kf case study procedure

Live revision! Join us for our free exam revision livestreams Watch now →

Reference Library

Collections

  • See what's new
  • All Resources
  • Student Resources
  • Assessment Resources
  • Teaching Resources
  • CPD Courses
  • Livestreams

Study notes, videos, interactive activities and more!

Psychology news, insights and enrichment

Currated collections of free resources

Browse resources by topic

  • All Psychology Resources

Resource Selections

Currated lists of resources

Study Notes

Working Memory Model

Last updated 7 Nov 2023

  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share by Email

Baddeley and Hitch (1974) developed the Working Memory Model (WMM), which focuses specifically on the workings of short-term memory (STM).

Atkinson and Shiffrin’s Multi-Store Model of memory (MSM) was criticised for over-simplifying STM (as well as LTM) as a single storage system, so the WMM alternative proposed that STM is composed of three, limited capacity stores:

  • Central Executive – this manages attention, and controls information from the two ‘slave stores’ [below]
  • An articulatory rehearsal process (‘inner voice’) of language, including any language presented visually to convert to a phonological state, for storage in the:
  • Phonological store (‘inner ear’), which holds auditory speech information and the order in which it was heard (or any visually-presented language converted by the articulatory process)
  • Visuo-Spatial Sketchpad – this temporarily retains visual and spatial information

kf case study procedure

A later addition was the episodic buffer which facilitates communication between the central executive and long term memory.

The three-store STM stemmed from research using a ‘dual-task technique’ (or ‘interference tasks’), whereby performance is measured as participants perform two tasks simultaneously. The following observations provided evidence to suggest different, limited-capacity STM stores process different types of memory:

  • If one store is utilised for both tasks, then task performance is poorer than when they are completed separately, due to the store’s limited capacity e.g. repeating “the the the” aloud and reading some text silently would use the articulatory-phonological loop for both tasks, slowing performance.
  • If the tasks require different stores, performance would be unaffected when performing them simultaneously e.g. repeating “the the the” aloud whilst performing a reasoning task (requiring attention, i.e. the central executive), or whilst following a mobile stimulus with your eyes (using the visuo-spatial sketchpad).

Evaluation of the Working Memory Model

  • The WMM provides an explanation for parallel processing (i.e. where processes involved in a cognitive task occur at once), unlike Atkinson and Shiffrin’s MSM.
  • A Shallice and Warrington (1974) case study reported that brain-damaged patient KF could recall verbal but not visual information immediately after its presentation, which supports the WMM’s claim that separate short-term stores manage short-term phonological and visual memories.
  • The model was developed based on evidence from laboratory experiments, so confounding variables could be carefully controlled to produce reliable results (that can be replicated).
  • Despite providing more detail of STM than the multi-store model, the WMM has been criticized for being too simplistic and vague, e.g. it is unclear what the central executive is, or its exact role in attention.
  • Results from laboratory experiments researching the WMM will often have low ecological validity (i.e. may not relate to real life), as tasks such as repeating ‘the the the’ are arguably not representative of our everyday activities.
  • Working memory model
  • Baddeley and Hitch (1974)

You might also like

​duration of short-term memory, types of long term memory.

Quizzes & Activities

Multi-Store Model of Memory

Memory - key term "conundrum" activity, memory: mcq revision test 1 for aqa a level psychology.

Topic Videos

Example Answers for Memory: A Level Psychology, Paper 1, June 2018 (AQA)

Exam Support

Memory - "Connection Wall" activity

Related products.

kf case study procedure

Research Methods Exam Buster Revision Guide for AQA A-Level Psychology

03-4130-30296-03

kf case study procedure

Aggression Exam Buster Revision Guide for AQA A Level Psychology

03-4130-30566-03

kf case study procedure

Issues & Debates Exam Buster Revision Guide for AQA A-Level Psychology

03-4130-30182-03

  • View full selection ›

Our subjects

  • › Criminology
  • › Economics
  • › Geography
  • › Health & Social Care
  • › Psychology
  • › Sociology
  • › Teaching & learning resources
  • › Student revision workshops
  • › Online student courses
  • › CPD for teachers
  • › Livestreams
  • › Teaching jobs

Boston House, 214 High Street, Boston Spa, West Yorkshire, LS23 6AD Tel: 01937 848885

  • › Contact us
  • › Terms of use
  • › Privacy & cookies

© 2002-2024 Tutor2u Limited. Company Reg no: 04489574. VAT reg no 816865400.

  • Social Science
  • Cognitive Psychology

The KF Case Study supports the Working Memory

kf case study procedure

Related documents

The Importance of Languages Powerpoint

Add this document to collection(s)

You can add this document to your study collection(s)

Add this document to saved

You can add this document to your saved list

Suggest us how to improve StudyLib

(For complaints, use another form )

Input it if you want to receive answer

psychologyrocks

Msm and case studies of people with brain injuries.

In your essay, it is important that you are able to link research evidence to specific theoretical claims. Case studies of people with acquired brain injuries have been particularly useful in providing support for one of MSM’s key claims, but the same studies have also highlighted some of the weaknesses of this model.

What is a case study?

Case studies allow us to gather in-depth information on areas where it may be impossible to carry out experiments. Clearly, from an ethical standpoint we cannot deliberately injure someone purely to see what behavioural and cognitive changes may result! Instead, scientists often make use of naturally occurring cases where someone has an acquired brain injury, meaning they were functioning perfectly well beforehand, i.e. they have been involved in an accident, had an illness that has affected their brain or undergone surgery for a tumour or to treat epilepsy, for example.

