Posted on 10/06/2004 9:34:34 PM PDT by David M. Brooks
Boston Collage Prof. Joseph Tecce (Psychology), who studies the causes and effects of nonverbal expressions discussed the Bush/Kerry and and Cheney/Edwards debates on the NECN cable network (controlled by the Boston Globe) and said in the Bush/Kerry debate Bush had an average eyeblink rate of about 40 (a normal range is between 30 and 50) and Kerry had a 51 blinks per minute average, slightly outside the normal range. According to Tecce, the eyeblink rate, an indicator of stress, was predictive of the winner in the 6 in the last 7 of the last presidential elections, and for the 2000 election, was predictive of the winner of the popular vote.
According to Tecco, Edwards had a much higher eye blink rate than Cheney.
NECN has not posted the story, but it was on the on the air.
Edwards' eyeblinks were very pronounced....rapid fire when Cheney was speaking..
That is interesting because it looked like the President blinked more than Kerry.
I wonder why it appeared that way?
It had really struck me how often Edwards was blinking while he talked. It made him look very nervous, but that was hardly the only sign. I first heard the debate on radio, and could hear how flustered Edwards was in his voice.
LOL!!!
Well, at least this prediction allows for some levity.
Does this mean we need to take a stop watch and time the amount of blinks in Friday's debate?
My lefty friend remarked about Edwards eye blinking at least 3 times...as in: "Whats the matter with him?"
They sure were rapid fire when Edwards himself was talking, but I handn't noticed the blinking while Cheney was.
He sounded like a lawyer arguing a case where he is not really sure that his client has been levelling with him. The skill was there but the thrill was(Senator)gone.
you are distracted by kerrys lizard tongue movements to
notice the many eye blinks.
"I bet he was firing like 500bpm(blinks per minute)"
He could not have sustained that rate without suffering a cookout. In bursts, maybe.
For a minute I thought this was an off the wall CBS story.
Quick someone photoshop Kerry licking his eyes with his long ginko-like tongue.
Ok, this article is kinda stupid... no offense... :)
better yet........have him licking edwards eyes
They really did not double screen as much..but I noticed when it was split..I usually am looknig at the computer screen and have to remind myself to swivel the chair and peek!
Joseph Tecce, a psychology professor at Boston College who studies nonverbal communication, said the starkest difference between the two men came during their closing statements. For much of the debate, each of them blinked between 30 and 50 times a minute, Tecce said, which demonstrates a normal level of stress. Kerry maintained that level during his closing statement -- blinking 49 times a minute -- while Bush blinked 111 times per minute.
The source you posted is a synopsis from 2000 with no reference to this year's debates.
I should have noted that Tecce did not actually predict a Bush win, clearly he could not given that that there are two more debates to come. He also noted other body language stress indicators of the candidates, including Bush and Cheney, such as looking down or away, and Cheney's holding his hands together, and hand gestures. But the only body language indicator that he referenced as predictive of presidential victory were eye blinks, and in the on-the-air interview he said (for what it's worth) that Kerry and Edwards had more blinks.
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