Smiling Faces

A brief positive attention exercise

Find the smile.

Find the one smiling face among the more negative expressions as quickly as you can. With each new round, simply look for the smile.

No scores to beat. No one else to compete with. Just a few minutes of practicing where you place your attention.

Checking the portrait set quietly in the background...

Research inspiration

An independent exercise inspired by academic research

Smiling Faces is an independent attention exercise inspired by research by Stéphane Dandeneau, Mark Baldwin, and colleagues at McGill University. The exercise asks you to repeatedly find one smiling face among more negative expressions.

How the researchers describe the exercise Read the original study

Smiling Faces is a reflective positive attention exercise, not therapy, medical advice, diagnosis, or a substitute for professional support.

Smiling Faces active exercise

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Session complete

A few moments spent looking for the positive.

Rounds completed
0
First-try rate
0%
Median response time
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With repeated sessions, you may notice that finding the smile begins to feel more automatic.

How to play

Keep looking for the smile.

Find the one smiling face among the other faces. Select it as quickly and accurately as you comfortably can. A new group will appear after each correct choice.

There is no need to study or judge the other faces. Just keep looking for the smile.

This is not a test. Missing one does not cost you points.

About the research

A carefully framed inspiration

Smiling Faces is an independent attention exercise inspired by research by Stéphane Dandeneau, Mark Baldwin, and colleagues at McGill University. The exercise asks you to repeatedly find one smiling face among more negative expressions.

Research suggests that repeated positive attention practice may help some people become quicker at noticing positive social information and disengaging from negative social cues. Individual experiences vary.

How the researchers describe the exercise Read the original study

Smiling Faces is a reflective positive attention exercise, not therapy, medical advice, diagnosis, or a substitute for professional support.

Settings and privacy

A private, simple exercise

Portrait display

Your game results stay in this browser. Smiling Faces does not require an account or send your session results to us.

This exercise depends on visually distinguishing facial expressions and may not be accessible or useful for every player.

Paused

Take all the time you need.