Case studies focuses on an individual or small group and use information from a variety of sources including medical and educational reports and records, interviews, standardised tests and observations, and so on to gather a wide range of detailed information. The use of multiple research methods is known as method triangulation.

Case studies generally lack control as the injury was naturally occurring, this said, they can inspire more scientific studies that are able to examine cause and effect.

As you may recall from the localisation topic, case studies focusing on people who have sustained brain damage allow researchers to explore the function of various brain regions through examining the impact of the damage on their behaviour and cognitive functioning.

Can you think of any scientific weaknesses of such studies?

Often there is no valid evidence of the person’s skill level prior to the brain injury, and therefore it is not possible to conclude with certainty that the brain injury has caused any issues the person appears to have, as these problems may have pre-dated the injury. This is clearly not always the case but worth bearing in mind 😉

The table below details three case studies conducted with people with brain injuries. Case studies like these indicate that there are different memory stores but perhaps it is too simple to think that there are only three stores, memory for different types of information seems to be situated in different areas. This is shown by HM and Clive Wearing’s unaffected procedural memories.

Use the worksheet above to find out more about these three case studies and think about how they could be used to support or refute the claims made by Atkinson and Shiffrin’s multistore model, i.e. that there are three separate memory stores through which information flows in a linear fashion, that short and long term memory are single (unitary) stores.

Clive Wearing

Find out more about the case of Clive Wearing using these clips from youtube:

HM – Henry Molaison

One interesting aspects of the HM case study is that although it is claimed HM was incapable of laying down new long term memories (anterograde amnesia) over time it was shown that he was able to learn a new skill; mirror drawing.

Learn more about HM with this podcast form the BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t6zqv

Practice drawing stars like HM: Click below and scroll down to “ Milner Research Replication” .

https://opl.apa.org/src/index.html#/Demonstrations

Practice what you know about the HM case study and how it relates to MSM using this quizizz: https://quizizz.com/admin/quiz/5f74661a1bb349001ba0a3a5

The Case of KF

To learn more about the case of KF why not check out one of the original papers about this patient here :

Case study of KF Original Paper: warrington1969 

A clip of Warrington talking about KF

The following worksheet demonstrates how the case study of KF exemplifies all the key features of the case study as a research method in psychology, but is also useful for adding to your detailed knowledge of the aim, procedure, findings and conclusions of the study itself.

Share this:

' src=

  • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
  • Subscribe Subscribed
  • Copy shortlink
  • Report this content
  • View post in Reader
  • Manage subscriptions
  • Collapse this bar

Multi-Store Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin

Saul Mcleod, PhD

Editor-in-Chief for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MRes, PhD, University of Manchester

Saul Mcleod, PhD., is a qualified psychology teacher with over 18 years of experience in further and higher education. He has been published in peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Clinical Psychology.

Learn about our Editorial Process

Olivia Guy-Evans, MSc

Associate Editor for Simply Psychology

BSc (Hons) Psychology, MSc Psychology of Education

Olivia Guy-Evans is a writer and associate editor for Simply Psychology. She has previously worked in healthcare and educational sectors.

On This Page:

What is the Multi-Store Model?

  • The multi-store model is an explanation of memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin which assumes there are three unitary (separate) memory stores, and that information is transferred between these stores in a linear sequence.
  • The three main stores are the sensory memory, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).
  • Each of the memory stores differs in the way information is processed (encoding), how much information can be stored (capacity), and for how long (duration).
  • Information passes from store to store in a linear way, and has been described as an information processing model (like a computer) with an input, process and output.
  • Information is detected by the sense organs and enters the sensory memory , which stores a fleeting impression of sensory stimuli. If attended to this information enters the STM and if the information is given meaning (elaborative rehearsal) it is passed on to the LTM
The multi-store model of memory (also known as the modal model) was proposed by Richard Atkinson and Richard Shiffrin (1968) and is a structural model. They proposed that memory consisted of three stores: a sensory register, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).

The Memory Stores

Each store is a unitary structure and has its own characteristics in terms of encoding, capacity and duration.

Encoding is the way information is changed so that it can be stored in the memory. There are three main ways in which information can be encoded (changed):

1. visual (picture),

2. acoustic (sound),

3. semantic (meaning).

Capacity concerns how much information can be stored.

Duration refers to the period of time information can last in the memory stores.

Types of memory - sensory, short-term and long-term, vector outline diagram. Sensory information transferred and stored as memories. Cognitive science

Sensory Memory

• Duration: ¼ to ½ second

• Capacity: all sensory experience (v. larger capacity)

• Encoding: sense specific (e.g. different stores for each sense)

The sensory stores are constantly receiving information but most of this receives no attention and remains in the sensory register for a very brief period.

In the sensory memory store , information arrives from the 5 senses such as sight (visual information), sounds and touch. The sensory memory store has a large capacity but a very brief duration, it can encode information from any of the senses and most of the information is lost through decay.

Attention is the first step in remembering something, if a person’s attention is focused on one of the sensory stores then the data is transferred to STM.

Short Term Memory

• Duration: 0-18 seconds

• Capacity: 7 +/- 2 items

• Encoding: mainly auditory

The short-term memory store has a duration of up to 30 seconds, has a capacity of 7+/-2 chunks and mainly encodes information acoustically. Information is lost through displacement or decay.

Maintenance rehearsal is the process of verbally or mentally repeating information, which allows the duration of short-term memory to be extended beyond 30 seconds. An example of maintenance rehearsal would be remembering a phone number only long enough to make the phone call.

