The People Behind the Research
Paul Ekman
Paul Ekman is a renowned clinical psychologist who has led the study of facial expressions. Ekman began his research during the 1950's which began with him studying hand gestures and movement, but it wasn't until 1965 that he began his study of facial expressions. In 1967 and 1968 Ekman took his research to Papua New Guinea where he studying the Fore culture. The Fore culture is a stone age culture with primitive practices. Through his research in New Guinea Ekman developed the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). Today the FACS is used to analyze facial movement that convey an individuals emotions. During 1967 Ekman began working on micro facial expressions, which are facial expression which will only last for a fraction of a second.
Ekman, now retired, runs he Paul Ekman Group, who assists law enforcement with workshops on how to interpret people's emotions based on their facial expressions (Paul Ekman Group).
Silvan Tomkins
Tomkins is a psychologist who spealicilzes in personality theories. In his work with Ekman in New Guinea he complained a collection of images representing different facial expressions. His work showed that a stone-aged culture was able to identify emotions of Western and Non-Western cultures. This evidence backed up the theory that facial expressions are universal (The Tomkins Institute).
Darwin
Darwin is known for his work on evolution, but his book The Expression of Emotion in Man and Animals (1872) (Are Facial Expressions Universal) that stated that the facial expressions he observed seemed to be similar which sparked the idea that facial expression were universal, which is what Paul Ekman developed with Silvan in New Guinea (Paul Ekman Group).
While many have and continue to contribute to the field of studying facial expressions these researchers were the leading force and their work has been referenced in the work of most of those to follow. They are the pioneers of facial expressions from the work they have conducted.
