Abstract
Abstract
This study examined the impact of resonance expressed by the positive emotional attractor (PEA) and dissonance represented by the negative emotional attractor (NEA) created by medical students during diagnostic encounters with standardized patients (SPs) (laypeople) from the clinical skills exam (CSE). Secondary data were collected from 116 videotaped CSE encounters between SPs and medical students. Associations among the PEA and NEA states, and medical student effectiveness measured by SP, faculty, and differential diagnosis scores using moderated multiple regression analysis were determined. Results suggest that the PEA and NEA are powerful conditions for determining medical student effectiveness in clinical encounters.