This type of rehearsal usually involves repeating information without thinking about its meaning or connecting it to other information.

Continual rehearsal “regenerates” or “renews” the information in the memory trace, thus making it a stronger memory when transferred to the Long Term store.

If maintenance rehearsal (repetition) does not occur, then information is forgotten, and lost from short term memory through the processes of displacement or decay.

Long Term Memory

• Duration: Unlimited

• Capacity: Unlimited

• Encoding: Mainly Semantic (but can be visual and auditory)

Long-term memory store has unlimited capacity and duration and encodes information semantically. Information can be recalled from LTM back into the STM when it is needed.

If the information is given meaning (elaborative rehearsal) it is passed on to the LTM.

Elaborative rehearsal involves the process of linking new information in a meaningful way with information already stored in long-term memory. For example,

you could learn the lines in a play by relating the dialogue and behavior of your character to similar personal experiences you remember.

Elaborative rehearsal is more effective than maintenance rehearsal for remembering new information as it helps to ensure that information is encoded well. It is a deeper level of information-processing.

Key Studies

serial position effect

Glanzer and Cunitz showed that when participants are presented with a list of words, they tend to remember the first few and last few words and are more likely to forget those in the middle of the list, i.e. the serial position effect.

This supports the existence of separate LTM and STM stores because they observed a primacy and recency effect.

Words early on in the list were put into long term memory (primacy effect) because the person has time to rehearse the word, and words from the end went into short term memory (recency effect).

Other compelling evidence to support this distinction between STM and LTM is the case of KF (Shallice & Warrington, 1977) who had been in a motorcycle crash where he had sustained brain damage.

His LTM seemed to be unaffected but he was only able to recall the last bit of information he had heard in his STM.

Critical Evaluation

One strength of the multistore model is that is gives us a good understanding of the structure and process of the STM. This is good because this allows researchers to expand on this model.

This means researchers can do experiments to improve on this model and make it more valid and they can prove what the stores actually do. Therefore, the model is influential as it has generated a lot of research into memory.

Many memory studies provide evidence to support the distinction between STM and LTM (in terms of encoding, duration and capacity). The model can account for primacy & recency effects .

The case of HM also supports the MSM as he was unable to encode new long-term memories after surgery during which his hippocampus was removed but his STM was unaffected.

He has remembered little of personal (death of mother and father) or public events (Watergate, Vietnam War) that have occurred over the last 45 years. However his short-term memory remains intact.This supports the view that the LTM and the STM are two separate stores.

The model is oversimplified, in particular when it suggests that both short-term and long-term memory each operate in a single, uniform fashion.  We now know is this not the case.

It has now become apparent that both short-term and long-term memory are more complicated that previously thought.  For example, the Working Model of Memory proposed by Baddeley and Hitch (1974) showed that short term memory is more than just one simple unitary store and comprises different components (e.g. central executive, Visuospatial etc.).

In the case of long-term memory, it is unlikely that different kinds of knowledge, such as remembering how to play a computer game, the rules of subtraction and remembering what we did yesterday are all stored within a single, long-term memory store.

Indeed different types of long-term memory have been identified, namely episodic (memories of events), procedural (knowledge of how to do things) and semantic (general knowledge).

Rehearsal is considered a too simple explanation to account for the transfer of information from STM to LTM. For instance, the model ignores factors such as motivation, effect and strategy (e.g. mnemonics) which underpin learning.

Also, rehearsal is not essential to transfer information into LTM. For example, why are we able to recall information which we did not rehearse (e.g. swimming) yet unable to recall information which we have rehearsed (e.g. reading your notes while revising).

Therefore, the role of rehearsal as a means of transferring from STM to LTM is much less important than Atkinson and Shiffrin (1968) claimed in their model.

The models main emphasis was on structure and tends to neglect the process elements of memory (e.g. it only focuses on attention and maintenance rehearsal). For example, elaboration rehearsal leads to recall of information than just maintenance rehearsal.

Elaboration rehearsal involves a more meaningful analysis (e.g. images, thinking, associations etc.) of information and leads to better recall. For example, giving words a meaning or linking them with previous knowledge. These limitations are dealt with by the levels of processing model (Craik, & Lockhart, 1972).

Note: although rehearsal was initially described by Atkinson and Shiffrin as maintenance rehearsal (repetition of information), Shiffrin later suggested that rehearsal could be elaborative (Raaijmakers, & Shiffrin, 2003).

The multi store model has been criticized for being a passive/one way/linear model.

Atkinson, R. C., & Shiffrin, R. M. (1968). Chapter: Human memory: A proposed system and its control processes. In Spence, K. W., & Spence, J. T. The psychology of learning and motivation (Volume 2). New York: Academic Press. pp. 89–195.

Baddeley, A .D., & Hitch, G. (1974). Working memory. In G.H. Bower (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (Vol. 8, pp. 47–89). New York: Academic Press.

Craik, F. I. M., & Lockhart, R. S. (1972). Levels of processing: A framework for memory research. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal behavior, 11, 671-684.

Raaijmakers, J.G.W. & Shiffrin, R.M. (2003). Models versus descriptions: Real differences and langiage differences . behavioral and Brain Sciences , 26, 753.

Shallice, T., & Warrington, E. K. (1977). Auditory-verbal short-term memory impairment and conduction aphasia. Brain and Language, 4(4) , 479-491.

