Falcon 1

Meghan Falcon
English 1001
Ms. Coco
5 December 2015
audience: law enforcement
Process Preface
I would improve about this draft by finding actual cases where micro-expressions were
used to prevent a crime from happening or terrorist attack from happening. If I had two more
weeks to work on this, I would have done my own study or survey to see if people could read
micro-expression when I showed them some. The strength of my draft I feel is me developing on
my topic. I also believe I stay on focus with my topic. I feel that this essay really accomplishes
what I was trying to write about micro-expression and I am very proud of it.

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Teacher Comment Draft: Reading Lies
The idea of reading people and the lies they tell interested me after I saw a show on Fox
called Lie to Me. It was a crime show that sparked peoples interest in the study of facial
expressions. The character in the show was able to spot any lie, even the lies that lasted for about
a fifth of a second. The way the character was able to solve crimes for the CIA or FBI by telling
them when people were lying is a perfect example of why reading people is good thing for law
enforcement to learn. Having the ability to spot a lie without a machine, that is very unreliable,
can help law enforcement solve more cases. How can law enforcement or lawyers use microexpressions to help determine the truthfulness of peoples statements?
Micro-expressions, also called involuntary facial expressions, are the slight facial
expressions that reveal what emotion a person is trying to hide. These micro-expressions last for
about a limited time, about a fifth of a second or even less than that. (Wen-Jing Yan) They are
embedded in the flow of emotions and happen when people try to hide their feelings about
something. (Zhang) It was Charles Darwin, in 1872, who suggested that some facial muscle
actions that are with strong emotions are involuntary and cannot be inhibited not matter how
hard someone tries to hide them. After Darwins assumption, researchers later found out that
expressions can be involuntarily triggered in the subcortical area of the brain so that is why they
can not be hidden. (Hurley, Background factors predicting accuracy and improvement in micro
expression recognition) This thought by Darwin would bring about the discovery of microexpressions later in history.
Micro-expression was first discovered by E.A. Haggard and K.S. Isaacs in 1966 when
they were studying clinical interviews. They believed that these expressions were involuntary
and occurred too quickly for a person to see in real time. So Haggard and Isaac created a

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procedure to detect small expressions. They tried a procedure where participants would view a
psychiatric interview and press a button when they would see a change in expression. The
participants had a difficulty in detecting the slight change in expressions. Later, P. Ekman and W.
V. Friesen studied micro-expressions by studying frame-by-frame of psychiatric interviews to
look at expressions. They found that micro-expressions were emotional expressions that could
not be hidden even when someone attempts to hide their facial expressions. Ekman and Friesen
believed that these expressions are natural occurring expressions that can not be stopped no
matter how hard someone tries to. (Hurley, Background factors predicting accuracy and
improvement in micro expression recognition) Through these peoples research it seems possible
that even though these expressions are hard to read that it would be a good resource to learn so
that law enforcement can tell when someone is lying and should be studied more so that the FBI
or CIA can prevent future terrorist attacks or crimes form happening.
The study of facial expressions has been around since the 1920s but clear identification
of expressions limited this training. Researchers began to study the way a muscle moves and
goes along with a facial expression which allowed them to create a facial coding system.
(Hurley, Do you see what I see? Learning to detect micro expressions of emotion) There are
many tests out there that try to read micro-expressions like the Japanese And Caucasian Brief
Affect Recognition Test (JACPART) and Micro-Expression Training Tool (METT) but they still
have trouble identifying this involuntary facial expressions. Professor Carolyn Hurley and other
professors say that, the ideal test for micro-expression recognition would utilize naturally
occurring spontaneous micro-expression stimuli to mimic real life. (Hurley, Background
factors predicting accuracy and improvement in micro expression recognition) This would
allow people to read expressions more clearly and figure out what emotion a person is trying to

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hide. Micro-expressions are hard to read using a computer because of the short amount of time
these emotions are shown. (Wen-Jing Yan) Even though the research and technology is still not
there on reading micro-expressions there is always reading expressions without the use of
technology which might be even better and easier to do through practice.
Micro-expressions can not be faked or hidden no matter how hard someone tries. It is
involuntary based on the emotion a person is feeling at that time. There are seven universal facial
expressions of emotion that are studied throughout. The emotions are happy, surprise, contempt,
sadness, fear, disgust, and anger. (Daskal) Professor Carolyn Hurley says that, emotions are
automatic responses that are triggered by environmental stimuli that alter our attention and
organize biological responses, preparing us to react. (Do you see what I see? Learning to detect
micro expressions of emotion) These emotions are triggered and can not be stopped from being
shown about how someone really feels about someone or something. To read these emotions
people learn to look at the way a persons eyebrow moves, eyes move, month moves, and the
way a persons facial muscles move. This slight change of the face can lead to a hidden emotion
that a law enforcement officer can use to detect when someone is being untruthful about
something they have done.

