Facial Expressions
Non-verbal
communication and facial expression are valuable tools in intuiting intentions
and emotions. While often debated it is generally thought there exist facial
expressions which can be universally interpreted amongst all cultures. By
pairing your perception of non-verbal and verbal communications the true intentions
of person can be determined without the listener realizing he is doing it. This
technique can be inherently useful in the detection of lies as a pioneered by
Paul Ekman a renowned psychologist known for his study in the field of emotions
in relation to facial expressions.
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| (Lie to Me (2009), 2009) |
Paul
Ekman theorized that there existed a small percentage of the population with
the ability to interpret this nonverbal communication in a manor far superior
than most. In a study known as the “Wizards Project” he interviewed over 20,000
people from all walks of life, and found that
50 of them had the ability to detect weather a person was lying 80%+
based off an innate ability to read micro-expressions. Micro-expressions being
brief involuntary expressions shown on the human face, which differ from
regular facial expressions in that they are much more difficult to suppress. (Ekman, Basic
Emotions, 1999)
The research Paul Ekman performed was so popular that it spawned a TV series
known as Lie to Me. In the series the main character Cal Leightman is based off
of Paul Ekman. Cal Leightman uses his ability to detect liars to assist crime
fighting for numerous government agencies, and also teaches others to detect
liars as well. (Ekman, Psychology Professor Paul Ekman, 2003)
While
I am fairly certain I don’t posses this natural ability to spot
micro-expressions and detect lies, I have found that by better understanding what
these micro-expressions are I can identify them more frequently. This gives an added dimension in how I perceive
communication from others.
(Ekman, Psychology Professor Paul Ekman, 2003)
Works Cited
Ekman, P. (1999). Basic Emotions. In P. Ekman, Handbook
of Cognition and Emotion. Sussex, U.K.: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Ekman, P. (Composer). (2003). Psychology Professor
Paul Ekman. Retrieved February 23, 2012, from
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1271998
Lie to Me (2009). (2009, April 24). Retrieved February 23, 2012, from IMDb:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3573582592/tt1235099
Wow, The "Wizards Project" sounds pretty fascinating. It is weird to think that there are people out there that can detect facial expressions so accurately. It's interesting because I don't even really consider facial expressions much when i'm communicating, but after reading this it will be interesting to see what I can pick up from people by just looking at them.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic. I have heard that when two people are talking, they can predict words that the other person is going to say within the first hundredths of a second of that word. Similar in magnitude to the micro-expressions you refer to. So maybe, even though it may seem more than 'micro' to you, it is very subtle to other people, and you actually can spot them. Although this is perhaps not on the same level as a super human ability or that "detecting lies" would imply, it does seem that we could be talking about even inconsistencies that lead people to suspect something is not normal, and deduce lying from there.
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