How the challenge dey work
Watch each clip reach the end, then choose the answer wey fit pass. Clips dey 14. You fit play clip again and change answer with Back. No time limit dey to answer, and no sound wey you need turn on.
The animations show simple shapes as dem dey interact. Your work na to guess wetin dem intend from how dem move, instead of recognizing face or remembering fact. Dem develop the original Social Shapes Test to study this part of how people understand each other [1].
How to understand your result
Your result count answers wey match the original answer key for each item. E no be IQ score or measure of your worth, empathy or relationships. We compare results with other Helibrain players using broad groups. Until eligible attempts plenty reach, we go show how many players don try am so far, instead of making up standard.
These visitors no represent everybody. Knowing the clips before, language, attention and playing dem again fit affect the result. You fit try again, but knowing the stories go make another try easier.
Wetin research show and wetin e no show
Studies of the Social Shapes Test support using am to study how people understand each other [1][2]. Published work also report say the two short versions agree only small-small, so make you read one result with care [2].
This page na shortened version: we choose the first 14 scored items from the authors’ final set of 23 items. We no reproduce either of the two published parallel forms wey get 14 items, and their reliability estimates no prove say this selection valid. Our version let you play clip again and go back to earlier answers. We use our own player comparisons, no be the standards from the papers.
This activity no fit diagnose any condition or tell you how you dey behave for real conversation.
Who make the animations
Social Shapes Test animations and questions by Myles I. Brown and colleagues, from Social Shapes Test Development and Validation, under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. Dem no change the animation files. Helibrain choose shorter set, cut extra spaces around the questions, and build this browser version. The authors no endorse this page.
Questions people dey ask
Na empathy test be this?
Na small task about understanding actions and intentions. Empathy and everyday social skills involve more than reading meaning from shape animation.
The challenge free?
Yes. The questions and result free, and you no need account. Helibrain app get separate free and paid plans.
Other tests wey relate to am
- Big Five personality testYour five broad personality traits, from 50 statements wey public domain cover.
- Aphantasia testHow clear the pictures for your mind eye dey, in your own words.
- Decision trapsNotice how wording dey frame things, money or effort wey don go, and tempting first answers.
See all di 43 free tests wey check brain
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Cite dis page: Challenge for social shapes. Helibrain. 2026. https://helibrain.com/pcm/social-shapes-challenge. CC BY 4.0.
How this test works
This challenge asks you to read intentions from movement. You watch 14 short, silent cartoons in which simple shapes move around and seem to chase, help or leave each other out. After each clip, pick the best of four descriptions. You can replay a clip, and there is no time limit for answering. Your score is the number of answers that match the original answer key. Animations of moving shapes have been used in psychology since 1944.
Version 1 · Cite this test:
Helibrain (2026). Social shapes challenge, v1. https://helibrain.com/social-shapes-challenge/methods
Sources
- Brown MI et al. (2019). The Social Shapes Test: New way to measure social intelligence, understanding people’s thoughts and intentions, and theory of mind. Personality and Individual Differences. doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.01.035
- Brown MI, Heck PR, Chabris CF (2024). The Social Shapes Test as online measure of social intelligence wey people fit do by themselves: Two studies. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. doi.org/10.1007/s10803-023-05901-2
- Brown MI and colleagues. How dem develop and validate the Social Shapes Test: original materials and license. osf.io/sqxy6/
How we take make dis page: di Helibrain team write am from di studies wey dem list above, and Robert(English) (PhD student for biophysics) review am on 4 Nọvẹ́mba 2026. We dey update am wen di sources change.