The "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test in Autism-Spectrum Disorders Comparison with Healthy Controls: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.
RMET scores track performance IQ in autism but verbal IQ in controls, so choose the right IQ profile when you interpret results.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The team pooled 18 studies that used the "Reading the Mind in the Eyes" Test.
They compared people with autism to neurotypical peers.
They also looked at which IQ scores predicted success for each group.
What they found
Neurotypical people scored higher on the test.
For them, verbal IQ predicted better scores.
For people with autism, only performance IQ mattered.
This hints at different brain routes to the same answer.
How this fits with other research
Ivancic et al. (1996) saw a similar split. Adults with intellectual disability read faces in their own way, not just more poorly.
Kemner et al. (2008) looked positive at first glance: adults with PDD found hidden objects faster than controls. That seems to clash with the lower RMET scores. The twist is task type. Visual search rewards detail focus; RMET rewards social inference. Different strengths, not a contradiction.
Dickinson et al. (2014) linked sharper line-angle judgment to higher autistic traits in neurotypical adults. Together these papers build one story: autism can bring visual strengths, yet social-eye cues remain hard.
Why it matters
When you give the RMET, pair it with performance IQ, not just language tests. A low score may reflect strategy, not lack of empathy. Use this insight to pick teaching tools that lean on visual logic rather than verbal hints.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
We conducted a meta-analysis of 18 studies to establish whether a relation exists between Reading the Mind in the Eye Test (RMET) performance and intelligence quotient (IQ) in individuals diagnosed with autism-spectrum disorders (ASD) and controls, taking into account relevant characteristics such as age, gender, and autism quotient. Our findings indicate that RMET performance was better in controls compared with those diagnosed with ASD. We found that RMET performance is dependent on full and verbal IQ and age in controls. However, RMET performance is negatively correlated with performance IQ in individuals diagnosed with ASD. These results suggest that the methodology applied by ASD when taking the RMET is different from control individuals and might depend less on verbal abilities.
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2019 · doi:10.1007/s10803-018-3814-4