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There is a fun test on the BBC's Science and Nature page that will challenge your ability to detect a genuine smile. The test is based on the work of Paul Ekman and his colleague, Wallace V. Friessen, who developed a Facial Action Coding System [FACS] to document and translate the array of observable facial movements humans can make.
Over the years, Eckman has conducted extensive research on the expression of emotion and deceit. He was the first to coin a term for the real "Duchenne Smile," in reference to the work of French neuro-anatomist Guillaume-Benjamin-Amand Duchenne.
In the 1860s, Duchenne documented his use of electrical current to isolate the contraction of facial muscles in a genuine smile. He found that his patients could "will" the zygomaticus major muscle to raise the corner of the lips, but they could not voluntarily contract the orbicularis oculi muscles around the eyes. Contemporary research explains that the brain does not process all emotions in the same way and that its signals for waking up those little, say it with me, orbicularis oculi are beyond our conscious control.
When you take the smile test, which is a brief, 20-question, fantastic way to spend a 10-minute break at work, be sure to play the video clip that accompanies each photo. And for your efforts, you will receive a nifty results page that assesses your ability to spot a genuine smile.
I wish you happy test-taking and, in true throwdown fashion, hope you can beat a "correct answer" score of 17! Even more fun: Share the test!
