Home Science Common test for mental health understanding is biased, study finds

Common test for mental health understanding is biased, study finds

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The National Institute for Mental Health recommends a test, called the Reading the Mind in the Eyes Task (RMET), for assessing a person’s mental health understanding — that is a patient’s ability to understanding what other people are thinking and feeling. But there’s a problem. Using data from more than 40,000 people, a new study concludes that the test is deeply flawed. It relies too heavily on a person’s vocabulary, intelligence, and culturally-biased stimuli.