Interview

I interviewed Mark Frank and he answered some questions that helped me understand more about how expressions work. Mark Frank has “a BA in Psychology from University at Buffalo, and a PhD (doctorate) in Social and Personality Psychology from Cornell University, and I did post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School Psychiatry Department. ( Frank)” It is really neat the he was just a regular guy, who worked at a bar and discovered that he liked facial expressions and emotions. I found Mark by going to the show Lie to Me's website, where they had a list of people who inspired and helped with the show. I enjoyed talking to him and now I am thinking of majoring in Social and Personality Psychology, this will help me with my research project by wanting to actually learn how to read peoples expressions and about the subject.

Questions:
1. Where are you from?
Buffalo, NY

2.What got you started in emotions and expressions?
I used to be a bouncer in a bar, and thought I could read who was under age and who was trouble based upon their behavior. So when I got to graduate school, I decided to study it like a proper scientist.

3. Can you read a persons expression and emotions?
Yes, and most of us can without any formal training – it is wired in our brains. We can all detect the expressions of anger, contempt, disgust, fear, happy, sad, and surprise. The hard part is reading the very subtle signs – like when people are trying to conceal their feelings.

4.If so, do you feel it has changed your life in anyway?
Yes, continually. But in my laboratory we can examine expression and emotion in more detail than we can in our day to day life, as when we interact with friends and family.

5. If answer to question 3 is yes, can you tell when people are lying?
Yes, but not perfectly. No one can detect lies perfectly. The best people on the planet can only do it at around 80-85%.

6.If so, do you feel that it is a bad thing to be able to tell when someone is lying to or deceiving you,ect,?
No, it can be a good thing. In fact, we want our law enforcement people to be able to do this to make us safe. We also want to know this in our daily life, if a salesperson is trying to sell us something they know doesn’t work. There are some situations in life though – like when being polite – where we don’t want to know (if we have a blemish on our face, we don’t want our friends to point it out or say it makes us look horrible even if it does for that day…).

7. What degrees do you have in this subject?
I have a BA in Psychology from University at Buffalo, and a PhD (doctorate) in Social and Personality Psychology from Cornell University, and I did post-doctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco Medical School Psychiatry Department. .

8.In what way does a persons emotions link to their expressions (what makes our faces respond to emotion in the way they does)?
The part of the brain that generates emotions (somewhere in the middle, beneath the cortex, that is, the outer, more ‘noodley looking’ part) also sends a signal to your face. You learn, through family upbringing, and culture, to control that expression when appropriate. So, as a child you may have cried when upset. But boys learn that crying is not so masculine in the USA, so they learn to control their expressions of sadness. Girls in the USA, however, learn that it is OK to cry, so they cry more easily than boys. But both girls and boys do feel sadness and the urge to cry, just boys grow up practicing their suppression of the expression more than girls do.

9.Can anyone really hide all of their emotions?
If the emotions are weak, they can. If the emotions are very strong, probably not.

10.Do you use your studies in everyday life (reading peoples emotions and expressions)?
Yes. My children are scared to death! ;)