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Related Articles

Eidetic Memory Vs. Photographic Memory

Eidetic Memory Vs. Photographic Memory

Anterograde Amnesia In Psychology: Definition & Examples

Anterograde Amnesia In Psychology: Definition & Examples

Context and State-Dependent Memory

Context and State-Dependent Memory

Declarative Memory In Psychology

Declarative Memory In Psychology

Episodic Memory: Definition & Examples

Episodic Memory: Definition & Examples

False Memory In Psychology: Examples & More

False Memory In Psychology: Examples & More

LOTERRE

Cognitive psychology of human memory (thesaurus)

Search from vocabulary.

Content language

  • Any language

Concept information

Preferred term, definition(s).

  • A patient described by Shallice & Warrington (1969 ; 1970) who suffered from short-term memory impairment (reduced digit span, no recency effect) with preserved long-term memory after a traumatic brain injury.

Broader concept(s)

Related concept(s).

  • memory disorder
  • parietal lobe
  • recency effect
  • short-term memory
  • verbal span task
  • K.F. patient

Belongs to group

  • Neuropsychology

Bibliographic citation(s)

[Study type: empirical study / Access: closed]

  • Frank Arnould

In other languages

  • patient K.F.

Download this concept:

kf case study procedure

  • Skip to content
  • Skip to search
  • Skip to footer

Support & Downloads

  • Worldwide - English
  • Arabic - عربي
  • Brazil - Português
  • Canada - Français
  • China - 简体中文
  • China - 繁體中文 (臺灣)
  • Germany - Deutsch
  • Italy - Italiano
  • Japan - 日本語
  • Korea - 한국어
  • Latin America - Español
  • Netherlands - Nederlands">Netherlands - Nederlands
  • Helpful Links
  • Licensing Support
  • Technology Support
  • Support for Cisco Acquisitions
  • Support Tools
  • Cisco Community

kf case study procedure

To open or view a case, you need a service contract

Get instant updates on your TAC Case and more

Login Required

Contact TAC by Phone

800-553-2447 US/Canada

866-606-1866 US/Canada

  • Returns Portal

Products by Category

  • Unified Communications
  • Networking Software (IOS & NX-OS)
  • Collaboration Endpoints and Phones

Status Tools

The Cisco Security portal provides actionable intelligence for security threats and vulnerabilities in Cisco products and services and third-party products.

Get to know any significant issues, other than security vulnerability-related issues, that directly involve Cisco products and typically require an upgrade, workaround, or other customer action.

Check the current status of services and components for Cisco's cloud-based Webex, Security and IoT offerings.

The Cisco Support Assistant (formerly TAC Connect Bot) provides a self-service experience for common case inquiries and basic transactions without waiting in a queue.

Suite of tools to assist you in the day to day operations of your Collaboration infrastructure.

The Cisco CLI Analyzer (formerly ASA CLI Analyzer) is a smart SSH client with internal TAC tools and knowledge integrated. It is designed to help troubleshoot and check the overall health of your Cisco supported software.

My Notifications allows an user to subscribe and receive notifications for Cisco Security Advisories, End of Life Announcements, Field Notices, and Software & Bug updates for specific Cisco products and technologies.

More Support

  • Partner Support
  • Small Business Product Support
  • Business Critical Services
  • Customer Experience
  • DevNet Developer Support
  • Cisco Trust Portal

Cisco Communities

Generate and manage PAK-based and other device licenses, including demo licenses.

Track and manage Smart Software Licenses.

Generate and manage licenses from Enterprise Agreements.

Solve common licensing issues on your own.

Software and Downloads

Find software bugs based on product, release and keyword.

View Cisco suggestions for supported products.

Use the Cisco Software Checker to search for Cisco Security Advisories that apply to specific Cisco IOS, IOS XE, NX-OS and NX-OS in ACI Mode software releases.

Get the latest updates, patches and releases of Cisco Software.

kf case study procedure

  • Open access
  • Published: 23 May 2024

Investigating racial/ethnic differences in procedure experience in obstetrics & gynecology trainees at a single academic institution: a retrospective cohort study

  • Patricia GiglioAyers 1 , 2 ,
  • Christine E. Foley 1 , 2 ,
  • Beth Cronin 1 , 2 &
  • Dayna Burrell 1 , 2  

BMC Medical Education volume  24 , Article number:  561 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

138 Accesses

Metrics details

Discrimination is common in medical education. Resident physicians of races and ethnicities underrepresented in medicine experience daily discrimination which has been proven to negatively impact training. There is limited data on the impact of resident race/ethnicity on OB/GYN surgical training. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of race/ethnicity on procedural experience in OB/GYN training.

A retrospective analysis of graduated OB/GYN resident case logs from 2009 to 2019 was performed at a single urban academic institution. Self-reported race/ethnicity data was collected. Association between URM and non-URM were analyzed using t-tests. Trainees were categorized by self-reported race/ethnicity into underrepresented in medicine (URM) (Black, Hispanic, Native American) and non-URM (White, Asian).

The cohort consisted of 84 residents: 19% URM ( N  = 16) and 79% non-URM ( n  = 66). Difference between URM and non-URM status and average case volume was analyzed using t-tests. There was no difference between non-URM and URM trainees and reported mean number of Total GYN (349 vs. 334, p  = 0.31) and Total OB (624 vs. 597, P  = 0.11) case logs. However, compared with non-URM, on average URM performed fewer Total procedures (1562 vs. 1469, P  = 0.04). Analyzing individual procedures showed a difference in average number of abortions performed between URM and non-URM (76 vs. 53, P  = 0.02). There were no other statistically significant differences between the two groups.

