Tamara Curtis
Science Fair Project
1/7/2013
94: Work on your hypothesis
How do you spot the difference between a real and a fake smile?
Tamara Curtis
Research Topic and Procedure
1/7/2013
Question being asked:
How do you spot the difference between a real and a fake smile?
Hypothesis:
I think you have to look for the situation their surrounding (where are they, who are they with, etc.), how long they smile for, and if the surrounding facial areas match the expression.
Description of process:
I will get volunteers to take the “Spot the Fake Smile” test and record how optimistic and how confident they are in themselves. Then as they get finished with the test I will record how well he or she did. I would have to make sure they watch all of the short videos completely before choosing genuine or fake for their answers. I will then record the number of right answers and write down which ones they got wrong and whether or not it was genuine or fake. When they complete the test, I will then ask them again how they are now confident of themselves, after seeing what they got wrong, in spotting the difference between a real and a fake smile and record what they say. I will repeat this step for every volunteer and graph my recordings.
Tamara Curtis
Background Information
1/7/2013
Hypothesis:
I think you have to look for the situation their surrounding (where are they, who are they with, etc.),how long they smile for, and if the surrounding facial areas match the expression.
Background Information:
A genuine smile “Dunchenne smile” gets it original name from Guillaume Duchenne. He passed electrical currents through living objects and recorded what their faces looked like. He was a nineteeth-century French neurologist who was the first person to define some of the differences between a real and a fake smile. He claimed that real smiles made an upward movement of the mouth muscle and a movement of muscle around the eyes, which created and upward pulling of cheeks and wrinkles around the eyes. He believed that if it was a fake smile it did not have the movement of muscle around the eyes. However, this assumption has changed over the years.
Most people are able to control the muscles around their eye, hence making it look like a real smile. Since genuine smiles are automatic, they are controlled by a different part of the brain. A fake smile is controlled by the motor cortex and a real smile is controlled by the limbic system. Having damaged the motor cortex a person can spontaneously smile and turn out normal, differing from having damage to the anterior cingulate cortex, part of the limbic system, where a person who spontaneously smiles it would come out looking similar to a fake smile. A genuine smile lasts between 0.5 and 4 seconds, differing from a fake smile which ends quickly or is lasting a long time, depending on what the social trigger. Things such as how long they hold the smile, the symmetry of the expression and whether or not the expression is communicated with the other facial areas, can tell if the smile is a genuine smile or not.
Key Terms
Anterior cingulate cortex- functions reward anticipation, decision-making, empathy, and emotions
Motor cortex- functions planning, control, and execution of voluntary movements
Neurologist- physician who specializes in neurology and is trained to investigate, or diagnose and treat neurological disorders
Social trigger- what’s happening around you, what you are talking about, and who are you with
Tamara Curtis
Bibliography
1/7/2013
Works Cited
~"Smile -- And The World Can Hear You, Even If You Hide."Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. University of Portsmouth, 16 Jan. 2008. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
~Seltzer, Leon F., and Ph.D.."What Science Has to Say About Genuine vs. Fake Smiles | Psychology Today."Psychology Today: Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. AdoreeDurayappah, 5 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
~"Duchenne: Key to a Genuine Smile? â ” PsyBlog."Psychology studies relevant to everyday life from PsyBlog. N.p., 15 June 2010. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
~"BBC - Science & Nature - Human Body and Mind - Mind - Flavour and Personality test."BBC - Homepage. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
~"That's a Real Smile! ...or is it?."Science Fair Project Ideas, Answers, & Tools. Sandra Slutz, 23 Jan. 2009. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
Tamara Curtis
Observation Data
1/7/13
Julia 4/7 eye 1,3,11,14,16,17,20
Natali 4/7 laughing 4,9,13,17,19,20
Ashante 4/7 laughing 3,4,5,9,10,12,14,16,20
Ali 4/7 eyes 3,4,9,16,17
Tamara Curtis
Conclusion Statement
1/7/13