Microespressioni – Wikipedia

The microespressions They are those emotional expressions of the face that have a very short duration, or a quarter of a second. If they exceed this duration they are simply defined as facial mimic expressions.

All emotional expressions can present themselves as microespressions. They are rich in meaning as they fully reveal a hidden emotion.

The microespressions were discovered by E. A. Haggard and K. S. Isaacs in 1966 ^[first] during the analysis of non -verbal behavior in psychotherapy. The study of the microespressions was subsequently deepened other authors, such as Paul Ekman, who theorized its universality on the basis of Charles Darwin’s studies. These contributions are also precious in the applications of the analysis of facial behavior in various sectors, as well as in the continuation of experimental research. ^[2]

Unlike normal expressions, it is very difficult to control microespressions and often reveal, such as Lapsus, hidden intentions or emotions that do not want to show. They are therefore used by the experts of “psychology of lies” to discover the truth. If you do not have a particular talent or a great experience, to recognize a micro-impression with certainty it is preferable to record a movie and use the image-image.

Thanks to the scheme of Ekman and the first studies of Professor Haggard and Isaacs it is much easier and faster and to recognize the foundations of the main expressions .. it is very difficult to recognize the real ones from the false or tried. Another fundamental point in micro-expression is the difference between mood and emotion because they are expressed in different ways, but they are difficult to recognize from each other if the bases of micro-expressions are not known.

Microespressiveness was first discovered by E. A. Haggard and K. S. Isaacs in 1966 while analyzing images from psychotherapy movies in search of non -verbal signs and patients. For example, examining the video of an interview carried out with a psychiatric patient named Mary, who tried to disagree his suicide plan, Friesen and Haggard, found a micro-expression of sadness, immediately covered by a smile. After several years of study they are deepened by psychologists like Paul Ekman. In 1972, thanks to his study on Charles Darwin’s studies and to those of Haggard and Isaacs he found the emotions that today are universally recognized: anger, joy, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise and contempt. In these years Ekman is created by a facial scheme that reproduces the first signs of how to recognize the different expressions in a simple.ekman later he worked with his colleague Researcher W.V. Friesen to map the 43 facial muscles responsible for seven main micro-expressions. The muscles were codified in a system called Facial Action Coding System (FACS). This coding system allows human programmers to manually codify almost every possible expression of the face. This can be useful to determine how and how depressed a person is or how much cerebral trauma has undergone. Thanks to these studies and patterns, micro-expressiveness has become a basic part of the study from psychoanalysis and psychology. [5] [6]

The mood and feeling are very similar, but are expressed in different ways and times. It is very important to know how to distinguish mood from emotion, the most important difference is that mood unlike emotion is a mood that can last longer, for example, “today I am in a good mood”, Instead, an emotion is much shorter, it may appear and disappear in a few minutes or even in a few seconds. Furthermore, the mood often does not arise from a real reason and does not change our expression with too evident signs, however it changes our way of dealing with situations. As it has been said before, it is quite difficult to see a change in the expression of a person, but if you are used to observing an always angry person it is very easy to see different micro-expressions if for once proves a different emotion from anger. When instead we create an emotion, we are immediately able to understand which it is. It is very easy that they can be seen on people who are very expressive, but if the person who is analyzing is not very expressive, it is much more difficult to find certain changes in the subject’s face. Emotions can be defined as a complex scheme of variations. [8] [4]

They are pressing the same facial mimicas that appear in the expressions; anomalies between speech and mimicry, an efforted mimic and more can be indicators of lie or reticence. Emotions can express themselves in more than seven thousand facial expressions. The most important and universally recognized that are studied through micro-expression are:

• Disgust: usually the disgust presents itself when a person finds himself in front of a food that the mind considers harmful or when an disgusting or not very pleasant scene is presented. Usually it is expressed with the downside of the mouth down, the nose curls. The eyebrows lower and approach creating vertical wrinkles on the forehead, while the eyelids rise creating wrinkles at the root of the nose and the external corners of the eyes creating the so -called chicken legs. The lips contracting and curving the end of the lips downwards creating wrinkles that start under the nose and continuing to the corners of the mouth.
• Discipazzo: contempt makes the face take on a particular expression, which reports and is many times exchanged as disgust or a provocative attitude. In the expression of contempt there is a pronounced raising of a single eyebrow, also called the “contemptuous eyebrow” which consequently has the creation of concentric wrinkles above it. The upper lip rises from the same side, until it almost discover the canine. The corner of the mouth that rises, causes an increase in the cheek, which in turn creates wrinkles on the external side of the eye. If, on the other hand, the subject keeps the eyebrow raised and the mouth closed, the expressiveness changes from contempt for a form of superiority.
• Sadness: sadness is an emotion that is universally recognized. The eyebrows approach and rise in the internal part by also climbing the internal corner of the upper eyelids. If the eyebrows approach the front of the forehead without getting up, it takes a form of horseshoe -shaped rippling. The corners of the mouth are pushed down, the lower lip begins to have small tremolii. It is also possible to notice a lack of muscle tone, making the face unexpressive and falling.
• Fear: the eyebrows rise, relax and approach and in fact small horizontal wrinkles are created on the forehead. The eyes open more and more and the gaze remains fixed in the direction of what frightens. The mouth remains open tense, but with the corners of the mouth that tend slightly downwards, while the nostrils dilate.
• Anger: Anger is usually expressed with the forehead that contracts forming vertical wrinkles three eyebrows. The upper eyelid is pushed down by the eyebrow movement. The gaze becomes fixed and the eyes become tight between the eyelids, they become brilliant and can lose symmetry. The nostrils dilate, taking on an expression very similar to that of a bull. The lips contract and the mouth can take different expressions. The mouth can open by showing the teeth to the lower canines and the jaw is pushed towards the front as if it wanted to bite, usually the expression is accompanied by screams and insults. The voice seems to be choked in the throat and becomes Rauca and out of tune. When the mouth remains closed, with the lips and tight teeth, it means that the person taken by Ira is trying to stay.
• Surprise: the surprise is one of the fastest and most short emotions, it lasts a few moments just to make it clear what is happening in front of the subject’s eyes. The eyebrows get up, move away and curve at the same time creating small wrinkles that follow the line of the eyebrows themselves- the eyes are wide open to see better, the mouth takes the shape of “o” which expresses a surprise that can also be accompanied from a “ooh” vowel.
• Joy: the forehead relaxes and the gaze appears bright and lively, the lower eyelids rise and form small wrinkles all around the eyes. The cheeks swell and raise at the same time. The mouth stretches by lifting the corners of the mouth. The nose curls and the opening of the mouth creates deep nose-labial folds. [8] [6]

Usually the most true expressions are the most difficult to recognize, a false expression is immediately easy to identify. For example, for joy, a non -sincere and forced smile is very easy to distinguish. Maybe the person is smiling, but in reality the gaze and eyes tell the other thing that makes the person understand that he is doing an analysis of the expression will immediately be able to understand that the one expressed is not true. Starting from the small details, such as wrinkles near the eyes or if the mouth is closed the wrinkles near the mouth are missing. What you must always look while trying to understand an expression must be micro movements and the change of facial muscles. Just think of the main features that each emotion involves the expression and looking at which are missing or forced. Being able to identify these microespressions allows us to understand what the person is feeling. A corner raised for a few seconds masks the satisfaction for what has happened, even if perhaps in words it is expressing a deep displeasure, that small signal can highlight that in reality the person is much happier than what is happening. The face is able to lie and tell the truth at the same time and often does it simultaneously. So it contains two messages: what the liar wants to demonstrate and what he is trying to hide. [6] [7]