Microexpression

thumb|Microexpressions of emotions (in order: surprise, fear/shock, sadness, anger, happiness and disgust)

A '''microexpression''' is a facial expression with very short duration. It is the innate result of a voluntary and an involuntary emotional response occurring simultaneously and conflicting with one another. It occurs when the amygdala responds appropriately to the stimuli that the individual experiences and wishes to conceal this specific emotion. This results in briefly displaying their true emotions followed by a false emotional reaction.<ref name="Svetieva_Frank">{{Cite journal |title=Empathy, emotion dysregulation, and enhanced microexpression recognition ability |journal=Motivation and Emotion |author=Elena Svetieva |author2=Mark G. Frank |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=309–320 |date=April 2016 |language=en|id = {{ProQuest|1771277976}} |doi=10.1007/s11031-015-9528-4|s2cid=146270791 }}</ref>

Human emotions are an unconscious biopsychosocial reaction that derives from the amygdala, and they typically last 0.5–4.0 seconds,<ref name="Svetieva_Frank" /> although a microexpression will typically last less than 1/2 of a second.<ref>{{Cite journal |author=Hurley, Carolyn M |author2=Anker, Ashley E |author3=Frank, Mark G |author4=Matsumoto, David |author5=Hwang, Hyisung C. |title=Background factors predicting accuracy and improvement in micro expression recognition |journal=Motivation and Emotion |volume=38 |issue=5 |date=Oct 2014 |pages=700–714 |doi=10.1007/s11031-014-9410-9 |s2cid=91178436 |id = {{ProQuest|1555933143}}}}</ref> It is either very difficult or virtually impossible to hide microexpression reactions. Microexpressions cannot be controlled, but it is possible to capture someone's expressions with a high-speed camera and replay them at much slower speeds.<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224160151 |doi=10.1049/ic.2009.0244 |chapter=Facial micro-expressions recognition using high speed camera and 3D-gradient descriptor |access-date=2022-03-02|title=3rd International Conference on Imaging for Crime Detection and Prevention (ICDP 2009) |year=2009 |last1=Polikovsky |first1=S. |last2=Kameda |first2=Y. |last3=Ohta |first3=Y. |pages=P16 |isbn=978-1-84919-207-1 }}</ref> Microexpressions express the seven universal emotions: disgust, anger, fear, sadness, happiness, contempt, and surprise. In the 1990s, Paul Ekman expanded his list of emotions, including a range of positive and negative emotions not all of which are encoded in facial muscles. These emotions are amusement, embarrassment, anxiety, guilt, pride, relief, contentment, pleasure, and shame.<ref name="ekman 1999">{{cite book |first=Paul |last=Ekman |author-link=Paul Ekman |year=1999 |chapter=Basic Emotions |editor=T. Dalgleish |editor2=M. Power |title=Handbook of Cognition and Emotion |location=Sussex, UK |publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.}}</ref><ref name="ekman 1992">{{cite journal|last=Ekman|first=Paul|author-link=Paul Ekman|year=1992|title=Facial Expressions of Emotion: An Old Controversy and New Findings|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society|location=London|volume=B335|issue=1273|pages=63–69|doi=10.1098/rstb.1992.0008 |pmid=1348139}}</ref>

