Paul Ekman

740 Words2 Pages

Do you know the meaning of AU 6+12 or AU 1+4+15? To many people, these are simply letters and numbers that have no significant meaning, but to Paul Ekman, these are important codes used to describe facial expressions for particular emotions. AU 6+12 means happiness and AU 1+4+15 means sadness. These codes are part of the Facial Action Coding System which Paul Ekman helped develop. He has studied the importance of facial expressions and how these expressions can be used to know when someone is lying or not. Many of us have heard the saying, “Actions speak louder than words.” Paul Ekman certainly agrees and through his studies, he has discovered a person’s facial expressions gives away their real mood.
The well-known (*VIP #7) psychologist was born in Washington D.C. in 1934 (Good Therapy). After graduating high school, Ekman continued his education at the University of Chicago and New York University (Good Therapy). In 1958, he graduated from Adelphi University with a PhD in clinical psychology (Good Therapy). Ekman’s research of hand movements and gestures began in the late 1950’s, but in 1965, he became interested in facial expression and emotion (Paul Ekman LLC). Paul Ekman would travel around the world studying people of different races, examining their ethnicities, and observing their nonverbal behavior (*VIP #1). After collecting data and researching his topic, he concluded that facial expressions are universal similar to what Charles Darwin had proclaimed (Paul Ekman LLC). Later on, he would work with Wallace Friesen to develop the only tool for objectively measuring facial movement: Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (Paul Ekman LLC). Continuing his research, in 1967, he started to study deception and through his studies,...

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Practical Application
As a result of Paul Ekman’s research and findings, there was a TV show called “Lie to Me” which is based off of his theory and his group called the Paul Ekman LLC.

Works Cited

Duenwald, Mary. "The Physiology Of... Facial Expressions." Discover Magazine. 02 Jan. 2005. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
“F.A.C.S.” Paul Ekman Group LLC. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
“‘Lie To Me.’” Paul Ekman Group LLC. Web. 08 Feb. 2014.
“Micro Expressions” Paul Ekman Group LLC. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
"Paul Ekman." Good Therapy. 19 June 2013. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
"Paul Ekman." Paul Ekman Group LLC. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
Randall, Kevin. "Human Lie Detector Paul Ekman Decodes The Faces Of Depression, Terrorism, And Joy." Fast Company. 15 Dec. 2011. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.
"Seven Universally Recognized Facial Expressions of Emotion." FACS Coding Group. Visual Emotions LLC. Web. 03 Feb. 2014.

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