Posted on 12/13/2011 1:35:17 PM PST by decimon
Contrary to what many psychological scientists think, people do not all have the same set of biologically "basic" emotions, and those emotions are not automatically expressed on the faces of those around us, according to the author of a new article published in Current Directions in Psychological Science, a journal published by the Association for Psychological Science. This means a recent move to train security workers to recognize "basic" emotions from expressions might be misguided.
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his debate isn't purely academic. It has consequences for how clinicians are trained and also for the security industry. In recent years there's been an explosion of training programs that are meant to help security officers of all kinds identify people who are up to something nefarious. But this training might be misguided, Barrett says. "There's a lot of evidence that there is no signature for fear or anger or sadness that you could detect in another person. If you want to improve your accuracy in reading emotion in another person, you have to also take the context into account."
Incidentally, the theory that emotional expressions evolved for specific functions is normally attributed to Charles Darwin, in his book The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. But Darwin didn't write that emotional expressions are functional. "If you're going to cite Darwin as evidence that you're right, you'd better cite him correctly," Barrett says. Darwin thought that emotional expressions – smiles, frowns, and so on –were akin to the vestigial tailbone – and occurred even though they are of no use.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
Smile when you say ping.
THANK YOU! My face is naturally expressionless unless I'm cracking up. If I am happy, delighted, surprised, sad, furious, frightened, or shocked, my face registers nothing. My own family calls me "Old Stoneface." I have been misunderstood a LOT in my life.
On the bright side, I'm 46 and have no wrinkles.
I bet Chuck was a laugh a minute..:)
Oh, that Darwin, he's a laugh a minute.
I feel you. I get misread a lot too. It even extends to my tone of voice and turn of phrase. I am really, really good at not showing what i’m thinking or feeling.
“.... my face is naturally expressionless.... have no wrinkles...”
When I first read your post, I thought it sounded like Botox. In a way, it almost sounds like natural/genetic botox! 46 and no wrinkles?! Go girl!
You sound like me, only I’m 60-years old and have no wrinkles.
Dogs and cats are frequently very good at detecting nefarious people.
bookmark
I don’t think you can read everybody all the time. But usually people who are sensitive to such things can get a pretty good idea of what kind of person someone is by watching their face, or even a photo of it.
But training security workers to recognize terrorists is unlikely to work, for two reasons.
First, because they are not allowed to profile. Actually going after the folks most likely to be terrorists is deeply and fundamentally politically incorrect. In the current culture, it ain’t gonna happen.
Second, because academic training is unlikely to make anyone better at detecting troublemakers and criminals. It’s largely instinct—detecting small signs that you can’t necessarily put a name to.
Take a bunch of public union workers and train them, using a bunch of guys with psychology degrees to do the training? With Janet Incompetano’s political buddies in charge of the operation? I don’t think so.
I don’t read that as anger. I read that as concentrating and mentally focused.
no they aren’t
They are good at reacting when they notice someone out of the ordinary...such as a cop, mailman, garbage man, homeless man, disabled people, mentally ill, etc. They react with alarm unless trained otherwise. They have no idea who is thinking nefarious thoughts. They only know what is not usual...and yes, a burglar is also one that is not usual, but only one of many.
You animal nuts are all alike and really quite clueless about your own animals.
“I am really, really good at not showing what i’m thinking or feeling.”
I envy people like you :-). I’m the exact opposite. I couldn’t hide my emotions to save my life ... especially laughing. I think this is why people love playing poker with me.
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Thanks decimon....people do not all have the same set of biologically "basic" emotions...To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. |
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Long study has it what constitutes communication between persons is approximately only 7 percent "the words you use," with the remaining 93 percent divided between gesture, or body language as some prefer, with a plurality given to tone of voice.
Many a misunderstanding has happened where the cultural construct we know as language overlaps another, like an inner-city descendant of African slavery who saddles up to the cashier at a Korean-owned convenience store.
To the former eye-contact is an offense to one's elders while to the former lack of eye contact, or the appearance of avoiding eye-contact, is prelude to physical attack.
People die over such misunderstandings.
Yet another reason multiculturalism as state policy is suicidal.
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