==History== Microexpressions were first discovered by Haggard and Isaacs. In their 1966 study, Haggard and Isaacs outlined how they discovered these "micromomentary" expressions while "scanning motion picture films of psychotherapy for hours, searching for indications of non-verbal communication between therapist and patient".<ref>Haggard, E. A., & Isaacs, K. S. (1966). Micro-momentary facial expressions as indicators of ego mechanisms in psychotherapy. In L. A. Gottschalk & A. H. Auerbach (Eds.), Methods of Research in Psychotherapy (pp. 154–165). New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts.</ref> Through a series of studies, Paul Ekman found a high agreement across members of diverse Western and Eastern literate cultures on selecting emotional labels that fit facial expressions. Expressions he found to be universal included those indicating anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise. Findings on contempt are less clear, though there is at least some preliminary evidence that this emotion and its expression are universally recognized.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Matsumoto | first1 = David | year = 1992 | title = More evidence for the universality of a contempt expression | journal = Motivation and Emotion | volume = 16 | issue = 4| pages = 363–368 | doi=10.1007/bf00992972| s2cid = 143333167 }}</ref> Working with his long-time friend Wallace V. Friesen, Ekman demonstrated that the findings extended to preliterate Fore tribesmen in Papua New Guinea, whose members could not have learned the meaning of expressions from exposure to media depictions of emotion.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ekman|first=P.|author2=Friesen, W.V.|url=http://www.ekmaninternational.com/ResearchFiles/Constants-Across-Cultures-In-The-Face-And-Emotion.pdf|title=Constants across cultures in the face and emotion|journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology|year=1971|volume=17|pages=124–129|doi=10.1037/h0030377|pmid=5542557|issue=2|s2cid=14013552 |access-date=2015-02-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228022800/http://www.ekmaninternational.com/ResearchFiles/Constants-Across-Cultures-In-The-Face-And-Emotion.pdf|archive-date=2015-02-28}}</ref> Ekman and Friesen then demonstrated that certain emotions were exhibited with very specific display rules, culture-specific prescriptions about who can show which emotions to whom and when. These display rules could explain how cultural differences may conceal the universal effect of expression.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ekman|first=Paul|title=Handbook of social psychophysiology|year=1989|publisher=Wiley|location=Chichester, England|author-link=Paul Ekman|editor=H. Wagner & A Manstead|pages=143–164}} Chapter: The argument and evidence about universals in facial expressions of emotion.</ref>

In the 1960s, William S. Condon pioneered the study of interactions at the fraction-of-a-second level. In his famous research project, he scrutinized a four-and-a-half-second film segment frame by frame, where each frame represented 1/25th second. After studying this film segment for a year and a half, he discerned interactional micromovements, such as the wife moving her shoulder exactly as the husband's hands came up, which combined yielded rhythms at the micro level.<ref>[http://journals.lww.com/jonmd/Citation/1966/10000/Sound_Film_Analysis_of_Normal_and_Pathological.5.aspx Sound Film Analysis of Normal and Pathological Behavior Patterns, Condon, W.S.; Ogston, W.D., Journal of Nervous & Mental Disease. 143(4):338–347, October 1966.]</ref>

Years after Condon's study, American psychologist John Gottman began video-recording living relationships to study how couples interact. By studying participants' facial expressions, Gottman was able to correlate expressions with which relationships would last and which would not.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gottman.com/49853/Research-FAQs.html |title=Research FAQs |publisher=The Gottman Institute |website=Gottman.com |access-date=2013-10-26}}</ref> Gottman's 2002 paper makes no claims to accuracy in terms of binary classification, and is instead a regression analysis of a two factor model where skin conductance levels and oral history narratives encodings are the only two statistically significant variables. Facial expressions using Ekman's encoding scheme were not statistically significant.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Gottman | first1 = J. | last2 = Levenson | first2 = R.W. | year = 2002 | title = A Two-Factor Model for Predicting When a Couple Will Divorce: Exploratory Analyses Using 14-Year Longitudinal Data | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118941255/abstract | archive-url = https://archive.today/20130105072544/http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118941255/abstract | archive-date = 2013-01-05 | journal = Family Process | volume = 41 | issue = 1| pages = 83–96 | doi=10.1111/j.1545-5300.2002.40102000083.x| pmid = 11924092 | url-access = subscription }}</ref> In Canadian journalist Malcolm Gladwell's book ''Blink'', Gottman states that there are four major emotional reactions that are destructive to a marriage: defensiveness which is described as a reaction toward a stimulus as if you were being attacked, stonewalling which is the behavior where a person refuses to communicate or cooperate with another,<ref>Webber, Elizabeth; Feinsilber, Mike (1999). Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Allusions. Merriam-Webster. pp. 519–. {{ISBN|9780877796282}}. Retrieved 10 December 2012.</ref> criticism which is the practice of judging the merits and faults of a person, and contempt which is a general attitude that is a mixture of the primary emotions disgust and anger.<ref>TenHouten, W.D. (2007). General Theory of Emotions and Social Life. Routledge.</ref> Among these four, Gottman considers contempt the most important of them all.<ref>Gladwell, Malcolm (2005). Blink, Chapter 1, Section 3, ''The Importance of Contempt''</ref>

