© AdobeStockThe study highlights a new psychological method for assessing 'mind-reading' abilities.
A new approach to 'mind-reading' has been developed by researchers at the University of Bath, Cardiff, and London to improve how well we understand what others are thinking. And it transpires that women are much better than men at putting themselves in someone else's shoes. Mind-reading, sometimes referred to in psychology as 'mentalising', is an important ability enabling us to pick-up on subtle behavioural cues that might indicate that someone we are speaking to is thinking something that they are not saying (e.g. being sarcastic or even lying).
The researchers say that we all have different mind-reading abilities, with some of us inherently better than others. The fact that not all of us are good at mind-reading can cause challenges - in particular for people with autism where it can lead to social struggles in building or maintaining relationships.
To identify those people who have difficulties and to provide them with appropriate support, the team at Bath designed a new mind-reading test, which draws on data from over 4,000 autistic and non-autistic people in the UK and US.
Results from their simple, four-step questionnaire were scored, ranging from 4 to 16 (with 4 indicating poor mind-reading abilities; 16 indicating excellent abilities). The average score for their questionnaire was between 12 and 13. After statistically confirming that the test was measuring the same thing in men and women, they found that females reported better mind-reading than males, whilst also confirming some of the well-reported social challenges faced by the autistic community.
Their method, which uses just four questions to assess individuals, is published today (Friday 12 February 2021), along with their research findings, in the journal
Psychological Assessment.
Dr Punit Shah, senior author of the study and leading expert on social cognitive processing at the University of Bath's
Department of Psychology explained: "We will all undoubtedly have had experiences where we have felt we have not connected with other people we are talking to, where we've perceived that they have failed to understand us, or where things we've said have been taken the wrong way. Much of how we communicate relies on our understanding of what others are thinking, yet this is a surprisingly complex process that not everyone can do.
"To understand this psychological process, we needed to separate mind-reading from empathy. Mind-reading refers to understanding what other people are thinking, whereas empathy is all about understanding what others are feeling. The difference might seem subtle but is critically important and involves very different brain networks. By focusing carefully on measuring mind-reading, without confusing it with empathy, we are confident that we have just measured mind-reading. And, when doing this, we consistently find that females reported greater mind-reading abilities than their male counterparts."
Lead researcher,
Rachel Clutterbuck, emphasised the clinical importance of the questionnaire. She said: "This new test, which takes under a minute to complete, has important utility in clinical settings. It is not always obvious if someone is experiencing difficulties understanding and responding to others - and many people have learnt techniques which can reduce the appearance of social difficulties, even though these remain.
"This work has great potential to better understand the lived experience of people with mind-reading difficulties, such as those with autism, whilst producing a precise quantitative score that may be used by clinicians to identify individuals who may benefit from interventions."
Dr Shah added: "This research has been about understanding more about our mind-reading abilities and providing solutions to those who might struggle, particularly the autistic community. We have created a freely available questionnaire which we hope can help identify people who are experiencing mental difficulties relevant to social situations."
To access the study from Friday morning see https://doi.org/10.1037/pas0001004 . This research was supported by funding from the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council.
Reader Comments
Projection
RC
RC
P.s., After I wrote the above, I saw Spur's link from As Good As It Gets. Ain't it the truth?
RC
'you.. and your bride '
But surely women are better at detecting emotions of their counterparts. Seemingly a necessity as
evolutionaryadaptive strategy during development.Women are better with people, men are better with things, and with doing.
That's the crux of Feminism : it's are almost exclusively men that hold our material and technological world together.
You rock ⚽️🥅
A significant amount of female doctors, and nurses overwhelmingly. Teachers, secretaries, ... I beg to disagree.
Besides of many affirmative-action positions, I was mostly underwhelmed when having had to work under women in such positions.
Just take a closer look at the statistics. How many women are at jobs that involve a risk for live, exposure to elements, or a rigig time regime ? Or "common" jobs like welder, plumber, carpenter, electrician, mechanic, mason ?
The article doesn't describe anything like mind reading. - with not study title to search for, I'm at a loss what was in the original study.
So I'm gonna guess. They mention it's built on men and women reporting their mind reading abilities. Apparently actually measuring that ability isn't part of this study.
So it's about what men vs women think their mind reading abilities are - that puts a new light on it, no?
Back when I was married, my wife showed absolute confidence in her ability to read my mind, regardless of my opinion of what was in my headSo. In turn, I was rarely sure of where she was coming from and most all attempts to discover that through less occult communication skills resulted in more confusion on my part.
I reckon I'll rate this study as accurate as the studies that come from Big Pharma.
Let's hear from a prominent woman on the matter:
“Women have no sympathy . . . And my experience of women is almost as large as Europe. And it is so intimate too. Women crave for being loved, not for loving. They scream at you for sympathy all day long, they are incapable of giving any in return for they cannot remember your affairs long enough to do so.”
