Paul Ekman Research Paper

Paul Ekman is an American psychologist and professor at the University of California Medical School, San Francisco who is a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. Ekman was born February 15, 1934 in Washington, D.C. The eldest son of a physician father, Abraham, and a lawyer mother, Rosella. He has been married for 24 years to Mary Ann, dean of graduate studies at the University of California at Berkeley, with whom he has raised two children. Paul Ekman spent 40 years studying the human face and now is considered the world's greatest expert on the human face, on the feelings that our faces reveal, and on the things we try to hide. An expert on expression, the physiology of emotion, and interpersonal deception.

Instead, they express universal emotions and are therefore biological. He discovered that several facial expressions of emotion, such as fear, anger, sadness, joy, and surprise were universal and that people could easily read these expressions in people from different cultures. From his research working with tribal people in New Guinea, Ekman devised a list of universal emotions and expressions that he believed were present in all humans. They include surprise, sadness, happiness, disgust, anger, and fear. Ekman created the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), which categorized every expression, not only on the face but also throughout the rest of the body. He concluded that there were both negative and positive emotions that were universal to all humans, although not all were visible in facial

Police and intelligence officials could benefit from knowing about facial expressions, body language, and vocal intonations when they're questioning a suspect. Starting in 1985, with publication of his book Telling Lies, Ekman began working occasionally with police departments and other government agencies around the country. Awarded a big contract by the Department of Defense, he'll work for the next three years to deepen his understanding of how terrorists might reveal they're lying while answering questions. He jets regularly to places like Mexico City to help State Department officials sharpen their skills at interviewing applicants for U.S.