Paul Ekman: a life devoted to research

CAREER

Paul Ekman, US psychologist and Professor Emeritus of Psychology at UCSF (www.ucsf.edu), is the foremost expert on communication and emotions. A pioneer in recognising emotions through their behavioural manifestation, he has contributed substantially to expanding the understanding of non-verbal behaviour, including facial expressions and body language.In addition to his distinguished academic career, Ekman has authored more than 100 scientific publications, as well as holding numerous honorary doctorates. A co-discoverer of micro facial expressions (with Friesen, Haggard and Isaacs), Paul Ekman has been named by the American Psychological Association (APA: www.apa.org) as one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century, and according to TIME Magazine (www.time.com, 11 May 2009) is considered one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

THE TRAINING

Paul Ekman, born in Washington in 1934, was a student at the University of Chicago and New York University; in 1958 he received his PhD in clinical psychology from Adelphi University, after a one-year internship at the Langley Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute. He served two years as a first lieutenant and chief psychologist at Fort Dix, New Jersey, before returning to Langley Porter, where he became a professor of psychology in the UCSF Department of Medicine from 1972 to 2004.

He received a Scientist Research Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in 1971, which was renewed in 1976, 1981, 1987, 1991 and 1997.

Ekman began his career as a scientific researcher in the late 1950s, where he conducted a study of hand movements and gestures. He became interested in facial expressions and cross-cultural variables in non-verbal behaviour starting in 1965, after receiving a grant from the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA: www.darpa.mil) of the US Department of Defence.

RESEARCH IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA

In 1967 and 1968, Paul Ekman travelled to Papua New Guinea in order to study the non-verbal behaviour of the Fore people (a tribe completely isolated from the civilised world and with customs and traditions that had never evolved since the Stone Age, located in the South East Highlands). His research provided valid and reliable evidence as to the accuracy of Charles Darwin’s intuitions, who considered facial expressions related to primary emotions as universal (i.e. the same in every human being, regardless of culture, age or social class; this position therefore disagrees with Margaret Mead’s theoretical view, which considered facial expressions as learned, therefore different in every culture, through modelling or imitation of others).

The FACS

Ekman in 1978 developed with W. Friesen the Facial Action Coding System (FACS, the current and revised version of which is the 2002 version, co-authored by J. Hager: face-and-emotion.com), a method that allows any movement of the human face to be identified, descriptively and without interpretive inferences.

Ekman collaborated with Terry Sejnowski to develop the first computerised facial expression coding techniques (www.emotient.com): the software developed by Emotient (a company in which Ekman serves as an Advisory Board member) is the leading authority in automated facial expression analysis. The software translates facial expressions into information, thus enabling companies to develop technologies based on emotion analysis in order to create new levels of customer engagement, useful for development, analysis and application research.

STUDIES ON MYTH

In 1967, Ekman began studying lies and micro-expressions (see, Telling Lies: Clues to Deceit in the Marketplace, Politics, and Marriage).

Prof. Ekman’s research on lying led to the discovery of micro-expressions, mimics related to emotions that manifest and vanish within a fraction of a second (up to a twenty-fifth of a second), due to its abrupt voluntary interruption (attempted suppression). Expressions can be expressed in the whole face or even only in a part of it (upper or lower part). In the latter case they are called subtle expressions. Over the last few years, Paul Ekman has developed and made available some online software, true learning trainings, useful for the recognition of micro facial expressions and subtle expressions (F.A.C.E. Trainings: www.paulekman.com/product-category/face-training): the Micro Expression Training Tool (current version: eMETT 3.0) and the Subtle Expression Training Tool (current version: eSETT 3.0).

Ekman went on to develop the Evaluating Truthfulness and Credibility (ETaC) method, which allows each channel of communication to be analysed in order to assess a person’s credibility or behaviours related to lying.

RECENT ACTIVITIES

In 2001, Ekman collaborated with John Cleese in filming a documentary for the BBC. He later retired in 2004 as a professor of psychology from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California. From 1960 to 2004, he worked at the Langley Porter Psychiatric Institute. He is now president of the Paul Ekman Group (www.paulekman.com).

TELEVISION SERIES LIE TO ME

The broadcaster FOX has made a television series about the life and studies of Paul Ekman, namely “Lie to Me” (FOX:www.foxtv.it/lie-to-me), for which Ekman himself was appointed as scientific advisor in the production.

EMOTIONS AND MINDFULNESS

Recently, Prof. Paul Ekman has also been dealing with the role of emotions in the Mindfulness and Compassion theoretical perspective, topics that he also wanted to explore following the intellectual exchange that took place with the Dalai Lama (www.paulekman.com/webisodes).

Paul Ekman’s expertise applies to issues of national security, training, counselling, negotiation, family dynamics, vocational education, 3D animation, outreach, and the mapping of human emotions (www.paulekman.com/workshops/peg; http://www.ekmaninternational.com/paul-ekman-international-plc-home/training-courses.aspx).

PRESENCE IN ITALY

I&G Management (www.igmanagement.it) is the official representative in Italy of Paul Ekman’s scientific methodology (www.ekmaninternational.com/paul-ekman-international-plc-home/partners.aspx).

I&G Management is a consultancy and managerial training company, established in Milan in 1988, and composed of a team of 18 professionals, specialised in behavioural, managerial and commercial training. We operate with classroom training programmes, outdoor and indoor training, executive and corporate coaching.

The company promotes scientific research in the field of neuroscience in collaboration with Emotional Intelligence Academy and Paul Ekman International and, through an international network, disseminates the scientific and psychological theories and models studied by Prof. Paul Ekman, the world’s leading expert on the physiology of emotions and non-verbal communication. Internationally, it represents a point of reference for institutions dealing with behavioural analysis in the forensic, medical, managerial, negotiation, psychological, psychiatric and public and private security fields. It is a partner of the Italian Academy of Forensic Sciences for the dissemination and development of psychological methodologies and models on the analysis of facial expressions, emotion recognition in forensic contexts and verbal and non-verbal communication.

For more information on Paul Ekman Certification Courses and Methodologies in Italy click here.

Video: https://youtu.be/40YCCZ9SYl0