intersting. I hit 13 of 20
I got 11 out of 20 and my son got 14 out of 20.
Isn't it funny that it says that you get along better with people if you don't know a real smile from a fake one. I would have never thought that, but it must be true.
My son is seriously skeptical of other people and is considered to be very pessimistic, which to psychologists, is a bad trait (but he does not get messed over by people) on the other hand, I am way too trusting of people and get along with them until their "true" nature comes out and then I get burnt - big time :-(
Just goes to show you, what do doctors really know about what is good and what is bad.
When my mother smiled, it was usually a fake smile (when people came to visit), and my mother-in-law is such a phoney, too, with her fake smiles and honey-sweet voice, that I learned to detect fake smiles from real ones very early in life.
Strangely, my husband claims that my body language is normal, too! I do remember practicing reading out loud with lots of expression and different voices when I was a kid, and children love it when I read to them as a result. I also watch other people very intently (my kids always tell me to stop staring at other people).
I guess that's why when I don't try to be social, Ken will claim I am angry or grumpy, when I am not, because my body language is off when I concentrate on something else (and I won't smile when concentrating on something I am working on, but might even crease my forehead in concentration, which is then misinterpreted as a 'scowl').
I've heard some research that real smiles invole hard to control musles under the eye.
I've heard some research that real smiles invole hard to control musles under the eye.
I heard that as well, so I looked at the eyes and got 17/20. I missed some fake ones that crinkled the eyes and thought they were real.
My daughter Susie, who is 13, did the test and got 13 out of 20 (she is not an Aspie, but I am sure she has ADD).
My daughter Janet, who is 19, just did it and got 10 out of 20! She is very, very NT, and is the most social person I know (I really mean that). But she is of all my children also the most shallow (just like my dear husband). It seems the more NT you are, the worse you do on this test, very interesting.
Ha! 18/20 so i am obviously exposed as a NT lurker! Actually i have practised this for years as i have always been fascinated by faces and have drawn them all my life. I enjoyed this site and maybe it could be helpful for kids/adults learning this. Of course there are many other things going on here, like gender, experience, ability to respond appropriately. I find that difficult. Sometimes i would like a mirror to check. And i don't enjoy eye contact. Other expressions would be far more difficult and possibly frightening.
becca
7/20 Dam, I guess working on how sarcastic the smile ended didn't work. But i can make alsorts of screwed up faces which people usually think, what the hell!? And when i see a smile, i take it as a smile. Unless like i said they are being sarcastic, so the way the end it would be and quick straightr face an kinda run away.
Ozzy said:
I do that a lot as well, especially when I'm in a social situation that requires that I have to interact with people I don't care for. But the needs for diplomacy outweigh my needs to run screaming for the hills. :-(
even tho i can spot a fake one easy, summoning up even a fake one from my own face is impossible. i do run screaming for the hills in fact and i never realised. Maybe that is why people are always demanding to know how i feel and i dont know! ARGH ! There are no emoticons for this!
So what i have to learn to do is a fake smile and not feel screwed up about it. So i dont have to run for the hills, so people don't think i am misbehaving.
So OK- How?
becca :smile: :smile: :smile: 
:roll: :wink: :?:
I got 16 out of 20 right. Like Ozymandias, I have a "tight" smile, a kind of reflexive grimace for times when I feel I must smile...at people I can't warm up to but have to get along with in everyday life, also at strangers I pass on the street because once eye contact is made I don't want to seem hostile or rude. I call it my "I'm not a ***" smile. The point of it is to keep the peace. I smile like that a lot. I wonder how many people can tell...
:smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile: :smile:
OK, how'd everybody do?
(cleverly masking my eyes so you can't tell)
REALLY happy being on this forum! :grin:
I do the same thing, smile to make people comfortable...though I don't have the presence of mind to smile at people I feel are unsafe; I just try to avoid them.
Welcome to the forum, by the way! :grin: (genuine)
Well, in my case, I think I just smile because I am aware of the social convention that one is supposed to smile when making eye contact, that to look at someone without acknowledging them with a smile is rude or even hostile, as if you're deliberately GLARING at them. My own mother used to accuse me of sulking or "giving her that look" simply because my normal relaxed expression is a little on the sullen side (downturned mouth, LIKE HERS I might add). I tend to assume the same thing myself, that someone who makes eye contact and doesn't smile is expressing dislike or hostility. Which is stupid: Someone who's never exchanged a word with me can't possibly feel anything but indifference toward me, hence the lack of a smile, but instead of seeing indifference I & so many others conclude that we are being snubbed unless we see that (in Ozymandias's words) "tight little smile" indicating minimal politeness at least. Funny that I should care; I don't like having strangers invading my space and expecting friendly conversation, so why would I care whether they "like me" or not? Probably because of another belief I was raised with: "If you're nice to people, they'll like you." Therefore, if anyone at all doesn't like me, I must be guilty of some wrongdoing! It's all so tiring.
I got 14 out of the 20 correct. However most of the time I was just guessing. And as for that part of the test where they said "which part of the face helped you in working out fake from genuine", umm, the mouth? That's the only bit that smiles, after all. The rest of the faces are just coloured blurs with holes for eyes, after all.
Alison