NationStates Jolt Archive

Someone sent this test to me. You're shown 20 people smiling and guess which ones are real and which are just faking.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/index.shtml

I got 19/20 right. Guess I'm hard to fool!

:)

:)

FAKE!

Perfect score. Too much time working with people

FAKE!

:(

:(

Real?

Psh. BBC site has many interesting psychological tests and yet teh dull one gets chosen:p

I got 15 out of 20 right.
Which is a LOT more than I thought, and I actually would have had a close to perfect score had I actually voted according to my instincts and not based on "wait, there are way too many genuines in there, i have to find some more fake ones!". :rolleyes:

It's a great test, though, and it puts me at peace with my own detection skills- usually these tests only show you pictures of someone smiling, not little clips, and apparently you have to grade them all on "eyes are involved, eyes are not involved" which I NEVER understood because even in a fake smile the eyes are often involved, i.e. squinting a bit, wrinkles around the eyes!

So I very much appreciate this site's explanations, too:
Most people are surprisingly bad at spotting fake smiles. One possible explanation for this is that it may be easier for people to get along if they don't always know what others are really feeling.

Although fake smiles often look very similar to genuine smiles, they are actually slightly different, because they are brought about by different muscles, which are controlled by different parts of the brain.

Fake smiles can be performed at will, because the brain signals that create them come from the conscious part of the brain and prompt the zygomaticus major muscles in the cheeks to contract. These are the muscles that pull the corners of the mouth outwards.

Genuine smiles, on the other hand, are generated by the unconscious brain, so are automatic. When people feel pleasure, signals pass through the part of the brain that processes emotion. As well as making the mouth muscles move, the muscles that raise the cheeks – the orbicularis oculi and the pars orbitalis – also contract, making the eyes crease up, and the eyebrows dip slightly.

Lines around the eyes do sometimes appear in intense fake smiles, and the cheeks may bunch up, making it look as if the eyes are contracting and the smile is genuine. But there are a few key signs that distinguish these smiles from real ones. For example, when a smile is genuine, the eye cover fold - the fleshy part of the eye between the eyebrow and the eyelid - moves downwards and the end of the eyebrows dip slightly.

Scientists distinguish between genuine and fake smiles by using a coding system called the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), which was devised by Professor Paul Ekman of the University of California and Dr Wallace V. Friesen of the University of Kentucky.

15/20

17/20

All the ones I got wrong were genuine ones I said were fake.

15/20

14/20.
Some of the fake ones are a bit creepy. <shudder>

18/20

Better than I thought I'd do. Though what I dont get is that nearly all smiles on the front of magazines seem to be fake, or maybe thats just me.

Oh wow, those were some really ugly people. The fake smiles didn't help none, either.

13/20. All except one that I got wrong were actually genuine ones that I thought were fake.

I got 15 out of 20 right.
Which is a LOT more than I thought, and I actually would have had a close to perfect score had I actually voted according to my instincts and not based on "wait, there are way too many genuines in there, i have to find some more fake ones!". :rolleyes:

It's a great test, though, and it puts me at peace with my own detection skills- usually these tests only show you pictures of someone smiling, not little clips, and apparently you have to grade them all on "eyes are involved, eyes are not involved" which I NEVER understood because even in a fake smile the eyes are often involved, i.e. squinting a bit, wrinkles around the eyes!



I don't know, I based my own perception in the eyes, and in the shoulders in some cases where I was in doubt. You never move your shoulders up and down in a fake laugh. After training a bit, you learn how to move your eyes when faking a smile to make it look more honest.

I thought the same about the test, "it has too many genuines", but I resisted and went for instinct and training. Answering too many tests leave you with bad habits :)

Hmmm... 13/20.
Lowest score yet
:D Real?

14. I blame distractedness and my computer.

18/20. For me the most telling feature is the way the eyes "light up" not just the squinting part of it. There's a whole body reaction that goes with it too.

But it's easier when you're concentrating and know what you're looking for. It's a different matter entirely when you're standing with someone wondering and they flash a grin and you wonder "hey, um, was that a real smile or a fake one?" I'm terrible at getting this right in person.

