Scoring Procedure

Scoring Step V. Verifying Intensity Criteria and Unilaterality Questions

• Check Sections A and C for each single AU for which you have any remaining doubts about its presence.
• Now is the time to score intensity for any AU that has not already received an intensity score. If intensity is scored for
an AU where there was doubt about its presence, it is likely that the AU is 'A' or 'B' intensity. If it were greater, it is
unlikely that there would be a question about its presence. Use the guidelines in Section C for each single AU to deter-
mine the intensity of the AUs. The Reference section Check revealed whether the intensity criteria vary when the AU
is scored with any other AUs that are in your list of scores. If so, apply those criteria, not the criteria for scoring the
single AU.
• If you are scoring intensity, and the intensity is different on the two sides of the face, give only one intensity score
using as your score the higher intensity shown (unless you are scoring asymmetry as explained in Chapter 11). If there
is no trace of evidence for the AU on one side, score the action as unilateral using ‘L’ or ‘R’.
• The listings of combinations where the intensity criteria for an AU are different in the combination from the AU alone
are a subset of the possible relevant combinations. What is listed is the smallest combination for which criteria change.
If you are scoring a combination not listed in the C section for a single AU, but a part of the combination is listed sep-
arately, you must use the criteria for the partial combination. For example, the intensity criteria for l in the combination
1+2 are listed separately, since the criteria for l in 1+2 are different than for l alone. But there is no listing for 1+2+5. If
your scores were 1+2+5 you would, when checking the criteria for 1, use the criteria listed under 1+2.
• If there are questions about laterality, resolve them now. If there is any intensity of the AU on one side of the face, the
other side of the face needs merely a trace in order to score the AU as bilateral. Only score the AU as unilateral if there
is absolutely no trace of the AU on the other side of the face. To help determine the AU's presence, you may need to
review the A or C sections. Enter the laterality notation on line V Revised Scoring, if the Action Unit cannot be scored
as bilateral.
• Enter the revised scoring on line V Revised Scoring
Example: In the example on Score Sheet 1, all the AUs need intensity scoring. Besides the criteria for each individual
AU (1, 5, and 6), the intensity criteria for l and 4 in the combination of 1+4 must be checked. In this example the coder
remembered that the criteria for 4 are different in 1+4 than in 4 alone. If the coder did not remember this variation, the
Reference Check on AU 4 would have found the entry 1+4 and the associated changed criteria. In deciding about the
alternatives 5 and 43, the coder is confident that 5 is present and any possible narrowing of the eye aperture is due to 6
and/or 7, so 43 is dropped. In deciding about 6 and 7, the coder reads the guidelines in Section C for AU 6 and scores
its intensity, then following the changed criteria for 7B in the Reference for AU 7, scores the slight changes observed
as A level intensity, whereas such changes would have indicated a B intensity if 6 were not present.

The results of this step are entered into a revised scoring on line V Revised Scoring.

Scoring Step VI. Final Decisions

By now, all questions may be solved, and the scoring can be entered in the line for Final Scoring Upper Face. If decisions
remain, take these steps:
• Determine if the choice in a ( or ) expression is listed in Subtle Difference Table 2-2. If it is listed, read the entry, study
the images, consult the video and make the decision. As safeguard, recast the scoring into two (or more) choices, each
choice incorporating the definite scores and one of the ( or ) AUs. Check Table 2-2 to see if there is a Subtle Difference
entry for the two possible arrays of scores, or for some smaller sub-combination of them. This safeguard may reveal
new considerations when the AUs in ( or ) expressions are combined with the other scores with which one of them will
finally be scored. It is possible that you may have two AUs in an ( or ) expression that are not listed in a Subtle Differ-
ence table. A relevant comparison may, however, be listed together with other AUs in another combination in a Subtle
Difference table, and you can check to see if it would help with your decision. Even though the entry may provide the
basis for a choice, it is possible to recast the scores into two choices (e.g., 1+4+5+6 vs. 1+4+5+7) and determine
whether they are listed in a Subtle Difference table, or some sub-combination of them is listed. In this example there
are no such listings. It may happen that there is nothing relevant or useful in a Subtle Difference table for your choice,
and you have to rely upon the additional steps below.
Example: In the example of Score Sheet 1, only the issue of 6 and 7 remains from line V Revised Scoring. There is an

Facial Action Coding System

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