Conclusions

This single institution study highlights potential differences in trainee experience by race/ethnicity. Larger national studies are warranted to further explore these differences to identify bias and discrimination, and to ensure equitable experience for all trainees.

Peer Review reports

Introduction

Discrimination is common in medical education, with nearly 60% of medical trainees experiencing at least one form of harassment or discrimination during their training [ 1 ]. Race/ethnicity has been proven to negatively impact medical student experiences and evaluations [ 2 , 3 ]. Although data remains limited, a rising number of studies explore the impact of race/ethnicity on residency training.

Resident physicians of races & ethnicities underrepresented in medicine endure daily microaggressions and biases [ 4 ]. In general surgery, up to 24% of residents report experiencing discrimination based on race/ethnicity or religion, with highest rates (70%) reported among Black residents [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]. Black surgical residents are 4.2 times more likely to experience high levels of perceived daily discrimination [ 7 ]. Discriminatory acts include being mistaken for another person of the same race, mistaken for nonphysicians, and experiencing different standards of evaluation [ 5 ]. Compared with their White counterparts, non-White residents experience increase feelings of isolation and judgement [ 8 ]. Surgical residents who experience discrimination also reported higher rates of burnout, thoughts of attrition, and suicidal thoughts [ 5 , 6 ]. A recent study investigating the relationship between gender, race/ethnicity and general surgery resident case volume cites a correlation between racial/ethnic categories underrepresented in medicine (URM) (identified as Black, Hispanic or Native American) and lower operative volumes at graduation [ 9 ].

Data regarding the impact of race/ethnicity on training in Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) is limited. OB/GYN is reported to have the highest percentage of trainees from racial and ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in medicine at 19% among the surgical subspecialties [ 10 ]. However, recent data from 2022 demonstrated there is a greater proportion of White physicians at the fellowship level compared to residency level [ 11 ]. This trend persists in academic medicine, with a higher proportion of white physicians in leadership positions and with higher academic ranks [ 12 ]. Despite multiple initiatives by national organizations within OB/GYN to address racial and ethnic disparities [ 13 , 14 ], studies exploring racial disparities and discrimination are sparse in OB/GYN literature. To the authors knowledge, there is no published data on the impact of race/ethnicity on resident surgical training in OB/GYN. Specifically, there is no data on the impact of race on the fundamental metric of surgical volume during gynecology residency training. The aim of this study was to begin by exploring the impact of race/ethnicity on OB/GYN procedural experience in residency training at a single institution.

A retrospective analysis of graduated OB/GYN resident procedural case logs per the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) from 2009 to 2019 at a single institution was performed. The research was deemed exempt by the IRB and was determined to be non-human subjects research. Self-reported race/ethnicity as limited by ERAS check boxes was collected. Trainees were categorized into URM (Black, Hispanic, Native American) and non-URM (White, Asian). The institution instructs residents to log a procedure if active participation as the primary surgeon is > 50% of the procedure. The primary outcome was total number of surgical procedures logged by a graduating resident. Secondary outcomes included procedure logs for the following ACGME categories: Normal spontaneous vaginal delivery (NSVD), Cesarean section (CS), Operative delivery (ODEL), Abdominal hysterectomy (AHYST), Vaginal hysterectomy (VHYST), Laparoscopic hysterectomy (LHYST), Minimally Invasive Hysterectomy (MIH), Total Hysterectomy (THYST), Incontinence and pelvic floor (ISPF), Laparoscopy (LAPS), Operative Hysteroscopy (OHYST), Abortion (ABORT), Transvaginal ultrasound (TVUS), Surgery for invasive cancer (SIC). Total numbers of cases, total obstetric (Total OB: CS, NSVD, ODEL), and total gynecologic (Total GYN: THYST, LAPS, OHYST) cases were collected. Residents in OB/GYN who completed the four-year residency training program were included in the analysis. Trainees who transferred training programs during residency or did not complete residency were excluded. Procedures were reported as mean number of procedures per ACGME category per group (URM vs. non-URM). Differences between URM and non-URM status and mean case volumes were analyzed using t-tests.

The cohort consisted of 84 residents. Residents who self-selected the ACGME category of “none of the above” ( n  = 2) were excluded from the URM vs. non-URM analyses. There was a total of 82 residents included in the final analysis: 66 non-URM (78.57%). (Table  1 ) There were no differences between non-URM and URM trainees and reported mean number of Total GYN (349 vs. 334, p  = 0.31) and Total OB (624 vs. 597, P  = 0.11) case logs. However, URM trainees had significantly fewer Total procedures (1469 vs. 1562, P  = 0.04) than their non-URM counterparts (Table  2 ). Analyzing specific procedures showed when comparing mean number of abortions, URM trainees experienced significantly less abortions (76 vs. 53, P  = 0.02) than non-URM trainees. No differences were found between non-URM and URM trainees in all other specific individual procedure categories (Table  2 ).

Resident trainees from races and ethnicities underrepresented in medicine experience daily discrimination, however there is limited data on the impact of racial/ethnic discrimination on training and postgraduate experience within OB/GYN. The importance of identifying and addressing racial and ethnic disparities within OB/GYN and medical education is widely accepted. In 2021, the ACGME launched ACGME Equity Matters, an initiative focused on learning and improvement in areas of diversity, equity and incision, and antiracism practices [ 13 ]. In 2020 ACOG, along with leading national and international women’s health organizations, released a joint statement, “Collective Action Addressing Racism.” [ 14 ] This statement specifically cites commitment to education, recognition, and scholarship as ways to eliminate inequalities in women’s health. Despite these initiatives, published research is limited.

