Social Engineering Blogs

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Truth Tellers and Liars

In a past blog, A Look at the Truth, Humintell reported on distinguishing features of truth tellers & liars.  Following are remarks from the original blog as well as videos that illustrate the importance of microexpressions and nonverbal behavior.

Dr. Matsumoto has stated that it is equally important  to determine truthfulness when trying to detect deceit.  Based on scientific research done in the field of detecting deception, we know that there are both accurate and inaccurate cues to focus on when trying to decipher a lie from the truth.

 Cues to deception occur through many channels including facial expressions of emotion, microexpressions, gestures, verbal style and verbal content as well as other cues. 

Remember that there is NO Pinnochio effect– that is, there is not 1 reliable clue to deception, which alone can determine whether or not someone is lying.  Things such as fidgeting, eye gaze, lack of eye contact, scratching of the nose and excessive blinking by themselves are not 100% foolproof ways to detect deception. See common misconceptions about microexpressions. 

Humintell emphasizes looking for inconsistencies between verbal and nonverbal statements, which we call hot spots. For example, if you see someone say the words “I love you” and then you see a microexpression of disgust on their face, this is a hot spot.  However, 1 or 2 hot spots doesn’t necessarily mean deceit especially if they are expressed when discussing different topics.

The video below is of a woman named Erin Runnion. Her daughter Samantha was kidnapped outside their home. The raw emotions are powerful!

Click here to view the embedded video.


Compare Runnion’s emotions, behavior and facial expressions to that of Diane Downs, a mother whose children were shot, two survied and one died:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Although Downs never admitted to committing the act herself, she was convicted of murder & attempted murder by the testimony of her daughter whom she shot in the face.

Happiness Without the Smile: Moebius Syndrome

Facial expressions are fundamental pieces of communication that we encounter and process, often times, unconsciously everyday.

Many people take them for granted and don’t realize how much facial expressions help us to analyze the situations and people around us.

What if you were unable to express your emotions through your facial expressions? Life would be very different.

Matilyn Branch is a 6-year-old who can’t smile reports Lubbock Online Journal.  She and her family have learned to adjust to the very different kind of communication that comes without facial expressions.  Matilyn has Moebius Syndrome, a neurological disorder, which afflicts the muscles of the face often times making even blinking difficult.

Moebius Syndrome is a paralysis or extreme weakness of facial muscles.   This means that Matilyn cannot smile or even move her eyes from side to side.  Her first grade teacher says that does not stop her from excelling in school.

“This school year I have learned as much from Matilyn as she has learned from me,” said Braquet. “Matilyn is a very sweet girl and an amazing student.”

Her parents also comment,

“We want people to know that if they see us in public, or anyone else who is different, to not be scared,” said Harvey. “Be respectful and … come and talk to us.”

 On another note regarding facial expressions, Live Science reports on new research that suggests infants show bias when looking at faces.

The research shows that babies, as young as 9 months, are better able to recognize emotions via facial expressions from people of their own ethnic group.

Infants that are younger than 9 months are able to do so regardless of the person’s racial background.

“These results suggest that biases in face recognition and perception begin in preverbal infants, well before concepts about race are formed. It is important for us to understand the nature of these biases in order to reduce or eliminate [the biases],” said study researcher Lisa Scott, a psychologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

Read a past article written in the NY Times featuring research done on Moebius syndrome by Dr. David Matsumoto and Kathleen Bogart

Re-visiting Will Smith shows Basic Emotions

A week ago we posted a video of actor Will Smith at the Men in Black 3 premier in Moscow, Russia when he backhanded a reporter who tried to kiss him.

We asked readers to comment on the expressions they saw in the video.

Most people correctly stated that Smith had an expression of anger mixed with disgust after the reporter tried to kiss him.

It is also interesting to note the expressions of the the two women behind Smith. The woman in the leopard scarf initially showed surprise (see below).  The blond woman shows anger when the reporter gets too close to Smith, which is seen below.

The woman with the leopard scarf’s expressions turned to fear once she saw Smith backhand the reporter. After showing fear, she said “I’m so sorry”. You can see two different views of the expression below.

Missed seeing the original post? You can view it by clicking here