Spot the fake smile
 

An interesting and inexplicably unsettling test to see how well you can identify a fake smile. At the end it includes an interesting description of the differences. I got 16 out of 20 correct:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbo...es/index.shtml

This is just one of a series of such tests, but I haven't had the few spare minutes to poke around the others yet:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbo..._surveys.shtml

15 of 20:(

14

20 out of 20!

I had actually read about that in this book, which is about how baby's brains develop. Anyway. the gist of it is that real smiles are totally involuntary, and fake smiles are voluntary. The difference is that the muscles around the eyes move more in real smiles.

OK Juju, is this a real smile or not? :D

Oof. 12 of 20.

But I cry shenanigans! There were some fun-kay lookin british types in those animations. *cringe*

Shocking!

The difference is that the muscles around the eyes move more in real smiles.

Telling Lies is a good book for understanding the muscles in the face and how to tell a fake smile or frown from a real one.

For the smiles, its generally the crow's feet at the corners of the eyes -- there is a type that is impossible to generate unless you are really smiling due to an emotion, as you can't control those muscles voluntarily. Really neat stuff, but a little frightening when you start paying attention to people in your day to day activities.

14...I knew it was the eyes before I read the information at the end...you can just tell. Guess I wasn't as good as Juju, though. 20 large, eh? Well done!

10 of 20 ... but I blame the cheapass, cutrate, slower than a 56K modem DSL at work ... several of the clips didn't display properly so I didn't get to see them. Also, when it comes down to it, they were ALL fake. The experimental condition affects the test itself.

(But you gotta do the yucky things test ... EEEEEEEEUW!)

i got 18.
EDIT

I had originally linked in the pics of the two i got wrong and made very whitty comments about them. very whitty, indeed.

then my brain turned back on all by itslef, and i realized that i would foul up the scoring if i gave away the answers. Hope i dint mess you up, Whit.

      Damn, I got 19... Juju has overcome my ability to spot a false smile. Hmm... Maybe I just rushed to much...
      By the by, and correct me if I'm wrong on this, but aren't most emotions most obvious in the region of the eyes? I know if I want to know how someone is reacting to me I always reflexively look at their eyes...

this one is kinda cool too.


yup, that;s me. especially the part where i use peoples consciences against them.

      Umm ... What the? Was this a GWB quote or something?

      Anyway, I got 39, same as Jim. Not sure how I feel about that... He does work in a car dealership after all...

18 out of 20. Holy crap!! I thought I'd get like 3. I never knew I had super powers.

      Nope, I actually was doing the test when you posted. The one I missed was actually the same dude towards the end that you did. Of course, I spotted that fake smiling chic a mile away. The sad part was the one I thought I missed was the Asian chic. I wasn't watching for crows feet or anything, but I was less certain with her than with the others on the test. Still, got her right too.

      I just read Blue58's post. Isn't it interesting how much difference people expect? I mean I was a little disappointed that I missed one, Blue was exstatic over missing two.
      Oh yeah, and I want to take a cue from Wolf and cry foul over having an archaic computer. I didn't even know the clips were longer than two seconds for the first five people. System was to slow to show it all properly. Plus I'm to impatient to let it load completely before answering... Screw it. That dude fooled me. End of story. Bastard...