This single institution study highlights potential differences in trainee experience by race/ethnicity and calls for further review at training programs across our specialty. This study showed a difference in total procedure experience between URM and non-URM OB/GYN residents during the 10-year time period examined. These differences may suggest discriminatory practices which are limiting procedural experience for URM residents. These findings are similar to recently published data that demonstrated a correlation between general surgery residents underrepresented in medicine or who identified as female, and lower operative volumes at graduation [ 9 ].

Additionally, this study observed a significant difference in the number of abortion procedures logged by URM versus non-URM trainees. In our institution, trainees have the choice to opt out of abortion procedures. This choice is not recorded as a part of the operative log but may confound this particular data point. We are unaware of any correlation between a trainee’s self-identified race and choice to perform abortion procedures. Additional work is needed to evaluate the demonstrated differences on a qualitative level to better identify the root cause(s) of the variation demonstrated, including possible sociocultural influences. Further work must be done to identify unconscious and overt biases and address discrimination to ensure all residents, regardless of race/ethnicity or gender, have an equitable training experience.

This small, single institution study calls for further review of racial and ethnic differences in procedural experience at training programs across our specialty. Although OB/GYN does have the highest percent of URM trainees among the surgical subspecialties, the lower proportion of URM physicians in fellowships and in higher academic rank positions suggests persistent institutional and structural racism. Procedural case logs are an objective and nationally utilized measure which could be further analyzed to identify and ultimately address training differences. If publicly available, these case logs could hold programs accountable for ensuring equitable procedural experience. Addressing any identified differences would not only improve resident experience and skill, but also contribute to the goal of creating a racially and ethnically diverse workforce to improve patient care in OB/GYN.

There are several limitations to this study, including variation in the accuracy and reporting practices of resident procedure logs which may impact data. Although criteria at this institution exist instructing residents to log only procedures which they performed > 50% of as the primary surgeon, residents are individually responsible for tracking and logging procedures. Furthermore, the small sample size of this study at a single institution, coupled with the variation in resident surgical experience and reporting practices between OB/GYN programs nationally, prevent this study from generalizability to all OB/GYN residency programs. This study analyzes total case logs at time of graduation, and therefore does not explore how race/ethnicity may impact procedural experience across the four years of residency and does not account for variation in logging during different times of residency. The authors also recognize that increased procedural numbers do not necessarily translate to procedural competency. Although differences may suggest training inequity among URM vs. non-URM residents, variation in procedural numbers may not reflect trainee competency at time of graduation.

Differences may exist in Obstetrics and Gynecology procedural experience by trainee race/ethnicity. Larger national studies are warranted to further explore these differences to identify bias and discrimination, and to ensure equitable experience for all trainees.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Fnais N, Soobiah C, Chen MH, et al. Harassment and discrimination in medical training: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acad Med. 2014;89(5):817–27. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0000000000000200 .

Article   Google Scholar  

Woolf K. Differential attainment in medical education and training. BMJ. 2020;368:m339. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.m339 .

Orom H, Semalulu T, Underwood W 3rd. The social and learning environments experienced by underrepresented minority medical students: a narrative review. Acad Med. 2013;88(11):1765–77. https://doi.org/10.1097/ACM.0b013e3182a7a3af .

Osseo-Asare A, Balasuriya L, Huot SJ, et al. Minority Resident Physicians’ views on the role of Race/Ethnicity in their training experiences in the Workplace. JAMA Netw Open. 2018;1(5):e182723. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2018.2723 .

Yuce TK, Turner PL, Glass C, et al. National Evaluation of Racial/Ethnic Discrimination in US Surgical Residency Programs. JAMA Surg. 2020;155(6):526–8. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamasurg.2020.0260 .

Hu YY, Ellis RJ, Hewitt DB, et al. Discrimination, abuse, harassment, and Burnout in Surgical Residency Training. N Engl J Med. 2019;381(18):1741–52. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsa1903759 .

Khubchandani JA, Atkinson RB, Ortega G, et al. Perceived discrimination among Surgical residents at Academic Medical centers. J Surg Res. 2022;272:79–87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2021.10.029 .

Wong RL, Sullivan MC, Yeo HL, Roman SA, Bell RH Jr, Sosa JA. Race and surgical residency: results from a national survey of 4339 US general surgery residents. Ann Surg. 2013;257(4):782–7. https://doi.org/10.1097/sla.0b013e318269d2d0 .

Eruchalu CN, He K, Etheridge JC, et al. Gender and Racial/Ethnic disparities in operative volumes of graduating general surgery residents. J Surg Res. 2022;279:104–12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jss.2022.05.020 .

Nieblas-Bedolla E, Williams JR, Christophers B, Kweon CY, Williams EJ, Jimenez N. Trends in Race/Ethnicity among applicants and matriculants to US Surgical specialties, 2010–2018. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(11):e2023509. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.23509 .

Talbott JMV, Wasson MN. Sex and Racial/Ethnic Diversity in Accredited Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialty and Subspecialty Training in the United States. J Surg Educ. 2022;79(3):818–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsurg.2021.12.011 .

Wooding DJ, Das P, Tiwana S, Siddiqi J, Khosa F. Race, ethnicity, and gender in academic obstetrics and gynecology: 12-year trends. Am J Obstet Gynecol MFM. 2020;2(4):100178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajogmf.2020.100178 .

Diversity E, Inclusion. Accessed December 6, 2022. https://www.acgme.org/what-we-do/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/ .