==Types== Microexpressions are typically classified based on how an expression is modified. They exist in three groups: *'''Simulated expressions''': when a microexpression is not accompanied by a genuine emotion. This is the most commonly studied form of microexpression because of its nature. It occurs when there is a brief flash of an expression, and then returns to a neutral state.<ref name="cse.usf.edu">{{cite web |url=http://www.cse.usf.edu/~mshreve/publications/FG11.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2013-11-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131216022610/http://www.cse.usf.edu/~mshreve/publications/FG11.pdf |archive-date=2013-12-16 }}</ref> * '''Neutralized expressions''': when a genuine expression is suppressed and the face remains neutral. This type of microexpression is not observable due to the successful suppression of it by a person.<ref name="cse.usf.edu"/> *'''Masked expressions''': when a genuine expression is completely masked by a falsified expression. Masked expressions are microexpressions that are intended to be hidden, either subconsciously or consciously.<ref>{{cite thesis|last=Godavarthy|first=Sridhar|title=Microexpression spotting in video using optical strain|url=http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/etd/1642|type=MS thesis |publisher=University of South Florida |date=July 2010|access-date=15 June 2011}}</ref>

==In photographs and films== Microexpressions can be difficult to recognize, but still images and video can make them easier to perceive. In order to learn how to recognize the way that various emotions register across parts of the face, Ekman and Friesen recommend the study of what they call "facial blueprint photographs", photographic studies of "the same person showing all the emotions" under consistent photographic conditions.<ref>Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (2003). ''Unmasking the Face''. Cambridge: Malor Books. p. 169</ref> However, because of their extremely short duration, by definition, microexpressions can happen too quickly to capture with traditional photography. Both Condon and Gottman compiled their seminal research by intensively reviewing film footage. Frame rate manipulation also allows the viewer to distinguish distinct emotions, as well as their stages and progressions, which would otherwise be too subtle to identify. This technique is demonstrated in the short film Thought Moments by Michael Simon Toon and a film in Malayalam Pretham 2016<ref>Prof. Ragodí. "Trabajo Psicología de 1er Trimestre." ''El Bigote de Bernays.'' Blogspot. Updated 11-19-2009. Accessed 8-5-13. http://elbigotedebernays.blogspot.com/2009/11/trabajo-psicologia-1er-trimestre.html</ref><ref>Braun, Roman. "Eye Catcher." ''Trinergy-NLP-Blog.'' Posted 10-27-2009. Accessed 8-5-13. {{cite web|url=http://www.trinergy.at/roman_braun_blog/eye-catcher/ |title=TRINERGY-NLP-BLOG » Eye Catcher |access-date=2013-08-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213015441/http://www.trinergy.at/roman_braun_blog/eye-catcher/ |archive-date=2013-12-13 }}</ref><ref>"Thought Moments." British Films Directory. British Council. Updated 12-1-2009. http://film.britishcouncil.org/thought-moments</ref> Paul Ekman also has materials he has created on his website that teach people how to identify microexpressions using various photographs, including photos he took during his research period in New Guinea.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.paulekman.com/products/|title = Micro Expressions Training Tools}}</ref>

==Moods vs emotions== Moods differ from emotions in that the feelings involved last over a longer period. For example, a feeling of anger lasting for just a few minutes, or even for an hour, is called an emotion. But if the person remains angry all day, or becomes angry a dozen times during that day, or is angry for days, then it is a mood.<ref>Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (2003). ''Unmasking the Face''. Cambridge: Malor Books. p. 12.</ref> Many people describe this as a person being irritable, or that the person is in an angry mood. As Paul Ekman described, it is possible but unlikely for a person in this mood to show a complete anger facial expression. More often just a trace of that angry facial expression may be held over a considerable period: a tightened jaw or tensed lower eyelid, or lip pressed against lip, or brows drawn down and together.<ref>Ekman, P. & Friesen, W..V. (2003). ''Unmasking the Face''. Cambridge: Malor Books. pp. 12–13.</ref> Emotions are defined as a complex pattern of changes, including physiological arousal, feelings, cognitive processes, and behavioral reactions, made in response to a situation perceived to be personally significant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.apa.org/research/action/glossary.aspx#e|title = APA Dictionary of Psychology}}</ref>

