tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-50614028671814603072024-03-12T18:04:37.734-07:00How to Read PeopleRead faces, bodies, words, gestures, & stuff (cars, clothes, home, office).Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.comBlogger31125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-19450634590306499412015-08-11T12:35:00.002-07:002015-08-11T12:35:39.857-07:00Photos Of Evil People Taken When They Were KidsCheck out this great slide show of <a href="http://www.idistracted.net/12-astonishing-photos-evil-people-taken-when-they-were-kids/21/?v=p" target="_blank">16 Astonishing Photos Of Evil People Taken When They Were Kids</a>. Are there clues in any of these faces?<br />
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<br />Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-91613024749871243202013-09-08T11:27:00.001-07:002013-09-08T11:27:26.450-07:00Can you tell when people are lying in their text messages?A Brigham Young University study suggests people when people lie in digital messages (texts, social media or instant messages), they take longer to respond, make more edits and write shorter sentences than usual.<br />
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"Digital conversations are a fertile ground for deception because people can easily conceal their identity and their messages often appear credible," says Tom Meservy, BYU professor of information systems. "Unfortunately, humans are terrible at detecting deception. We're creating methods to correct that."<br />
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According to Meservy, humans can detect lies about 54 percent of the time accurately -- not much better than a coin flip. It's even harder to tell when someone is lying through a digital message because you can't hear a voice or see an expression.
With the many financial, security and personal safety implications of digital deception, Meservy and fellow BYU professor Jeffrey Jenkins, along with colleagues at the University of Nebraska-Omaha and the University of Arizona, set up an experimental instrument that tracked possible cues of online lying.
The researchers created a computer program that carried out online conversations with participants -- similar to the experience consumers have with online customer service questions.<br />
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More than 100 students from two large universities, one in the southeastern U.S. and one in the southwestern U.S., had conversations with the computer, which asked them 30 questions each.
The participants were told to lie in about half of their responses. The researchers found responses filled with lies took 10 percent longer to create and were edited more than truthful messages.<br />
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"We are starting to identify signs given off by individuals that aren't easily tracked by humans," Meservy said. "The potential is that chat-based systems could be created to track deception in real-time."
The findings appear online this week in the academic information systems journal ACM Transactions on Management Information Systems.
Meservy and Jenkins, who coauthored the study, said we shouldn't automatically assume someone is lying if they take longer to respond, but the study does provide some general patterns.Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-56779301057787018972013-02-13T07:49:00.003-08:002013-02-13T07:49:24.391-08:00People Reading Secrets of Special AgentsHere is a link to a fabulous article called <a href="http://www.psychologytoday.com/collections/201301/how-read-people/secrets-special-agents?page=4" target="_blank">How to Read People</a> in Psychology Today. Learn about the three master people readers: Joe Navarro, J.J. Newbury and Jack Shafer. These three work in the world of criminal investigations and are experts at determining when a suspect is lying.<br />
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Here are some tips for setting the stage:<br />
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<li><strong>Shut Up</strong>: You’re in control when they’re talking, because you’re getting the information,” says J.J. Newberry. And don’t miss critical clues because you’re composing your next question. Sounds elemental? It’s the bane of law enforcement officers and journalists alike.</li>
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<li><strong>Set Up</strong>: Position and location matter. Women are most comfortable when seated directly across from an interlocutor. Men prefer to be at an angle relative to an interviewer. If your interviewee appears anxious, linger outside the room where you are scheduled to converse. A person may offer information just to avoid entering the room itself. Navarro calls this a “door jamb” confession. And a person exiting a room may feel guilty about wasting your time and concede a few unexpected morsels.</li>
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<li><strong>Change Perspective</strong>: People gear up for a verbal altercation. Have someone draw or act out an event—these actions can bring inconsistencies to light.</li>
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<li><strong>Get the Story Backwards</strong>:<strong> </strong>Reversing chronology forces a “frame by frame” recollection, rather than a reliance on knowledge of how events usually transpire. Reverse recall can trip up a liar and unearth forgotten or dormant information.</li>
</ul>
Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-70622237047670815422013-01-24T09:09:00.001-08:002013-01-24T09:09:48.924-08:00The Face of a Killer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Are there "tells" in the faces of killers? This morning I happened across this photo of Nehemiah Griego, the 15-year old New Mexico teen accused of killing his family and plotting to randomly gun down Wal-Mart shoppers. What do you see in his face?<br />
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How does it compare to Adam Lanza, the Sandy Hook gunman? How about James Holmes, the Aurora movie theater gunman?<br />
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I see contempt in Nehemiah's face. Note the pointed and commanding look in his eyes and his lips (tight and left corner slightly pointed up).<br />
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I also see what we call "head down, eyes up" posture which also reflects contempt, what my husband Mike refers to as "seething contempt."<br />