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Even though reading these micro-expressions are hard there are tips and research done on
how to read the universal expressions. You read surprise by the eyebrows being raised, the eyes
widened, and the mouth open with the teeth slightly parted. Fear is shown by the eyebrows being
raised and pulled together, upper eyelid is raised, tensed lower eyelids, and the lips are slightly
stretched back toward the ears. Nose wrinkled, cheeks are raised, and upper lip is raised these are
all signs of the disgust expression. The anger expression is shown by eyebrows down and drawn
together, eyes glared, lips are pressed firmly together, and nostrils are dilated and may flare. You
read happiness by the cheeks being raised, crows feet by the eyes, lips are back and up, and
mouth can be parted with teeth shown. Lips are drawn down, drooping of the upper eyelids,
eyebrows are drawn in and then up, and lower lip pouts are all signs of sadness emotion. The
contempt expression is shown through by the lip corner tightened and raised on only one side of
the face. (Edwards) These are all signs of reading even the smallest and hardest to read universal
facial expressions that law enforcement can use to tell when someone is being untruthful.
The skill of reading micro-expressions may improve with more and more practice. When
people have more exposure to people that try to hide their emotions, like law enforcement, they
have the ability to tell how a suspect is feeling about a crime they have or have not committed.
Repeated exposure to these micro-expressions help in training law enforcement to be able to tell
when they have someone that is telling the truth or not. Also, having the motivation to want to
know how to tell when someone is lying can help. Reading others can particularly help national
security agencies like the FBI and CIA need to make an informed judgment about threats to
oneself or others. (Hurley, Background factors predicting accuracy and improvement in micro
expression recognition) Even though learning this skill can be hard and take a lot of time having

Falcon 6
the motivation and exposure to read people is a skill that law enforcement need to practice so
that a guilty person can be under arrest.
There are some factors like sex, age, personality traits, and experience and training that
can help in the recognition in micro-expressions. It is believed that females are more likely to be
able to read facial expressions because of their socialization patterns. Some researchers of microexpressions believe that older adults are less likely to recognize expressions. The personality
traits like extraversion, openness to experience, and conscientiousness are all traits that help read
emotions. Extraverts are more likely to interact with people and want to learn about peoples
feelings. Open to experience people are more curious about others and are attentive to peoples
feelings. Individuals that are attentive to detail are conscientious people. Having these traits help
in observing details about the face. Having law enforcement experience and the length of time
performing behavior observations are examples of experience and training that help in reading
involuntary facial expressions. Law enforcement are able to identify lies through behavioral cues
that they notice. (Hurley, Do you see what I see? Learning to detect micro expressions of
emotion) Having these factors may help in learning to spot a lie when you are a member of the
law enforcement.
Law enforcement can use these skills to prevent future terrorist attacks or murders from
happening. They can place people with this training in airport, subways, and places like that.
Also, they can place these people just in an integration room so that a criminal does not get away.
The training may take time but learning to spot a suspicious character or spotting when a suspect
is lying can result in saving more lives. It is a skill that needs to be practiced and worked on so
that law enforcement does not have to rely on their guts or lie-detectors, which are very
beatable and unreliable. Lie-detectors are not reliable because they look at blood pressure, pulse,

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respiration, and skin conductivity when a suspect is being asked questions and while they are
answering. They can be duped or faked through medication and practice in relaxation. Also these
tests are immiscible or can not be used in court (Zhang) Through motivation in wanting to be
able to tell when someone is lying, it can help in learning the skill of reading people and to spot a
lie.

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Work Citied
Daskal, Lolly. "Learn the Secret of Decoding Facial Expressions." Inc.com. 24 Nov. 2014. Web.
6 Dec. 2015.
Edwards, Vanessa. "Guide to Reading Microexpressions - Science of People." Science of People.
6 Sept. 2013. Web. 6 Dec. 2015.
Hurley, Carolyn, Ashley Anker, Mark Frank, David Matsumoto, and Hyisung Hwang, et al.
"Background Factors Predicting Accuracy And Improvement In Micro Expression
Recognition." Motivation & Emotion 38.5 (2014): 700-714. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
Hurley, Carolyn. "Do You See What I See? Learning To Detect Micro Expressions Of Emotion."
Motivation & Emotion 36.3 (2012): 371-381. Academic Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov.
2015.
Yan, Wen-Jing, Su-Jing Wang, Yong-Jin Liu, Qi Wu, and Xiaolan, et al. "For Micro-Expression
Recognition: Database And Suggestions." Neurocomputing 136.(2014): 82-87. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
Zhang, Ming, Qiufang Fu, Yu-Hsin Chen, and Xiaolan Fu, et al. "Emotional Context Influences
Micro-Expression Recognition." Plos ONE 9.4 (2014): 1-7. Academic Search Complete.
Web. 18 Nov. 2015.