Spot the Fake

[Shiny]

How good are you at detecting if people are lying?

There is also a test that allows you to see how good you are at spotting fake smiles versus genuine smiles.

BBC - Science & Nature - Human Body and Mind - Spot The Fake Smile

[Quindiana Jones]

I got 17 out of 20 right. I was caught out by Ben Affleck (9), the elderly James May (16) and Adam Baldwin (17). Put no great consideration into each answer, just clicked based on the feeling I got. Not too shabby.

<- Genuine or fake?

[Sephex]

10 out of 20 for me. Turns out that I was focusing on the eyes too much when I should have been paying more attention to the cheek muscles!

EDIT: I also found it funny that I got half right because I chose the middle option for the outlook on life and confidence in spotting fake smiles questions before the test truly began.

[krissy]

17
james may got me too

[Psychotic]

I played LA Noire, so I know that when people spin their head around and have a seizure it means they're lying.

I got 20/20 btw

[Jinx]

I got 14/20 right. Decent.

[Tigmafuzz]

20/20 for me. Then again, I studied Hellstromism for a few months... before it started pissing me off when I could tell people were lying to me.

Results (also cheat sheet lol)


What it says on the results page
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.

They need a "coding system" for this? I had this down pat like a year ago.

[Agent Proto]

Wow, I must really suck or I've been looking at the wrong muscles while checking each smile out. I have 7 out of 20 right, and I was feeling a little confident I would get at least 10 right. :\

[Bunny]

I got 15 out of 20. I went kinda fast though and wasn't paying much attention.

[Shlup]

I got the guy with the long, black hair and crazy long teeth wrong because I was distracted by his odd hairline and crazy long teeth. And a few other people I just failed on. 16/20

[nik0tine]

I got 14/20 right. Decent.

[blackmage_nuke]

I got 14 but only did really well in the second half when i started choosing people based on how big the smile is compared to thier initial face (Bigger difference meant fake)

[Pike]

18/20. Years of drawing cartoon characters taught me that the most important aspect of a real smile is if the corners of a person's eyes crinkle a bit when they grin. You have to watch the cheeks!

[fire_of_avalon]

16/20. I think it's probably easier to tell a liar from a fake smiler though. Unless they are a really good liar.

[Lone Wolf Leonhart]

13/20. I tried paying attention to how their mouths looked after the smile.

The idea being:

Genuine went from to

Fake went from to

Now I know I should have went with another method. I chose both middle options for the pre-test questions, but I don't know if the answers to those effect anything.