test on reading emotions in eyes

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I'm beginning to doubt more and more that I really have Aspergers.

I took this test and scored above average (28/36). The average is about 26 for the general population and for asperger is only about 21.

How do you guys do?

For further information, the article came from this article about borderline personality disorder.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sci ... -revisited

Not sure if I have BPD but some of it fits. I feel like I read expressions well but have a tendency to personalize them, thinking the person is mad at [/i] me[i] when they are really just mad about something else.

If it's the one i am thinking of it is rubbish.

This is because you get multiple choice answers so you can figure out the most logical answer from the selection of choices that are there. In those instances I can pretty much come to the most likely conclusion by a process of elimination and therefore can pass the test.

Ask me to tell you what the eyes in the pictures are telling me without any kind of prompting by multiple choice and I would get most of them wrong, simply because most of the time, what I thought the eyes were saying was not on the list of answers at all and so I had to go with one of the answers that was there instead.

This tells me that without having a multiple choice list in front of me I struggle to interpret some expressions. In social situations you don't the multiple choice so it is nothing like having to read these things in a real life social situation.

For that reason the scores from those tests tell you very little about your ability to interpret facial expressions etc.

Edit: I scored 29 using the process of elimination by removing the most unlikely expressions first (ie anything like happy if I can see the muscles around the eyes are frowning...a smile and frowning uses different muscles slightly) and then taking a chance with any options that are left. However, I don't fit the symptoms of BPD.

Yes sometimes I can misread someone who is teasing for example and think they are being mean, but once they explain they are teasing I accept that and play along with them. The only reason I misinterpreted them was because I misread them not because I am sensitive to being teased.

Last edited by bumble on 02 Mar 2012, 3:35 am, edited 1 time in total.

Actually that is a very good point. But for most of the responses I looked at the picture first and came up with the word before looking at the answers. Most of the questions I didn't have to use deductive reasoning on or process of elimination although I did for a couple (but some of those I got wrong anyways)

Yeah, the test is probably rubbish, but I still think I read expressions at least about average, just based on personal experience in real life. My biggest problem is interpreting the context (ie I always relate the emotions back to myself, if someone is angry, I think they are angry at me, if they are sad, I think it is because they are disappointed in me, etc etc)

Is this common with Asperger's or not?

I don't know how common it is for Asperger's as I am still trying to figure out if Asperger's is my problem or if it's something else. I do know that, in most cases, I don't know the answer before having to look at the list to 'tell me' what the answer might be. I also know that I can misinterpret people socially unless the cues are very obvious. Subtle signals confuse the hell out of me most of the time.

Ie a male neighbour keeps coming round for a chat and kisses me on the cheek as he is leaving. After several months I am still scratching my head over what he is trying to tell me or what it means lol. Meaning I am not sure if he is flirting or if he is just being friendly or polite or other. I have given up trying to figure it out now lol. I just live with the mystery lol.

I'm sceptical about these tests. I also did well on it. But what it seems to be testing is the ability to tell emotions from pictures. I've seen a lot of pictures of people in my life - comic books, TV, films. I've gleaned a huge amount of information from them.

If I had never seen an image of a human face, but had to take such a test based on my face-to-face interactions only, I don't think I would do very well.

^^^This.

Yeah, you have a point. I have learned over the years not through formal training but through experience that a raised eyebrow means something is going on. When the two eyes are showing different expressions this indicates something weird is going on as well.

But it's not like I have to think myself, oh this guy is making a raised eye brow, he must be angry, I mean I see it pretty quickly and without really thinking about it. I imagine someone on the low end of the spectrum might not be able to read faces at all without making a very deliberate effort. Of course it is a spectrum.

Whatever, the test isn't all that important. Real life experiences have told me that sometimes I capable of seeing things in others that they don't even see themselves. I have had people act surprised when I told them they seem depressed. It caught them off guard because they didn't realize it themselves or didn't expect me to notice. I do pick up on facial cues.

As for interpreting them correctly, that is an entirely different story. I often suspect a girl is flirting with me, but can never really be certain. I always question myself and think they are just being kind. I can never really tell the difference. I suppose this is an Aspie trait. I very rarely date because I find the social interaction extremely draining and exhausting.

I think reading people is not a huge problem for me, what is hard for me is expressing the appropriate emotions without coming off as a fake.

I got a 31. I don't know what to make of that. Often I am pretty clueless in social situations. Perhaps I should only talk to people through mail slots, where I can only see their eyes!

Yeah, that'll work...

It only works when people actually knock on your door and you have a mail slot you can actually see through. Also the mail slot needs to be set quite high in the door otherwise it is not their eyes you end up looking at!

At other times you would have to carry your own mail slot around with you, preferably one that isn't attached to a door and is portable.

I am terrible as I don't really notice unless people smack me on the head with their emotions or something lol. Actually it is one reason I have decided not to pursue friendships and relationships any more. Yes I like having bonds and what not but I am such a self absorbed person I don't really notice what is going on in other peoples worlds. I also have trouble being interested in what is going on in their world sometimes too. Yes I care if they are upset or something, but otherwise I am to engrossed in my own thoughts to pay attention to them. I am more amused by own internal world than the external one in some ways, unless it relates to my latest obsession (whatever that is..which at the moment is basically geology and evolution).

