A 1964 study involving 91 patients and ten experienced psychiatrists found that the likelihood of an agreement between two opinions was just 57%. Another early study, involving 426 state hospital patients diagnosed independently by two psychiatrists, found agreement merely 50% of the time in their diagnosis of the kind of mental illness that was present. Yet another early study, involving 153 outpatients, found 54% agreement. In these studies, the source of the noise was not specified. Interestingly, however, some psychiatrists were found to be inclined to assign patients to specific
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