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Body Language expert <a href="http://www.bodylanguagesuccess.com/2011/01/crime-prevention-body-language-3.html" target="_blank">Jack Brown</a> suggests we pay attention to the "white and wild stare" as seen in Adam Lanza picture and also in James Holmes. According to Brown, "when the central forehead is also contracted along with widely opened eyes and displayed chronically should send a loud alarm."Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-50623644812850875582013-01-21T13:04:00.004-08:002013-01-21T13:15:15.072-08:00Lance Armstrong's Non-Verbals<script src="http://player.ooyala.com/player.js?embedCode=B2dW5pODpV2kGV9CMske0vEU41Rv7ze0&width=500&height=300&deepLinkEmbedCode=B2dW5pODpV2kGV9CMske0vEU41Rv7ze0&video_pcode=RvbGU6Z74XE_a3bj4QwRGByhq9h2&playerBrandingId=7dfd98005dba40baacc82277f292e522&thruParam_tmgui[relatedVideo]=http%3A%2F%2Fcdn.api.ooyala.com%2Fv2%2Fassets%3Fwhere%3Dembed_code%2Bin%26api_key%3DRvbGU6Z74XE_a3bj4QwRGByhq9h2.WFFAb%26expires%3D1640995199%26signature%3Djy0k5y0KlKnXRvaz8YfB%252Fs1iFHFedXPEda0wTd6P0Fo"></script>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-13031215486555113282013-01-21T12:58:00.001-08:002013-01-21T12:58:01.421-08:00Metro - LIVE BLOG: Body language expert interprets Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah<a href="http://www.metro.us/newyork/national/article/1159967--live-blog-body-language-expert-interprets-lance-armstrong-interview-with-oprah#.UP2rwrXZs7g.blogger">Metro - LIVE BLOG: Body language expert interprets Lance Armstrong interview with Oprah</a>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-8319298356265638472012-12-31T19:20:00.000-08:002012-12-31T19:20:01.134-08:00History Channel's Secrets of Body Language - Part 1<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1uMXV0mfDv4?rel=0" width="420"></iframe>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-33872610777700760102012-12-31T19:18:00.001-08:002012-12-31T19:18:26.484-08:00Secrets of Body Language - Part 2<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/YUDWNcvoosQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-42693515803381453572012-12-31T19:16:00.001-08:002012-12-31T19:16:37.213-08:00Secrets of Body Language - Part 3<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/wGd-nflD6bE?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-58473002825406550542012-12-31T18:56:00.001-08:002012-12-31T18:56:35.120-08:00Body Language Expert Jan Hargrave <iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5X7fKZTmZa4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-43448848376378623402012-12-31T18:47:00.004-08:002012-12-31T18:47:51.699-08:00Body Language Primer <iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/FL_ivBFlfis?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-50636459668896503742012-11-11T09:22:00.003-08:002012-11-11T09:22:52.205-08:00Excessive Blinking - What does it mean?<br />
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We know that excessive eye blinking is typically a sign of stress. When combined with other facial and language clues, these eye movements can be even more telling.<br />
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I decided to do this post after watching <a href="http://video.msnbc.msn.com/meet-the-press/49683569#49683569" target="_blank">last Sunday's Meet the Press </a>and in particular the excessive eye blinking of House Leader Eric Cantor. Cantor combines excessive eye blinking with raised "Driver" brows.<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-20tDMIev_jE/UJ_Za3S_37I/AAAAAAAABrk/NVycaGKt6JM/s1600/RedManTwenties.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-20tDMIev_jE/UJ_Za3S_37I/AAAAAAAABrk/NVycaGKt6JM/s200/RedManTwenties.jpg" width="146" /></a>Expressives and Drivers often raise their eyebrows, accentuating lines across the forehead. You can tell the difference between a Driver and an Expressive by their eyes. When Drivers raise their brows, the eyes tend to stay small. When Expressives do it, the eyes are much bigger. See the picture on the left? Compare that one to Eric Cantor. Now look at the lines across the forehead. Notice that Cantor's are relatively straight, while the man on the left has a "V" with arches over each brow.<br />
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So we know that Cantor is a Driver and feeling a bit of stress. That's natural for someone being interviewed. What else can we surmise? Let's take a look at body language research in this area and see what we can find.<br />
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Consensus on excessive blinking:<br />
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<ol>
<li>Blink rate tends to increase when people are uncomfortable or feeling stressed. </li>
<li>Some feel excessive blinking is a sign of lying, but in my experience, the opposite effect - excessive staring is more telling. Liars typically work hard to control their expression and tend to force their eyes to stay open and appear to stare. </li>
<li>Blinking can also be a sign of unconscious rapport. </li>
<li>Rapid blinking psychologically blocks vision which can an arrogant signal saying "I'm so important, I do not need to see you." When combined with the Driver raised brows, this one seems especially probable. </li>
<li>Cognitive neuroscientist Daniel Smilek at the University of Waterloo, found that blink rate increases when the mind wanders. The brain is actually shutting out information. </li>
</ol>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">The participants blinked more when their minds were wandering than when they were on task, the team reports in</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;"><em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Psychological Science</em></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. “What we suggest is that when you start to mind-wander, you start to gate the information even at the sensory endings — you basically close your eyelid so there’s less information coming into the brain,” says Smilek.</span></blockquote>
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<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br /></em>
<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Daniel Smilek, Jonathan S.a. Carriere, J. Allan Cheyne.<strong style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Out of Mind, Out of Sight: Eye Blinking as Indicator and Embodiment of Mind Wandering</strong>. Psychological Science, 2010; DOI: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0956797610368063" rel="nofollow" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">10.1177/0956797610368063</a></em><br />
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So...when we put all of this together, what can we "read" from Eric Cantor. He's stressed or uncomfortable, he's a Driver and somewhat arrogant. His blinking wasn't rapport building with David Gregory. I would argue that his mind wasn't wandering either. That just doesn't seem to fit. What do you think?</div>
<br />Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-36234898717771059212012-04-25T20:49:00.001-07:002012-04-25T20:49:53.096-07:00Great Body Language Show from the History Channel<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/AQENwD-QlRA" width="560"></iframe>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-85458473761459567402012-02-14T09:59:00.001-08:002012-02-14T09:59:19.541-08:00What are these faces saying?How good are you at reading faces?