“You say women are more sympathetic than men. Now if I were to write a book out of my experience, I should begin, Women have no sympathy. Yours is the tradition - mine is the conviction of experience.”—Letter to Madame Mohl from Florence Nightingale
For 28 years my bride and I have striven nearly daily to get inside each other's heads. Sometimes it actually works. Other times, and more frequently, not. She complains often about the chaotic thoughts that rush through her head. The only thing that seems to stem the tide is a certain threshold during sex.
Marriage sucks dont it,?!!
Glad mine is a past life experience lollll, we need to figure out how to make better choices
Marriage is a gym, ... with many weights. Like HEALTH, one must use one's arithmetic skills learned in elementary school, and forget about statistics n calculus. The formula never changes, the equation is always accurate, precise, and perfect.
what we give to ourselves is what we get back from others
We are the magnet. Polish. ... not the poles... from Poland.
The grain of sand polishes the PEARL.
Neither exist without the other. 🎵🎶🎼🎹
Dam dam dadam, da dam datum.... et al 🤦♀️
GAPA
That's the direction I was sensing...nor reading your mind lollll giggling haha
Use to their advantage, not that of their opposite.
Generally speaking ...
(Jesus, protect me on this anti-PC joke!)
RC
Heard a (video) story about half a year ago, with a fat (BMI >30) presumptuous black woman, living together with 4 male orbiters.
I think the end is nigh...
you're having funsuffering through inanity.)RC
I kick those who do, i swear!!
In my experience, most women lack any moral compass.
Instead, they realign with their peers (a.k.a. peer pressure), or ultimately governmental regulations as a replacement.
They are one important key component of implementing authoritarian dictatorship, since they will use their psycho-manipulating capabilities to make all the males of the family to conform as well.
Plenty of examples at home ...
I love the overstatement - reminds me of AA.
As you know, there are exceptions, and I posit my Mum as first and foremost.
RC
RC
I learned long time ago, that if you are right ? She might forgive you one day ?
But if you are wrong ? She will never forgive you & remember it 50 years later !
[Link]
Envision a ½ton pickup loaded with barbed wire fencing tools, and a rack of 5 spools at the rear, being towed by a crawler up a 40º grade hill, for laying out cattle fencing. Not a good idea to stop while going up , so the spools better feed all the way. Or, a 4WD tractor [Link] pulling a 36' plow over the crown and down of a hill with a 30º grade. The tires are nearly 6' high. To look at the hill from a distance--piece of cake--until you're in the cab looking down the hill and the tilt is so great you can't stay in the seat. Not a good idea to maneuver a tractor standing up--you have to operate pedals.
My ex FIL once sent me out to plow (47' wide) one of his smaller hills using his 4WD Versatile. There was not enough room to maneuver the rig in the normal safe manner. It was too close to the wash. The side tilt if not carefully negotiated would easily roll the tractor. I watched the tires on the upper side come up off the ground and respectfully slowed the rig around the crown. Following year, that experienced farmer rolled his rig over in the very same spot. Required a sizable wrecker to get it back upright, and I expect it bent the cab frame.
Those were the days, coming home in a cloud of dust knowing that one more time you cheated Mother Nature from kicking your ass.
"I work ten hours on a John Deere tractor" [Link]
RC
Sorry. My taste in music doesn't include the Cattleman's Classical.
BTW, I could hardly stand the autistic ruminations of Beet-hoven or Bonked either. Switched on, a lá Peter Schickle was tolerable. My mother had no idea the origins of opera either. Grieg, Rachmaninoff, Liszt, Shostakovitch, and selected portions of Wagner were more my B&B until Brubeck and Sanborn came along.
ya 2
I've barely driven ol' tractors, much prefer my feet on the ground n throwing the hay around.
So many scary tractor stories
RC
Sighhhh
[Link]
t.A.T.u. - All The Things She Said (Official Music Video) - YouTube
Similarly, There are countless videos of guys getting dragged into, for example, lathes, both industrial and otherwise - thanks but no thanks.
RC
I learned my lesson at 7, when I thought I could touch a lathe gear faster than it was turning. Lucky, I just lost half my fingernail and top skin layer halfway to the first joint. Occasionally I am reminded while using drill presses....
RC
I strive not to press my luck, esp around the 10" saw. Oh I have lots of close-call stories.
distinctions between reason, will, knowledge, wisdom, etc are approached differently by Hume, Kant, Berdayaev, Schiller, Hertzen, Hegel, Sartre, Freud, Lacan, object-relations, etc
the assumptions, hypothesis and the instrument bias the outcome---furthermore this study extrapolates from one society only
RC