"It's not rocket science" and "It's not brain surgery"-"It's a walk in the park": prospective comparative study.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To compare cognitive testing scores in neurosurgeons and aerospace engineers to help settle the age old argument of which phrase-"It's not brain surgery" or "It's not rocket science"-is most deserved.

Design

International prospective comparative study.

Setting

United Kingdom, Europe, the United States, and Canada.

Participants

748 people (600 aerospace engineers and 148 neurosurgeons). After data cleaning, 401 complete datasets were included in the final analysis (329 aerospace engineers and 72 neurosurgeons).

Main outcome measures

Validated online test (Cognitron's Great British Intelligence Test) measuring distinct aspects of cognition, spanning planning and reasoning, working memory, attention, and emotion processing abilities.

Results

SUBMITTER: Usher I 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8667323 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature