy in the diagnostic process. Such perceptions can be influenced by many factors of the training context, as well as the learner attitudes to learning.
diagnostic thinking; Diagnostic Thinking Inventory; medical students; learning and performance