==Controlled microexpressions== Facial expressions are not just automatic reflexes. Some may be voluntary and others involuntary, and thus some may be truthful and others false or misleading.<ref>Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (2003). ''Unmasking the Face''. Cambridge: Malor Books. p. 19.</ref> Some people are born able to control their expressions (such as pathological liars), while others are trained, such as actors. "Natural liars" may be aware of their ability to control microexpressions, and so may those who know them well; they may have been able to "get away" with things since childhood due to greater ease in fooling their parents, teachers, and friends.<ref>Ekman, P. (1991). ''Telling Lies Clues to deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage''. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., p. 56.</ref> People can simulate emotion expressions, attempting to create the impression that they feel an emotion when they are not experiencing it at all. A person may show an expression that looks like fear when in fact they feel nothing, or perhaps some other emotion.<ref>Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (2003). ''Unmasking the Face''. Cambridge: Malor Books. p. 20.</ref> Facial expressions of emotion are controlled for various reasons, whether cultural or by social conventions. For example, in the United States many little boys learn the cultural display rule, "little men do not cry or look afraid". There are also more personal display rules, not learned by most people within a culture, but the product of the idiosyncrasies of a particular family. A child may be taught never to look angrily at his father, or never to show sadness when disappointed. These display rules, whether cultural ones shared by most people or personal, individual ones, are usually so well-learned, and learned so early, that the control of the facial expression they dictate is done automatically without thinking or awareness.<ref>Ekman, P. & Friesen, W.V. (2003). ''Unmasking the Face''. Cambridge: Malor Books. pp. 20–21.</ref>

== Emotional intelligence == Involuntary facial expressions can be hard to pick up and understand explicitly, and it is more of an implicit competence of the unconscious mind. Daniel Goleman created a conclusion on the capacity of an individual to recognize their own, as well as others' emotions, and to discriminate emotions based on introspection of those feelings. This is part of Goleman's emotional intelligence. In E.I, attunement is an unconscious synchrony that guides empathy. Attunement relies heavily on nonverbal communication.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Emotional intelligence|last=Goleman|first=Daniel|publisher=Bantam Books|year=1995|location=New York}}</ref> Looping is where facial expressions can elicit involuntary behavior. In the research motor mimicry there shows neurons that pick up on facial expressions and communicate with motor neurons responsible for muscles in the face to display the same facial expression. Thus displaying a smile may elicit a micro expression of a smile on someone who is trying to remain neutral in their expression.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|title=Social intelligence: the new science of human relationships|last=Goleman|first=Daniel|publisher=Bantam Books|year=2006|location=New York}}</ref>

[[File:Amygdala.jpg|thumb|The amygdala is the emotion center of the brain.]] Through fMRI we can see the area where these Mirror neurons are located lights up when you show the subject an image of a face expressing an emotion using a mirror. In the relationship of the prefrontal cortex also known as the (executive mind) which is where cognitive thinking experience and the amygdala being part of the limbic system is responsible for involuntary functions, habits, and emotions. The amygdala can hijack the pre-frontal cortex in a sympathetic response. In his book ''Emotional Intelligence'' Goleman uses the case of Jason Haffizulla (who assaulted his high school physics teacher because of a grade he received on a test) as an example of an emotional hijacking in which rationality and better judgement can be impaired.<ref name=":0" /> This is one example of how the bottom brain can interpret sensory memory and execute involuntary behavior. This is the purpose of microexpressions in attunement and how you can interpret the emotion that is shown in a fraction of a second. The microexpression of a concealed emotion that's displayed to an individual will elicit the same emotion in them to a degree, this process is referred to as an emotional contagion.<ref name=":1" />

== MFETT and SFETT == Micro facial expression training tools (MFETT) and subtle facial expression training tools (SFETT) are types of software made to develop someone's skills in recognizing emotion. These tools utilize an instructive video on the topic, followed by videos of faces to be analysed for practice, with feedback provided immediately. These tools are often used for people that find daily social situations difficult, such as people with autism.<ref name=":1" /> The positive feedback is thought to reinforce the association between the presented face and what it conveys, leading to improvements in emotion recognition.

