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Paul Ekman

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Paul Ekman

Paul Ekman is a contemporary psychologist who studies the relationship


between emotions and facial expressions. He is well known for his ability to detect lies.
PROFESSIONAL LIFE
Paul Ekman was born in Washington, DC, in 1934 and lived in many states throughout his
childhood. He studied at both New York University and the University of Chicago. He
graduated from Adelphi University in 1958 with a PhD in clinical psychology.
Ekman interned at the Langly Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute and later worked as a
consultant there. He was a professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the
University of California in San Franciso. He retired from both the Lan gly Porter
Neuropsychiatric Institute and the University of California in 2004. Ekman has received
multiple awards, including Research Scientist Award from the National Institute of Mental
Health on six separate occasions, and he was named one of TIME magazine's 100 Most
Influential People.
CONTRIBUTION TO PSYCHOLOGY
Ekman is best known for his work with facial expressions. He theorized that not all
expressions are the result of culture. Instead, they express universal emotions and are
therefore biological. He discovered that several facial expressions of emotion, such
as fear, anger, sadness, joy, and surprise were universal and that people could eas ily read
these expressions in people from different cultures.
In collaboration with Dr. Maureen O’Sulllivan, Ekman studied the micro-expressions
displayed by people in order to detect if they were telling the truth or lying. These micro -
expressions are tiny, involuntary alterations in facial expression that can
indicate anxiety and discomfort. The study, called the Wizards Project, discovered that only
a relatively small percent of people can recognize deception naturally. Ekman called these
people the Truth Wizards.
Ekman created the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), which categorized every
expression, not only on the face but also throughout the rest of the body. Ekman has
studied the science and social influence behind lying and what significance lying has to our
mental well-being.
From his research working with tribal people in New Guinea, Ekman devised a list of
universal emotions and expressions that he believed were present in all humans. They
include surprise, sadness, happiness, disgust, anger, and fear. Ekman concluded that there
were both negative and positive emotions that were universal to all humans, although not
all were visible in facial expressions. This list of universal emotions includes:
 contempt
 contentment
 amusement
 excitement
 embarrassment
 relief
 guilt
 pride in achievement
 shame
 satisfaction
 sensory pleasure
Ekman has continued his work in the area of facial expression by applying it to trust issues,
particularly relating to parent-child relationships. He is a contributor to the Greater
Good Magazine and works with the Greater Good Science Center at the University of
California at Berkeley.
The popular television series Lie to Me was based upon Ekman's work. The main
character, Dr. Cal Lightman, is trained in detecting deception and is loosel y based upon
Ekman himself.
CONTROVERSY AND CRITICISM
Ekman's theory of universal emotions has been heavily popularized, but some researchers
have criticized his theories, noting for example that no population is fully isolated and that
cultures tend to influence one another. Others have argued that his experiments are not
rigorously controlled or that test subjects do not universally recognize emotions, but simply
recognize them more frequently than they fail to recognize them.
Micro expressions are facial expressions that occur within a fraction of a second. This
involuntary emotional leakage exposes a person's true emotions.

Macro expression

 Obvious or "normal" facial expressions


 Last between 1/2 a second to 4 seconds
 Match the content and tone of what is said

Micro expression

 Often misinterpreted or missed altogether


 Occur in 1/2 a second or less

Why are micro expressions important?

 Micro expressions occur in everyone, often without their knowledge.


 There is no way to prevent them from occurring.

Benefits of Micro Expressions Training

Increase Emotional Awareness

 Unlike verbal communication or gestures, facial expressions are a universal system of


signals which reflect the moment-to-moment fluctuations in a person's emotional state.
 The face offers us the best window into the emotional lives of others. Regardless of
culture, language, or personal background, we all share this common form of nonverbal
communication.
 With our training tools, you can become more skilled at noticing when an emotion is just
beginning, when an emotion is being concealed, and when a person is unaware of what
they are actually feeling.Detect Deception

 When someone tries to conceal his or her emotions, leakage• of that emotion will often
be evident in that person's face.
 The leakage may be limited to one region of the face (a mini or subtle expression), or
may be a quick expression flashed across the whole face - known as a micro
expression.
 At 1/25th of a second, micro expressions can be difficult to recognize and detect these
important clues. Yet with training you can learn to spot them as they occur in real time.

Dr. Paul Ekman, the world’s expert in emotions and deception detection, created online micro
expressions training tools to help people read and respond to micro expressions.
The 7 Microexpressions
1) Surprise Microexpression:
 The eyebrows are raised and curved
 Skin below the brow is stretched
 Horizontal wrinkles across the forehead
 Eyelids are opened, white of the eye showing above and below
 Jaw drops open and teeth are parted but there is no tension or stretching of the mouth
2) Fear Microexpression:
 Eyebrows are raised and drawn together, usually in a flat line
 Wrinkles in the forehead are in the center between the eyebrows, not across
 Upper eyelid is raised, but the lower lid is tense and drawn up
 Eyes have the upper white showing, but not the lower white
 Mouth is open and lips are slightly tensed or stretched and drawn back
3) Disgust Microexpression:
 Upper eyelid is raised
 Lower lip is raised
 Nose is wrinkled
 Cheeks are raised
 Lines show below the lower eyelid
4) Anger Microexpression:
 The eyebrows are lowered and drawn together
 Vertical lines appear between the eyebrows
 Lower lid is tensed
 Eyes are in hard stare or bulging
 Lips can be pressed firmly together, with corners down, or in a square shape as if shouting
 The lower jaw juts out
5) Happiness Microexpression:
 Corners of the lips are drawn back and up
 Mouth may or may not be parted, teeth exposed
 A wrinkle runs from outer nose to outer lip
 Cheeks are raised
 Lower eyelid may show wrinkles or be tense
 Crow’s feet near the outside of the eyes
6) Sadness Microexpression:
 Inner corners of the eyebrows are drawn in and then up
 Skin below the eyebrows is triangulated, with inner corner up
 Corner of the lips are drawn down
 Jaw comes up
7) Contempt / Hate Microexpression:
 One side of the mouth is raised
https://www.scienceofpeople.com
https://www.goodtherapy.org

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