Person #13 - man or woman?
Whichever, it's really creepy!

fyi, 1 got 16/20. 2 I said were fake weren't and 2 I said were genuine weren't.

Better than I expected, tbh.

I just looked at their eyes mostly. Fakes smiles rarelyaffect the person's eyes.

14/20. 70% accuracy. Pretty good for someone who reviles people.

Well, I got 19/20... But I wasn't that surprised. I never get all of them right, but am good in it :) A lot of working with people.

Mostly looking at eyes gives me the information whether someone is lieing or not. But also some minor things, like... If a person smiles really, he won't be able to get 100% calm emediately,they will have at least small smiles in the corners of the mouth. For a short time. Also the shoulders, but not in all cases it works. I noticed that for older people it is harder to say whether someone is lieing. Wonder why... *shrugs*

15, better than I thought.

You got 7 out of 20 correct
:(

18/20

the two I got wrong were real, but they looked fake to me.......still do.

I think they should ban the shady people from these tests.

:(
hmmmm....can I interest you in a used car, sir?
Just one owner - a nun who would just drive it to church and back every Sunday.
Look at my smile, would I lie to you? :D

18/20

Out of curiosity, what was the distinguishing feature that you looked for? I was going for the eyes most of the time.

18/20

Out of curiosity, what was the distinguishing feature that you looked for? I was going for the eyes most of the time.

I was looking at the eyes, most people in my experience get crows feet when they smile.

18/20
Combo Eyes and the speed they smiled

The fake ones usually let the smile fade faster then the real ones

:headbang: Damn, only 10/20 correct, although I called more fakes than there were...

I was more amazed at how bad people's teeth were... :D

18/20

Out of curiosity, what was the distinguishing feature that you looked for? I was going for the eyes most of the time.

I got 18/20 and generally looked at their mouth, although if I wasnt sure from that I checked their eyebrows. Hmmm, maybe I was just lucky.

:headbang: Damn, only 10/20 correct, although I called more fakes than there were...

I was more amazed at how bad people's teeth were... :D

Brits.

I got 11 out of 20.

You can tell these are all British people. I wasn't sure of the gender of one or two of them. None of that helped.

Person #13 - man or woman?
Whichever, it's really creepy!
I didn't dare to ask but was thinking the exact same thing! Start smiling and I start running - genuine or fake smile!!!
Out of curiosity, what was the distinguishing feature that you looked for? I was going for the eyes most of the time.
I just looked at their eyes mostly. Fakes smiles rarelyaffect the person's eyes.
Same here. Although I couldn't tell why.
Brits.
I really shouldn't have said anything... but my reaction was a little bit more :eek: instead of genuine or faked :confused:. :D

What the...? 16/20? I didn't even take that one seriously. I got really paranoid because I was saying that they were all genuine, so i started saying that they were fake, then I went back to them being genuine... How did I only get four wrong?

Actually in hindsight only one of them was truly deceptive. All the other ones that I got wrong seem obvious now.

But they should've put me on there! If I block my mouth when I smile there is no evident difference. I have the most unexpressive eyes I know, which makes people mistrust me. I actually wish I had smiley eyes; it would make my life a bit easier! So I could genuinely smile and people would think I was faking...

I don't even need to take the test - I know I'll fail. Non-verbal cues just aren't something I grasp.

I got a 17/20. I did a lot better than I expected, but I did already know to watch pay attention to the eyes. You can't fake that happiness you get in your eyes. That's why all my school pictures look like I hate life. XD

I only got 8 out of 20, I must just be dead inside.

You can tell these are all British people.
They probably all work for the BBC as well.

I got 15/20 right.

19/20. Thought one was fake that was genuine. Oh well.

15/20

Not bad if I say so myself.

13/20.

Better than I thought I would get.

15/20

Some of those people were creepy looking...

16/20

12/20 Not bad, considering I thought that I'd only get the first few right. Some of the smiles were creepy, so I assumed they were fake and those were the ones I got wrong.

Huh, 12/20. It does say that most people are bad at this, though. Still, better than half right.