These tools, along with other training methods, have been found to improve accuracy in detecting deception. According to a pair of studies, the average person has around a 54% accuracy rate in lie detection,<ref name="auto789">{{cite journal |last1=Warren|first1=Gemma|last2=Schertler|first2=Elizabeth|last3=Bull|first3=Peter|title=Detecting Deception from Emotional and Unemotional Cues|journal=Journal of Nonverbal Behavior|date=March 2009|volume=33|issue=1|pages=59–69|doi=10.1007/s10919-008-0057-7|s2cid=9287150|id={{ProQuest|229223092}}}}</ref> while secret service agents have an average of 64%. However, training is not the only factor shown to have an effect. In a later study by Ekman, a cohort of participants that all had specific interest in microexpressions as a method for lie detection, had accuracy rates ranging from 68% to 73%. It was concluded from their results that this variation, when level of training was controlled for, was due to individual differences in emotional intelligence.<ref name="auto789" />

==Lies and leakage== The sympathetic nervous system is one of two divisions under the autonomic nervous system, it functions involuntarily and one aspect of the system deals with emotional arousal in response to situations accordingly.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/limbicsystem.html|title=The Limbic System|last=Boeree|first=George|website=webspace.ship.edu|access-date=2018-03-25}}</ref> Therefore, if an individual decides to deceive someone, they will experience a stress response within because of the possible consequences if caught. A person using deception will typically cope by using nonverbal cues which take the form of bodily movements. These bodily movements occur because of the need to release the chemical buildup of cortisol, which is produced at a higher rate in a situation where there is something at stake.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hormone.org/hormones-and-health/hormones/cortisol|title=Cortisol {{!}} Hormone Health Network|website=www.hormone.org|language=en|access-date=2018-03-25}}</ref> The purpose for these involuntary nonverbal cues are to ease oneself in a stressful situation. In the midst of deceiving an individual, leakage can occur which is when nonverbal cues are exhibited and are contradictory to what the individual is conveying.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pozzato|first= Lydia R. |journal=Forensic Examiner|volume=19|issue=3|date=Fall 2010|pages= 86-89,92-97,126 |title=Interpreting Nonverbal Communication for Use in Detecting Deception|language=en|id = {{ProQuest|859010149}}}}</ref> Despite this useful tactic of detecting deception, microexpressions do not show what intentions or thoughts the deceiver is trying to conceal. They only provide the fact that there was emotional arousal in the context of the situation. If an individual displays fear or surprise in the form of a microexpression, it does not mean that the individual is concealing information that is relevant to investigation. This is similar to how polygraphs fail to some degree: because there is a sympathetic response due to the fear of being disbelieved as innocent. The same goes for microexpressions, when there is a concealed emotion there is no information revealed on why that emotion was felt. They do not determine a lie, but are a form of detecting concealed information. David Matsumoto is a well-known American psychologist and explains that one must not conclude that someone is lying if a microexpression is detected but that there is more to the story than is being told.<ref>Matsumoto, D. (2010, March 21). Dr. David Matsumoto: How to Tell a Lie with the Naked Eye. Retrieved from Spying for Lying: {{cite web |url=http://www.spyingforlying.com/2010/03/dr-david-matsumoto-how-to-tell-lie-with.html |title=Spying for Lying: Dr. David Matsumoto: How to Tell a Lie with the Naked Eye |access-date=2012-11-23 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130528045728/http://www.spyingforlying.com/2010/03/dr-david-matsumoto-how-to-tell-lie-with.html |archive-date=2013-05-28 }}</ref> Matsumoto was also the first to publish scientific evidence that microexpressions may be a key to detecting deception.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Matsumoto|first1=David|last2=Hwang|first2=Hyisung C.|date=2018|title=Microexpressions Differentiate Truths From Lies About Future Malicious Intent|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|language=English|volume=9|article-number=2545|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02545|pmid=30618966|pmc=6305322|issn=1664-1078|doi-access=free}}</ref>

