Baron-Cohen and Wheelwright started with 40 sets of eyes, target words, and foil words
* The one target word and three foil words for each set of eyes was developed using groups of 8 judges
* At least 5 judges had to agree that the target word was the most appropriate for the eyes
* If more than 2 judges selected a foil word instead of target, a new target word, foils, or both, were generated and the item was retested
* In the end, 36 sets of eyes were chosen because 4 items were removed when the results of these items from Groups 2 and 3 produced inconsistent results