Test Your Own Judgement

Mitchell found that even trained experts misread predatory personalities — design a small experiment to test how accurately you read people in your own environment.

Write your hypothesis

Complete this sentence in your notebook: 'If I pay deliberate attention to ___ in the people I work or study with, then I will notice ___ that I currently miss.'

One variable, one control

Choose the ONE behaviour or signal you will observe (your variable). Write what you will keep exactly the same — same setting, same time of day, same people — so your results mean something.

The variable I will change

What stays the same

Predict your result

Mark on the spectrum below where you think your experiment will land after one week. Then write one sentence in your notebook explaining why you placed yourself there.

I will notice nothing new

I will completely change how I read this person

Name what would prove you wrong

Look back at step 3. What is the ONE specific result that would prove your prediction wrong? Write it as a concrete event, not a vague feeling — something a colleague could also observe.

The real question

Are you more afraid of discovering you have been right about someone all along, or that you have been wrong? Choose one word for that feeling and write one sentence explaining why.

Why that word?

Discuss Tell your partner: would you actually run this experiment, or does something stop you?

Psychology01