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An Interview with Paul Ekman, Ph.D. on Emotional Expression -... mentalhelp.net | Dr. Paul Taylor - Paul Taylor DMD Advanced Dentistry paultaylordmd.com |
Paul Ekman (born February 15, 1934) is a psychologist who has been a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He is considered one of the 100 most eminent psychologists of the twentieth century.[1] The background of Ekman's research analyzes the development of human traits and states over time (Keltner, 2007). The character Cal Lightman of the television series Lie to Me is loosely based on him and his work.
[edit] BiographyEkman was born in 1934 in Washington, D.C., and grew up in Newark, New Jersey, Washington, Oregon, and Southern California. He is the son of a pediatrician. He received a Research Scientist Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1971, which was renewed in 1976, 1981, 1987, 1991, and 1997. For over forty years, NIMH supported his research through fellowships, grants, and awards. In 2001, Ekman collaborated with John Cleese for the BBC documentary series The Human Face. He retired in 2004 as professor of psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). From 1960 to 2004 he worked at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute. He was named one of the top 100 most influential people in the May 11, 2009 edition of Time magazine. [edit] WorkEkman's work on facial expressions had its starting point in the work of psychologist Silvan Tomkins.[2] Ekman showed that contrary to the belief of some anthropologists including Margaret Mead, facial expressions of emotion are not culturally determined, but universal across human cultures and thus biological in origin. Ekman's finding is now widely accepted by scientists[citation needed]. Expressions he found to be universal included those indicating anger, disgust, fear, joy, 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.[3] In a research project along with Dr. Maureen O'Sullivan, called the Wizards Project (previously named the Diogenes Project), Ekman reported on facial "microexpressions" which could be used to assist in lie detection. After testing a total of 15,000 people from all walks of life, he found only 50 people that had the ability to spot deception without any formal training. These naturals are also known as "Truth Wizards", or wizards of deception detection. [4] He developed the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) to taxonomize every conceivable human facial expression. Ekman conducted and published research on a wide variety of topics in the general area of non-verbal behavior. His work on lying, for example, was not limited to the face, but also to observation of the rest of the body. In his profession he also uses verbal signs of lying. When interviewed about the Monica Lewinsky scandal, he mentioned that he could detect that former President Bill Clinton was lying because he used distancing language.[5] Ekman has contributed much to the study of social aspects of lying, why we lie,[6] and why we are often unconcerned with detecting lies.[7] He is currently on the Editorial Board of Greater Good magazine, published by the Greater Good Science Center of the University of California, Berkeley. His contributions include the interpretation of scientific research into the roots of compassion, altruism, and peaceful human relationships. Ekman is also working with Computer Vision researcher Dimitris Metaxas on designing a visual lie-detector.[8] [edit] Emotion classificationEkman devised a list of basic emotions from cross-cultural research on the Fore tribesmen of Papua New Guinea. He observed that members of an isolated culture could reliably identify the expressions of emotion in photographs of people from cultures with which the Fore were not yet familiar. They could also ascribe facial expressions to descriptions of situations. On this evidence, he concluded that the expressions associated with some emotions were basic or biologically universal to all humans.[9] The following is Ekman's (1972) list of basic emotions: However in the 1990s Ekman expanded his list of basic emotions, including a range of positive and negative emotions not all of which are encoded in facial muscles[10]. The newly included emotions are:
As a researcher and an authority, Dr. Ekman had a steadfast rule that he and his associates would not comment on public officials, those seeking public office, litigants, or those with impending litigation. [edit] Educational innovationsPaul Ekman was recently featured in Greater Good Magazine's latest issue on Trust. In this issue, Ekman and daughter Eve are interviewed on parent-child trust. The main topic of the interview focuses on the benefits of trusting your children, how to encourage trustworthy behavior, and what it takes to build trust between parents and children. Ekman is a contributor to Greater Good Magazine, Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Berkeley. [edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] Books
[edit] AdditionalKeltner, D. (2007). Evolutionary approaches to emotion. California: UC Berkeley. [edit] External links
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