Micro Expressions, Subtle Body Language and Lying

Continuation of the previous blog...

What are Micro Expressions?

A micro expression is a momentary involuntary facial expression -- that people unconsciously display when they are hiding an emotion. They are quick & intense expressions of concealed emotion.

The main points to remember are that micro expressions are:

Brief - Micro-expressions can appear then disappear off the face in a fraction of a second. In other words micro-expressions occur so quickly, that most people don't even notice them.

Involuntary - A micro-expression is caused by involuntary movements in facial muscles. (See the fake-smile diagram). Most people cannot control these involuntary muscles which are affected by their emotions.

Micro Expressions are generally grouped into seven universal emotions: anger, disgust, fear, sadness, happiness, surprise, and contempt.

A Brief History of Micro Expression Theory

According to Wikipedia - Micro Expressions were first discovered by Haggard and Isaacs in the 1960s. In 1966, Haggard and Isaacs outlined how they discovered these "micromomentary" expressions published under the title: "Micromomentary facial expressions as indicators of ego mechanisms in psychotherapy".

Although it is not included in most histories of micro expressions; I would like to point out that Darwin's book "The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals" published in 1872 deserves a mention. Darwin noted the universal nature of facial expressions, the muscles used in facial expressions, etc. Check out more illustrations from Darwin's book. Also worth noting is Guillaume Duchenne and the Duchenne Smile.

Most websites I can find next list William Condon as a pioneer who studied hours of tapes in the 1960s frame by frame to discover micro movements like micro expressions. I can find little info on this research but there is some other interesting body language & verbal expression / NLP research by a Dr. William S. Condon (I'm 99% sure it's the same dude - contact me if you have any info on the 1960s microexpression research by Condon as cited on wikipedia). Others mentioned as pioneering researchers in the field include John Gottman and Paul Eckman.

Dr. Paul Ekman's research (along with the work of Silvan Tomkins) in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions took Darwin's work to the next level proving that facial expressions of emotion are not culturally determined, but biological in origin and universal across human cultures. Eckman co-developed the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) with Wallace V. Friesen in 1976. FACS is a system to taxonomize human facial expressions, and still used today by psychologists, researchers and animators.

Dr. Ekman has published many books on emotions, facial expressions and lie detection including Unmasking the Face: A Guide to Recognizing Emotions From Facial Expressions and Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage.

Micro-Expressions and Lying

Micro Expressions betray us when we lie. We can try to cover our feelings with fake smiles, but involuntary face muscles reveal this hidden emotions. Seeing is easier, watch this short video:

(go to this address to see the short video: http://www.blifaloo.com/info/microexpressions.php)

Paul Ekman and his research is the inspiration for the TV series "Lie to Me".

Trained investigators, customs agents, etc. use micro expression recognition along with other body language & speech cues (see distancing language for an example) to determine truthfulness.

While most people can be trained to recognize micro expressions and other deceptive cues, some folks are naturals. Ekman calls them "Truth Wizards"

Latest Micro Expression Research & Training

Dr. Paul Ekman and Dr. David Matsumoto created METT, an online micro expression training tool. METT and METT2 are being discontinued, but both Ekman and Matsumoto have developed their own micro expression training software available on their respective sites. (listed below).

Dr. Mark Frank, a former student of Ekman's, continues work on deception and micro facial movement research. Frank identified specific and sometimes involuntary movements of the 44 human facial muscles linked to fear, distrust, stress and other emotions related to deception. Frank's work is being tested for it's use in anti-terrorism investigations.


Note: I don't take credit for the contents of this blog. I'm just simply re-posting it. I got this from http://www.blifaloo.com/and wikipedia. Can't see the pictures? Visit the site http://www.blifaloo.com/ :)