Joint Statement: Collective Action Addressing Racism. Accessed December 6. 2022. https://www.acog.org/news/news-articles/2020/08/joint-statement-obstetrics-and-gynecology-collective-action-addressing-racism .

Download references

Acknowledgements

Not applicable.

There is no financial support or funding to report for this manuscript.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Women and Infants Hospital, 101 Dudley St, 02905, Providence, RI, USA

Patricia GiglioAyers, Christine E. Foley, Beth Cronin & Dayna Burrell

The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, 222 Richmond Street, 02903, Providence, RI, USA

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Contributions

PGA and DB were involved in the conception, design, interpretation of data, and manuscript writing. CF was involved in the design of this study, analysis, and editing of the manuscript. BC contributed to the conception, design, and editing of this work. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia GiglioAyers .

Ethics declarations

Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing interests.

Ethics, approval, and consent to participate

The ethical approval for the study and informed consent are waived by the Women and Infants Institutional Review Board due to retrospective nature of the study. All methods carried out in the study were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations.

Consent for publication

Competing interests.

The author(s) declare(s) that they have no competing interests. Dr. Dayna Burrell has acted as a BMC Education article review in the past upon request. This data was accepted for oral presentation at the 2023 CREOG and APGO Annual Meeting. The conference took place February 27-March 1, 2023 in National Harbor, Maryland.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver ( http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ ) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated in a credit line to the data.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article.

GiglioAyers, P., Foley, C.E., Cronin, B. et al. Investigating racial/ethnic differences in procedure experience in obstetrics & gynecology trainees at a single academic institution: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Med Educ 24 , 561 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05363-9

Download citation

Received : 07 June 2023

Accepted : 28 March 2024

Published : 23 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05363-9

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

  • Race/Ethnicity
  • Residency training
  • Surgical education
  • Obstetrics and gynecology
  • Operative logs

BMC Medical Education

ISSN: 1472-6920

kf case study procedure

IMAGES

  1. The working memory model psychology

    kf case study procedure

  2. The KF Case Study supports the Working Memory

    kf case study procedure

  3. FREE AQA A level Psychology Patient KF case study summary

    kf case study procedure

  4. wertaletik: Kf case study summary

    kf case study procedure

  5. Creating a Diversity Policy for Your Restaurant

    kf case study procedure

  6. The Rubicon Agency

    kf case study procedure

VIDEO

  1. ISBR Should I apply? Last date to Apply! Good ROI & Low Cutoffs! Scholarships!

  2. A Framework for Anomaly Identification Applied on Fall Detection

  3. smart appliances 🤩 smart appliances shorts

  4. Police Investigation

  5. General Ledger Entries Accounting System in PHP

  6. LibreOffice Base

COMMENTS

  1. Working Memory Model In Psychology (Baddeley & Hitch)

    The KF Case Study supports the Working Memory Model. KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident that damaged his short-term memory. KF's impairment was mainly for verbal information - his memory for visual information was largely unaffected. This shows that there are separate STM components for visual information (VSS) and verbal ...

  2. KF case study (Shallice and Warrington) Flashcards

    case. KF suffered from brain damage due to a motorcycle accident. issue. what they realised was that the digit span of KF was only 2 digits (normal people on average can remember 7). Shallice and Warrington also realised that KF's short term forgetting of auditory letters and digits was much greater than his forgetting of visual stimuli.

  3. PDF Approaches to Research : Case Study Cognitive Approach: Cognitive

    Generally, begins with a detailed case history KF suffered a left parietal subdural haematoma which was evacuated. He was unconscious for ten weeks. At first he was very dysphasic, speech gradually improved over the years. Age 19 (1959) started having epilepsy, 1965 aged 25 admitted for investigation. Bone defect in the left parieto-occipital ...

  4. Working Memory Model

    A Shallice and Warrington (1974) case study reported that brain-damaged patient KF could recall verbal but not visual information immediately after its presentation, which supports the WMM's claim that separate short-term stores manage short-term phonological and visual memories.

  5. Psychology Memory Revision Notes

    The KF Case Study supports the Working Memory Model. KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident that damaged his short-term memory. KF's impairment was mainly for verbal information - his memory for visual information was largely unaffected. ... If you refer to the procedures and findings of a study, this shows knowledge and ...

  6. Working Memory AO1 AO2 AO3

    The KF Case Study supports Working Memory. KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident that damaged his short-term memory. KF struggled to process verbal information but his visual memory was unaffected. This shows that visual information (VSSP) is processed separately from verbal information (phonological loop).

  7. PDF Evidence from experimental studies

    Evidence from studies of the brain. Case studies of brain damaged patients may provide some support for th WM model. Shallice and Warrington (1974)studied KF, a man whose brain had been injured in a motorcycle accident. KF's LTM functioned normally, but his STM was severely impaired. Instead of around 7 items, KF was only able to recall 1 or ...

  8. The Multi-Store Model Of Memory

    (2) Point: Case studies of brain damaged patients (e.g. KF) have also offered support for the Multi-Store Model of memory. Evidence: Shallice and Warrington (1970), reported the case of KF, who was brain damaged as a result of a motorcycle accident. His STM was severely impaired, however his LTM remained intact.

  9. The KF Case Study supports the Working Memory

    Case F Babs remembers pi to100 digits to the right of the decimal place. She has done this impressive feet of memory by grouping the numbers together. Case G Sidney remembers the way to get to her friend's camp by picturing key landmarks on the drive in her mind. Case H Albert has been studying hard for his upcoming test.

