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Fake Smile Test
Status: Psychology test
I've linked to a fake smile test before, but this one hosted by the BBC (and designed by Professor Paul Ekman, from the University of California) is more elaborate since it allows you to see actual video clips of people smiling. I did quite badly at differentiating the real from the fake, scoring only 9 out of 20. The blurb at the conclusion of the test notes that "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." That made me feel a bit better. The blurb also explains that "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." However, I don't think knowing that will significantly improve anyone's score on the test.
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Categories: Psychology Posted by Alex on Wed Nov 16, 2005 |
Comments (37) |
| More from the Hoax Museum Archives: | |||
I got 15 out of 20!!!
Posted by thephrog in CA USA on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 12:33 AM
15/20 aint too shabby (my score too), though, I wonder how they got the images of the real smiles... point a camera at the subject and tell a joke?... how do they know if a smile really is a real smile... I can move my eye color fold pretty much at will, though it might be hard for me to get the timing right... a trained actor could probably do it easily... is uppose it is a good tip though... I'll be shure to try and incorperate it into my future fake similes
Posted by mormagli on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 12:39 AM
I got 18 out of 20 - it's definitely in the eyes.
Posted by Carrie in London, ON Canada on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 08:34 AM
nice job
Posted by mormagli on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 10:54 AM
14 out of 20 for me.
Posted by andy on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 11:50 AM
17 correct - it is the eyes you have to watch
Posted by Chris on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 12:28 PM
12 out of 20 here.
Posted by Winona in USA on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 01:06 PM
I agree its the eyes I got 15 right. 
Posted by Iridium in Middlesbrough on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 02:06 PM
Also dont you think they were some very odd looking people in the test?.
Posted by Iridium in Middlesbrough on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 02:08 PM
I got 16, and I agree with Iidium, some of those people were rather strange looking.
Posted by Cathy in South Dakota on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 03:25 PM
14/20, not *too* shabby. Some I was on the fence about, and in those cases I gave them a 'fake' rating. It seems to be all in the eyes. I think they had some 'strange' looking people and a variety of ethnicities to throw the viewer off. Pscyhologically, most are able to discern the genuineness of an expression of your own race, or from races you see more often.
Posted by Seth Easton in United States on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 03:42 PM
I suck, I only got 10 right.
Posted by Charybdis in Hell on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 03:46 PM
i got 15 right as well. i really didn't think that i would do well because those people were kind of funny looking and hard to read.
Posted by Bria Neuenschwander in fres-neck on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 04:27 PM
I got 9 out of 20, but that's assuming that all the fakers were REALLY faking, which i'm not about to accept. I believe I actually got 18 out of 20, and that the smilers were actually lying to the testers.
PS- Watch the weird looking comments. That's my sister in the test with the vampire teeth and the shaved sides of the head. She's looks JUST LIKE MAMA.
Posted by booch on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 04:43 PM
PS- Watch the weird looking comments. That's my sister in the test with the vampire teeth and the shaved sides of the head. She's looks JUST LIKE MAMA.
17/20. Not bad I suppose. I was looking at the eyes for each one. I did wonder too, if they were all fake, but it still got me.
Posted by Benjamin Marshall in CA on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 04:44 PM
i scored a 14 out of 20, i thought this was supposed to be hard!
Posted by Danny on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 05:36 PM
I got 18 out of 20. I heard a long time ago you could tell a real smile by watching someone's eyes.
Posted by Saribellum in Another Time on Wed Nov 16, 2005 at 09:57 PM
Oh my gosh, 20 out of 20!It's totally in the eyes.
Posted by Chickadee on Thu Nov 17, 2005 at 10:38 AM
What does everyone's stellar performance here (significantly better than chance on average) say given that "[m]ost people are surprisingly bad at spotting fake smiles"?
(I got 15 out of 20 with 3 on the fences and 1 where I was totally distracted by the guy's crossed eyes.)
Posted by beowulf on Thu Nov 17, 2005 at 12:45 PM
(I got 15 out of 20 with 3 on the fences and 1 where I was totally distracted by the guy's crossed eyes.)
16/20 Eyes & head movement tell.
Posted by Eric on Thu Nov 17, 2005 at 03:40 PM
19/20 baby.
The fake smiles make people look like jerks, the real ones make people look nice. It is definitely in the eyes.
No wonder I think so many people are jerks.
Posted by the on Fri Nov 18, 2005 at 01:45 PM
The fake smiles make people look like jerks, the real ones make people look nice. It is definitely in the eyes.
No wonder I think so many people are jerks.
16/20!!
Posted by Nighthawk on Tue Nov 29, 2005 at 11:28 PM
16/20
I assumed that all the women who smiled were faking, as that is what happens to me in real life. And I was right 66% of the time.
Posted by DFStuckey in Auckalnd New Zealand on Sat Dec 03, 2005 at 10:16 PM
I assumed that all the women who smiled were faking, as that is what happens to me in real life. And I was right 66% of the time.
cool test!!
Posted by Nicole Gretes in canada on Tue Dec 06, 2005 at 09:52 PM
17/20 jus looked for how quickly they stopped smiling....yeh i know its cheap but it works
Posted by Alex on Thu Jan 05, 2006 at 10:01 AM
I have got 16 out of 20, As i have seen most of the comments but I have noticed most of them by there Lips. May be I am wrong.Woot!! 19/20 They eyes give it away. At least all those years in door to door sales have finally paid off.
Posted by Lounge Lizard in El Paso, Tx on Fri Aug 25, 2006 at 12:19 PM
woohoo! I got 18/20! Mostly by my own reaction, whether I wanted to smile back or not. darn, got two wrong 
Posted by emma in NZ on Tue Oct 24, 2006 at 02:19 AM
i read somewhere that a fake smile fades faster than real ones, i tried that and got 17 right :D
Posted by Cathy in outathisworld on Sat Dec 02, 2006 at 11:01 PM
Got 18 out of 20!
Eyes give it away everytime. It gives away that 'you bug me, so go away' look.
Posted by Carter S on Mon Dec 04, 2006 at 11:54 AM
Eyes give it away everytime. It gives away that 'you bug me, so go away' look.