What Are Micro Expressions?

Dr. Paul Ekman has discovered more than 10,000 micro expressions.

Micro expressons are involuntary facial expressions that quickly pass over the face of a person and express an emotion that he is feeling. Because micro expressions are thought to be uncontrollable, they are believed by many psychologists who study them to belie a person's true feelings when he is attempting to conceal them.

History

Ekman and a colleague spent six years formulating their Facial Action Coding System.

The primary discovery of micro expressions is attributed to a 1966 study conducted by Haggard and Issacs, but a great deal of recent research and the extensive cataloging of expressions that has taken place over the past 40 years has been conducted by Dr. Paul Ekman, professor emeritus of Psychology at University of California, San Francisco. It is also believed that Charles Darwin may have observed micro expressions when he did research for his book called The Expression of Emotions in Man and Animals."

Features

Micro expressions are thought to be bursts of intense emotion that occur so quickly most people can't see them.

Micro expressions flash across a person's face for less than 1/15th of a second, and express emotion as a person is feeling it in its most extreme state. They usually pass over a person's face so quickly that 80 to 90 percent of people tested don't see them. It is believed that the 10 to 20 percent of people who can observe micro expressions are picking up on a valuable transmission of nonverbal communication.

Identification

Ekman teaches that when someon agrees with what she has heard, she might nod her head slightly and open her eyes widely.

Though most micro expressions go unnoticed, people can often be taught to recognize and look for these fleeting moments of non-verbal communication in less than one hour. Specific positions and combinations of facial muscles to include the eyebrows, eyelids, lips and other areas are identified and associated with specific types of emotion. Techniques teaching law enforcement personnel to identify micro expressions have been utilized by the FBI and CIA in the U.S. and other law enforcement organizations around the world.

Examples in Popular Culture

Micro expressions, applied psychology and the Facial Action Coding System were the basis for the plot found in the Fox network television drama "Lie to Me," which aired from January 1, 2009 to January 31, 2001. Several points pertaining to the plot and protagonist, Dr. Cal Lightman -- a psychologist who specialized in body language -- were loosely based on Ekman's own book called "Telling Lies."

Considerations

In the Shakespeare play "Othello," fear in Desdemona's face is misconstrued as a sign of infidelity, when it is really just anxiety caused by Othello's jealousy.

Though micro expressions are generally believed to help a person decipher what another person is truly feeling at any given moment, they do not express what a person is actually thinking. Care must be taken to remember this fact, so that what Dr. Ekman calls "Othello's error" is not committed.

References

• What a Half-Smile Really Means
• A Look Tells All
• The Truth About Lying

Resources

• Facial Expressions Test
• Expressive Behavior and the Recovery of a Traumatic Memory: Comments on the Videotapes of John Doe