And that is a second issue, I do get obsessed with my hobbies which at the moment is studying an earth sciences degree and that's really mostly all I want to do with my time. I can't pull myself out of study mode to socialise and pay attention to people and part of me doesn't want to. I have had to lose several friendships lately because I was getting very upset and stressed out because I was not getting the hobby time I needed.

It is also very tiring and hard to pull myself out of my own world...and although I can get a bit lonely, in general I am happier pottering around in my own world than having to pull out of it to focus outside of myself.

I am a horribly self absorbed selfish type person and, as I don't like hurting people, I would rather stay alone than have people feeling upset and hurt because I could not give them the attention they needed from me. So I have decided that rather than hurting anyone I should stay alone really. It's a better option.

I have tried not being self absorbed and obsessed with my hobbies but it's exhausting, stresses me out and then makes me ill...so either way I can't win.

Better to accept my any loneliness I feel from not sharing a bond with anyone and live my life alone really. Much better all round...I can't hurt anyone's feelings that way. Also if I stay away from socialising I can have my hobby time and I won't keep getting the socialising wrong all the time and making a mess of things. I don't really notice my loneliness when I am absorbed in my hobby anyway. It's only when I take a break from it I realise how devoid of social bonds my life is. But then when I try to form social bonds...all hell breaks loose.

I can't cope with the amount of socialising they need and start to have a breakdown...basically I get stressed, end up yelling at myself, burst into tears, occasionally smash the odd inanimate object or thump myself on particularly bad days, blow a fuse then exhaust and get horribly depressed and shut down for a while whilst I recover. All because I go so upset about not having my hobby time and am too exhausted to provide people with the attention they need...etc

It's ok for people to say just breathe...but it doesn't work, I am still upset and I continue to feel that upset whether I do breathing exercises or not. In actual fact, in the quiet space where I am focusing on my breath I am even more aware of how upset I am so if anything trying to breathe to calm down makes it 10 times worse and I will blow my stack and end up making myself look like I am insane or something. I can stop my breakdowns from coming on if I avoid the stressor but once they start I cannot really stop them...they kind of take over in a way, although fortunately they are more noisy than dangerous most of the time (I have never severely hurt myself or anyone during on of them...I don't like hurting people and I don't really want to hurt myself...I am just upset and am having trouble getting anyone to understand). No one understands even therapists, they just judge you and give you more medication for depression or social anxiety which does not work and actually makes things worse (mostly because you now have side effects to deal with on top of everything else).

I can't do it, I can't maintain friendships it is destroying me and people end up getting hurt emotionally because I can't always give them what they need and then I feel guilty and bad and upset and meltdown and so it goes on and on.

I am trying to turn my hobby into a career right now because if I focus on that I can excel, partly because of ability in that area (I am an A grade average academically) and partly because my obsession with it makes me one of the most diligent people you can come across. But if I focus on socialising I will continue to do nothing with my life other than sit at home on disability every day.

Why do therapists keep insisting I socialise all the time, why can't they let me do what I am good at and make something out of my life instead of wearing me down to the point where I cannot function with all this socialising. Why?

I want away from therapists and off disability...I want to be alone with my obsession so I can make something out of my life with it and turn it into a career. In the words of a famous actress "I vant to be alone".

Last edited by bumble on 02 Mar 2012, 1:16 pm, edited 4 times in total.

did anyone catch the fact that Skeptical was spelled wrong on that test? Further: did that make you instantly distrust its results?

oh... and I scored a 10

Excellent observation, Feralucce.

It reminds me of this link I followed to someone's blog. It showed a picture of two gentlemen and asked which one was the Aspie (the message being that it was not immediately obvious just by looking at them). Anyway, there were a lot of responses, but for most of the Aspies who responded they said something like "I don't know which one is the Aspergian, however WILL SOMEONE STRAIGHTEN THAT CROOKEDLY HUNG PICTURE ON THE WALL BEHIND THEM! IT'S DRIVING ME CRAZY!"

I got 22 and found it really hard, 22 is the lower cut off point of normal. I spent a long time on each question, it really was intellect over intuition, I had to think who the eyes reminded me of, then try and fill out the rest of the face, then finally take a stab at the emotion.

Jason

I've realised I'm only actually slightly worse than average at reading emotions, it's just in the real world I very rarely look at peoples faces, and if I do I'm not really focussing on them. I actually noticed an expression the other day, I just happened to be looking in the 'face direction' at the time, it still feels like a profoundly strange experience, I honestly cannot remember another time when I've done so. I have to admit I'm quite envious of NTs if they pick them up most of the time, it added a 'richness' to what the person was saying. Generally for me there would be little difference between having a face-to-face conversation with someone and just receiving a transcript, so it was interesting to catch a glimpse of the non-verbal stuff. Anyway after that side-ramble I guess I'm saying just because you scored okay on one test doesn't negate an AS diagnosis (also reinforces importance of ecological validity).