  10. MSM and case studies of people with brain injuries

    The following worksheet demonstrates how the case study of KF exemplifies all the key features of the case study as a research method in psychology, but is also useful for adding to your detailed knowledge of the aim, procedure, findings and conclusions of the study itself. case-study-using-kf-as-exmaple-1 Download.

  11. PDF Working Memory Model

    Longitudinal study The case study was longitudinal allowing the researchers to be more precise in their investigation and findings. Longitudinal studies also allowed the researchers to find patterns over time in the patient's memory. Researcher bias The researchers developed a relationship with Patient KF due to the study being

  12. Shallice & Warrington K.F. case study Flashcards

    To investigate the relationship between STM and LTM when STM is impaired. Procedure. Case study on a 28 year old male named K.F. Motorcycle accident fractured his parieto-occipital lobe, led to epilepsy. He had a defect to his STM but LTM was intact. K.F. was asked to repeat numbers, letters, and word strings aloud. Results.

  13. Independent functioning of verbal memory stores: A neuropsychological

    Describes 5 experiments concerning verbal short-term memory (STM) performance of a patient with a markedly reduced verbal sapn. Results of the 1st 3, free recall, the Peterson procedure, and an investigation of proactive interference, indicate that S has a greatly reduced STM capacity, while the last 2, probe recognition and missing scan, show that this cannot be attributed to a retrieval ...

  14. (PDF) Independent Functioning of Verbal Memory Stores: A

    Five experiments are described concerning verbal short-term memory performance. of a patient who. has. a very markedly reduced verbal span. The results. of. the first. three, free recall, the ...

  15. Study 2: Case Study of KF/ Warrington and Shallice (1970)

    Strengths: - Carefully designed experiment on person's case study - The variables of how the materials were presented, K.F.'s comprehension and expressive language expression, were carefully isolated and controlled Limitations: - No analysis why number recalling is better than verbal - No alternative explanation of how auditory material is transferred into LTM if STM is so impaired

  16. Multi-Store Memory Model: Atkinson and Shiffrin

    The multi-store model is an explanation of memory proposed by Atkinson and Shiffrin which assumes there are three unitary (separate) memory stores, and that information is transferred between these stores in a linear sequence. The three main stores are the sensory memory, short-term memory (STM) and long-term memory (LTM).

  17. PDF Psychology: Knowledge Organiser. Paper 1: Memory Types of LTM

    ☺ The research into KF case study supports the WMM and the idea of two slave systems, the phonological loop and the visuo‐spatial sketchpad, therefore providing support to the WMM ... • aseline study procedure: 40 naïve American male volunteers gave 'shocks' to a 'learner. An experimenter (white lab coat) ordered participants to ...

  18. Loterre: Memory: K.F. case

    K.F. case. A patient described by Shallice & Warrington (1969 ; 1970) who suffered from short-term memory impairment (reduced digit span, no recency effect) with preserved long-term memory after a traumatic brain injury. • Shallice, T., & Warrington, E. (1970). Independent functioning of verbal memory stores: A neuropsychological study.

  19. FREE AQA A level Psychology Patient KF case study summary

    Brief summary of the case study of Patient KF for the memory topic in psychology, including a background and the significance of the results. NOTE document is 1 page only; preview shows the whole summary. 100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached.

  20. kf case study (wmm) Flashcards

    KF was still able to move visual memory to LTM therefore concluding that STM is much more complex than suggested by the original MSM. central executive. directs attention and processing. Visuo-spatial sketchpad. stores visual and spatial information. Phonological Loop. holds and processes verbal and auditory information. Study with Quizlet and ...

  21. Cognition and Physiology

     Study 2 - Shallice and Warrington (1970) - Case Study of K  KF suffered brain damage as a result of a motorcycle accident KF had no problem with long-term memory, but his digit span was only two items (in others words he could only remember two digits at a time whereas, on average, people remember seven digits in short-term memory).

  22. 4 Phases of the Project Management Lifecycle Explained

    The project management lifecycle is a step-by-step framework of best practices used to shepherd a project from its beginning to its end. This project management process generally includes four phases: initiating, planning, executing, and closing. Some may also include a fifth "monitoring and controlling" phase between the executing and ...

  23. Support

    Check the current status of services and components for Cisco's cloud-based Webex, Security and IoT offerings. Cisco Support Assistant. The Cisco Support Assistant (formerly TAC Connect Bot) provides a self-service experience for common case inquiries and basic transactions without waiting in a queue.

  24. Full article: Spatial influences on first impressions: a case study on

    The methodology used in this case study is similar in its use of generating a survey informed by a spatial analysis model to gauge perceptions of space, yet extends upon Long and Baran (Citation 2011) work by; articulating a specific hypothesis, ... Procedure. After encountering a research participant advertisement on Facebook ...

  25. PATIENT HM&PATIENT KF case studies Flashcards

    Study with Quizlet and memorize flashcards containing terms like HM procedure, HM findings/conclusion, KF procedure and more.

  26. Investigating racial/ethnic differences in procedure experience in

    This study showed a difference in total procedure experience between URM and non-URM OB/GYN residents during the 10-year time period examined. These differences may suggest discriminatory practices which are limiting procedural experience for URM residents. ... This study analyzes total case logs at time of graduation, and therefore does not ...

  27. Patient KF case study Flashcards

    Terms in this set (4) Background. - Patient KF suffered brain damage from a motorcycle accident that damaged his STM. - KF's impairment was mainly for verbal information. How patient KF supports the WMM. Shows that there are separate STM components for visual information (visuo-spatial sketchpad) and verbal information (phonological loop)