Band, G. P. 1, 2 , Piederiet, A. 1 , Hultzer, G. 3 & Hamming, J. 3
1 Leiden University Institute of Psychology
2 Leiden Institute for Brain and Cognition
3 Leiden University Medical Center
Vascular surgery and laparoscopy require complex cognitive and motor skills, such as spatial transformations and flexibility of rule application. We tested the predictive value of cognitive psychological indices for these surgical skills, making use of a skills lab approximation of actual surgery: participants had to perform complex motor operations with indirectly controlled tools, visible through a monitor from an unnatural perspective. Performance in this skills lab has previously been shown to be a valid indicator of performance in actual surgery on human patients. After performing on the Simon, the mental rotation and the task switching paradigm, 32 medicine students without prior surgery experience engaged in three skills lab tests, alternated with skills lab practice. From the tests, both baseline and improvement scores were derived in subtests such as stringing beads, folding a pipe cleaner, and cutting a circle from a balloon. All cognitive psychological indices explained at least some of the lab skills significantly. The strongest predictor was local switch costs; the speed difference of switch trials versus repetition trials in a block with mixed instructions. These results are a first step towards improving the quality of both surgery training and surgery practice.