Concepts
Health psychology/Cognitive distortions · CBT distortion
Mind reading
What it means
Arbitrarily concluding that someone is reacting negatively to you, without checking (a form of jumping to conclusions).
Worked example
"They think I’m incompetent" with no evidence.
In the exam
A junior doctor is convinced her consultant thinks she is useless, although he has said nothing and shown no sign of it.
What settles it
Mind reading assumes others’ (present) negative thoughts. Fortune telling predicts a negative FUTURE outcome.
Classically confused with
Fortune telling
Source: Burns; CBT