Despite the prevailing belief among law enforcement and the public that microexpressions are able to reveal whether a person is being deceitful,<ref name=":02">{{Cite journal|last1=Porter|first1=Stephen|last2=ten Brinke|first2=Leanne|date=May 2008|title=Reading Between the Lies|journal=Psychological Science|volume=19|issue=5|pages=508–514|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02116.x|pmid=18466413|s2cid=20775868|issn=0956-7976}}</ref> there is a lack of empirical evidence to support this claim.<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last1=Porter|first1=Stephen|last2=Brinke|first2=Leanne|date=February 2010|title=The truth about lies: What works in detecting high-stakes deception?|journal=Legal and Criminological Psychology|volume=15|issue=1|pages=57–75|doi=10.1348/135532509x433151|issn=1355-3259}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Vrij|first1=Aldert|last2=Hartwig|first2=Maria|last3=Granhag|first3=Pär Anders|date=2019-01-04|title=Reading Lies: Nonverbal Communication and Deception|journal=Annual Review of Psychology|volume=70|issue=1|pages=295–317|doi=10.1146/annurev-psych-010418-103135|pmid=30609913|s2cid=58562467|issn=0066-4308|doi-access=free}}</ref> Research has shown that there is often a disconnect between displayed emotions and felt emotions; in short, deception does not necessarily produce negative emotions and negative emotions do not necessarily signal deception.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Hoque|first1=Mohammed Ehsan|last2=McDuff|first2=Daniel J.|last3=Picard|first3=Rosalind W.|date=July 2012|title=Exploring Temporal Patterns in Classifying Frustrated and Delighted Smiles|journal=IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing|volume=3|issue=3|pages=323–334|doi=10.1109/T-AFFC.2012.11|bibcode=2012ITAfC...3..323H |hdl=1721.1/79899|s2cid=1966996 |issn=1949-3045|hdl-access=free}}</ref> In addition, microexpressions do not occur often enough to be useful.<ref name=":02" /> In one of the few studies of microexpressions, researchers found that only 2% of emotional expressions coded could be considered microexpressions and they appeared equally for truth-tellers and liars.<ref name=":02" /><ref name=":12" /> Other studies have found that liars and truth-tellers exhibit different responses than expected:<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last=Burgoon|first=Judee K.|date=2018|title=Microexpressions Are Not the Best Way to Catch a Liar|journal=Frontiers in Psychology|volume=9|article-number=1672|doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01672|issn=1664-1078|pmc=6158306|pmid=30294288|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":3">Pentland, S. J., Burgoon, J. K., & Twyman, N. W. (2015). Face and Head Movement Analysis Using Automated Feature Extraction Software. ''Proceedings of the 48th Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (2015, Koloa, Hawaii)'' Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS).</ref> in a concealed information test, Pentland and colleagues found that liars showed less contempt and more intense smiles than truthful people.<ref name=":3" /> This counters the fundamental idea behind microexpressions, which suggests that it is impossible for a liar to conceal their true nature, as evidence of their guilt "leaks" out through these expressions.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Porter|first1=Stephen|last2=ten Brinke|first2=Leanne|last3=Wallace|first3=Brendan|date=March 2012|title=Secrets and Lies: Involuntary Leakage in Deceptive Facial Expressions as a Function of Emotional Intensity|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10919-011-0120-7|journal=Journal of Nonverbal Behavior|language=en|volume=36|issue=1|pages=23–37|doi=10.1007/s10919-011-0120-7|s2cid=28783661|issn=0191-5886|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Taken together, their findings suggest that microexpressions do not occur frequently enough to be detectable, neither are they consistent enough to distinguish liars from truth-tellers.

==Universality== thumb|253x253px|Universal facial expressions A significant amount of research has been done in respect to whether basic facial expressions are universal or are culturally distinct. After Charles Darwin had written ''The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals'' it was widely accepted that facial expressions of emotion are universal and biologically determined.<ref>Darwin, C. (1872). The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. London: John Murray.</ref> Many writers have disagreed with this statement. However, David Matsumoto agreed with this statement in his study of sighted and blind Olympians. Using thousands of photographs captured at the 2004 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Matsumoto compared the facial expressions of sighted and blind judo athletes, including individuals who were born blind. All competitors displayed the same expressions in response to winning and losing.<ref name="autogenerated1">Bible, E. (2009, January 7). Smiles and frowns are innate, not learned. Retrieved from San Francisco State University: http://www.sfsu.edu/news/2009/spring/1.html</ref> Matsumoto discovered that both blind and sighted competitors displayed similar facial expressions, during winning and losing. These results suggest that our ability to modify our faces to fit the social setting is not learned visually.<ref name="autogenerated1" /> Matsumoto also has training tools he has created on his website that teaches people how to identify micro and subtle facial expressions of emotion.<ref>{{cite web |title=Humintell Products |url=https://www.humintell.com/products-3/ |website=Humintell |publisher=David Matsumoto |access-date=5 March 2021}}</ref>

==In popular culture==

Microexpressions and associated science are the central premise for the 2009 television series ''Lie to Me'', based on discoveries of Paul Ekman. The main character uses his acute awareness of microexpressions and other body language clues to determine when someone is lying or hiding something.

