Can you spot a fake smile?

[Pah]

Go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/mind/surveys/smiles/index.shtml and take the test

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.

I got 11 of 20 correct

Bob

 

[Circle_One]

I got 15 out of 20 right.

 

[Ceridwen018]

I got 15 out of 20 too. That was very interesting, pah.

 

[HelpMe]

18, but they should cut off everything besides the head so as to eliminate other body language entirely.

 

[Mr Spinkles]

15 of 20 as well.

 

[Pah]

Guess I must be the more guilible of all

Bob

 

[HelpMe]

did you all read the article before taking the test?

 

[Pah]

did you all read the article before taking the test?

I didn't. It appeared after I took the test. Do you think I could use that as an excuse?

Bob

 

[HelpMe]

well considering i read it, and studied psychology before, yes!feel free.

 

[robtex]

11/20 tough game wow....

 

[Quoth The Raven]

15 out of 20...better than I expected, actually

 

[Bastet]

I did better than I thought I would (I was taking the test going "Ohh, I'm doing really badly at this") -- 15/20. Out of the 5 I got wrong, 3 were genuine (and I thought were fake), and 2 were fake (which I thought were genuine). Seems I had a slightly harder time spotting the real smiles lol.

 

[HelpMe]

20 subjects isn't enough for a scientific experiment any way but..

is it me or have only 2 people not gotten 15 right?

 

[jewscout]

8 out of 20

i couldn't get over how ugly those people were. It's like someone hit them with an ugly stick when they were born:biglaugh:

 

[Scuba Pete]

I only got 10 of 20 and I WAS looking at the eyes. I use context so much in evaluating people and that was completely missing.

 

[linwood]

16/20
Pretty cool.

 

[Jaymes]

Ouch... I only got 13/20.

 

[anders]

7. Better than I thought when starting.

 

[Runt]

16/20

I played around with it a little... for the first 10 I tried to watch just the mouth. For the second 10 I tried to watch only the eyes. I got 7 out of 10 right on the first half (watching the mouth) and 9 out of 10 right on the second half (watching the eyes). Interesting.

 

[HelpMe]

that, and cheek muscles, can be giveaways.