Just sent this message to the sponsors of this test at Cambridge University:
Female autist here, level 1, formerly known as Asperger's syndrome. I can figure out the names of the emotions that people in the pictures are showing. That's because the pictures are still, the emotions are exaggerated, and I can take my time looking at them. In real life, the expressions may last a small fraction of a second and may be very subtle. Also, the pictures side-step the discomfort many autists feel when gazing at others' faces in real life.
There are certain key features that allow me to label emotions in static pictures. A relaxed face with mouth upturned at the edges usually means happy. An upturned mouth with a tense face means contempt. A hard mouth with a tense face means anger if the eyes are narrowed, especially if whites below the pupils are showing. Often the brow is wrinkled also. If the eyes are widened and the brow is unwrinkled -- fear if the whites above the pupils are showing, surprise if whites above and below the pupils are showing. A tense face with narrowed eyes and a wrinkled nose means disgust. Sometimes the mouth is wrinkled also. Etc. So I was able to identify most of the emotions shown in the pictures. They held still long enough for me to study them, and there was none of the social awkwardness I experience when looking at faces in real life. I would surmise that many female autists can complete the face task reasonably well, because girls are more carefully socialized than boys are. Thus, female autists tend to be better than male autists at masking. This is why female autists are often undiagnosed till later in life, causing us to miss out on the educational and medical support that we need during our formative years.
As for the questions -- those are about being able to predict neurotypical social responses. Answering honestly, I scored a 4 on the empathy test. I know I can't predict what's going on in a neurotypical mind any more than they can predict what's going on in my mind. But that does not mean that I lack empathy. In fact, I'm pretty much immune to the "bystander effect," when many people see a stranger in distress but do not act because they don't want to get involved and figure someone else will do what's needed. I don't shy away from the emotional labor of compassion; I have no choice but to feel others' suffering and take action to relieve that suffering. I cannot shut off my compassion like neurotypicals can, any more than I can ignore background noises or small movements in my peripheral vision like they can.
I'm not sure what your test is supposed to be measuring. It seems to be a reasonably good initial screen tool for autism in males, but it does not measure empathy. Being able to recognize exaggerated emotional expressions in static pictures is very different from being able to recognize micro expressions in real life. And it's highly unlikely that there are only two brain types, or three if you count a mixture of the two as a separate type. Even dubious systems such as MTBI recognize a great many more types than yours does.
I'm a math tutor by trade, I work for a local community college. I am the go-to person for courses in introductory statistics and research methods. These courses are required for majors in Business, STEM, and health care technology. One of the things students learn is evaluating measurement devices used in research: are they valid and reliable? That is, do they test what they are supposed to test, and are the results replicable? Your test does not appear to be valid or reliable. This is troubling, in light of the high prestige of your university.
Your test is harmful in that it promotes the idea that autists lack empathy. This, and the related myth that we lack emotions, has led to many institutionalized abuses against my people.
Thank you for your consideration.