They also play a central role in Robert Ludlum's posthumously published ''The Ambler Warning'', in which the central character, Harrison Ambler, is an intelligence agent able to recognize them. Similarly, one of the main characters in Alastair Reynolds' science fiction novel, ''Absolution Gap'', Aura, can easily read microexpressions.

In ''The Mentalist'', the main character, Patrick Jane, can often tell when people are being dishonest. However, specific reference to microexpressions is only made once in the 7th and final season.

In the 2015 science fiction thriller ''Ex Machina'', Ava, an artificially intelligent humanoid, surprises the protagonist, Caleb, in their first meeting, when she tells him "Your microexpressions are telegraphing discomfort."

==Controversy== Though the study of microexpressions has gained popularity through popular media, studies show it lacks internal consistency{{example needed|date=December 2018}} in its conceptual formation.<ref>{{Cite journal|url=http://pss.sagepub.com/content/19/5/508.abstract|doi=10.1111/j.1467-9280.2008.02116.x|title=Reading Between the Lies|year=2008|last1=Porter|first1=Stephen|last2=Ten Brinke|first2=Leanne|journal=Psychological Science|volume=19|issue=5|pages=508–514|pmid=18466413|s2cid=20775868|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

Maria Hartwig, professor of Psychology at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, argues that it has led to wrongful imprisonment of suspects who were aggressively interrogated due to perceived microexpressions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hartwig |first=Maria |date=2022-03-13 |title=No, you can't really tell if someone is lying from their facial expressions |url=https://www.salon.com/2022/03/13/lie-detection-pseudoscience/ |access-date=2023-01-12 |website=Salon |language=en}}</ref>

A 2016 article in ''Scientific Reports'' explains that it is possible to mask involuntary expressions with fake expressions, and that in real world situations, over 40% of the time humans can not tell the difference.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Iwasaki |first1=Miho |last2=Noguchi |first2=Yasuki |date=2016-02-26 |title=Hiding true emotions: micro-expressions in eyes retrospectively concealed by mouth movements |journal=Scientific Reports |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |article-number=22049 |doi=10.1038/srep22049 |pmid=26915796 |pmc=4768101 |bibcode=2016NatSR...622049I |issn=2045-2322}}</ref>

Judee K. Burgoon argues in a 2018 ''Frontiers in Psychology'' opinion that microexpressions theory presumes that people feel detectable emotions always connected to the same thoughts or motivations. But what if, for example, people feel happy rather than guilty about deceiving others?<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Burgoon |first=Judee K. |date=20 September 2018 |title=Microexpressions Are Not the Best Way to Catch a Liar |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327774358 |journal=Frontiers in Psychology |volume=9 |article-number=1672 |doi=10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01672 |pmid=30294288 |pmc=6158306 |via=ResearchGate|doi-access=free }}</ref> Burgoon also cites studies showing that microexpressions are rare:<blockquote>In one of the very few investigations of microexpression frequency, Porter and ten Brinke (2008) coded 700 high-stakes genuine and falsified emotional expressions and found only 2% were microexpressions.</blockquote>and that they seldom result in arrests when implemented at places like airports:<blockquote>testimony to the U.S. Congress revealed that only 0.6% out of 61,000 passenger referrals to law enforcement in 2011 and 2012 resulted in arrests (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2013)</blockquote>

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading== * {{cite book |title=The Tell: The Little Clues That Reveal Big Truths about Who We Are |author=Matthew Hertenstein |year=2015 |isbn=978-0-465-03659-2 |publisher=Basic Books }}

==External links== * [https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/05/060505161952.htm Lying Is Exposed By Microexpressions We Can't Control, Science Daily, May 2006] * [http://www.cio.com/archive/120104/faces.html Facial Expressions Test based on "The Micro Expression Training Tool"] * [http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=a-look-tells-all "A Look Tells All" in Scientific American Mind October 2006] * [http://www.apa.org/monitor/julaug04/detecting.html Deception Detection, American Psychological Association]

Category:Facial expressions Category:Emotion Category:Nonverbal communication