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Let's say that you're talking to someone, perhaps as an interviewer with a person of interest. The subject responds appropriately, but you have the vague sense that he's hiding something. It's just a quick impression, but you think something flitted across his face that contradicts his cooperative response. Was it contempt? Disgust? Anger? You can't really tell. Or can you?
The ability to read facial expressions is a natural part of human communication. We use it all the time, but we can easily misunderstand or even be tricked... unless we're trained in how I to spot and interpret an emotion's most subtle manifestations.
Psychologist Paul Ekman, the author and editor of 1 5 books and countless articles, has been the leading researcher in this effort. A professor of psychology in the University of California at San Francisco's Department of Psychiatry for thirty-two years, Ekman is considered the world's foremost expert on facial expressions, particularly the subcategory of micro expressions.
He considers Emotions Revealed to be his most accessible book, which was written as he was retiring, but he has also published Telling Lies, What the Face Reveals, Why Kids Lie, and Emotional Awareness (with the Dalai Lama). In addition, he offers online training to help improve our ability to read subtle expressions and to enhance emotional awareness. It's no surprise that the American Psychological Association included him on its list of the TOO most influential psychologists of the 20th century. Time magazine also honored him in 2009 by selecting him as one of the 1 00 most influential people.
Ekman consults with government agencies, here and abroad, on detecting deception and expressions of deadly intent. His work inspired the television series, Lie to Me. He also offers trainings online that anyone can use. He is truly the man of 1 ,000 faces.
EARLY INFLUENCES
Now in his seventies, Paul Ekman spent his childhood in Newark, New Jersey, as the son of a pediatrician. After his father joined the military, Ekman's family moved to the West Coast. He was just fifteen when he entered a special program at the University of Chicago, eventually gravitating toward the field of psychology. During the 1960s, several key influences led to Ekman's research on the behavior of the human face.