<object id="vp1yueyW" width="432" height="240" classid="clsid:d27cdb6e-ae6d-11cf-96b8-444553540000"><param name="movie" value="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1329242178&f=yueyWwAelXuitBT8fd87Ag&d=73&m=a&r=240p&volume=100&start_res=240p&i=m&options="></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed id="vp1yueyW" src="http://static.animoto.com/swf/w.swf?w=swf/vp1&e=1329242178&f=yueyWwAelXuitBT8fd87Ag&d=73&m=a&r=240p&volume=100&start_res=240p&i=m&options=" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="432" height="240"></embed></object>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-59914960399581318702012-01-25T20:43:00.000-08:002012-02-01T22:00:05.159-08:00Dogs read faces just like babies<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yzyRuhrlg_Y/TyDZJ0ey4EI/AAAAAAAABTU/hg6QhOSbSdg/s1600/WoodyGreenRug.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yzyRuhrlg_Y/TyDZJ0ey4EI/AAAAAAAABTU/hg6QhOSbSdg/s200/WoodyGreenRug.jpg" style="cursor: move;" width="200" /></a><a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2811%2901393-5" target="_blank">New research </a>published in Current Biology reveals what many dog lovers already knew - Dogs can read faces just like babies. In particular, dogs rely on more than just verbal cues to communicate and anticipate our desires.
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Jozsef Topal, a researcher at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and co-author of the study stated, "Dogs are receptive to human communication in a manner that was previously attributed only to humans.
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29 canines were included in the study that looked at different aspects of communication. They were shown videos of a woman who first had verbal communication along with eye contact, then verbal communication without eye contact. The results showed that dogs followed the woman's gaze only when she looked directly at them and not when she just had verbal communication without eye contact.Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-62069152195206508382012-01-24T21:04:00.000-08:002012-01-24T21:04:43.484-08:00What do you "read" in Newt Romney's Face?Take a look at these faces. What do you see? Is it Confidence? Concern? Annoyance? Arrogance? Contempt?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K_tEKuuF9kw/Tx-NM_Tce3I/AAAAAAAABS0/CRocy7ww1ns/s1600/Newt+Romney.001.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K_tEKuuF9kw/Tx-NM_Tce3I/AAAAAAAABS0/CRocy7ww1ns/s320/Newt+Romney.001.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-79595683705425328282012-01-03T10:08:00.000-08:002012-01-03T10:10:34.941-08:00Reading Proactive and Passive from Demeanor and LanguageI've talked in earlier posts about reading people by the words they use. One of the ways we do this is by recognizing mental filters from language. Mental filters (also known as meta programs in NLP) are preferences or tendencies. I tend to be <i>Passive</i>, while my husband Mike generally operates at the <i>Proactive</i> side of this filter continuum.<br />
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How do you read or recognize this particular aspect of personality? Sentence structure provides us with some interesting clues. Proactive people typically use short, direct sentences with an active verb structure. I made. I ran. I wrote. Passive people tend to use passive verbs and longer, often convoluted sentences. Mike says, "I read minds." Pam says, "I have been helping people learn how to read and connect for more than two decades." See the difference?<br />
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Passive people also use passive words like thinking, deciding, planning, understanding. Notice the lack of action in those words. They are "thinking about it" words. <br />
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Proactives are also active, meaning they tend to move about a lot, while Passives are more likely to stay stationary. Proactives tend to lean forward, while Passives tend to lean back.<br />
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So now that you know how to recognize Proactives and Passives, what can you do with that knowledge? If you're selling or trying to convince a Passive to do something, what do you think they might need to do before they're ready to buy? Think about it! Understand it! How about the Proactive? They are ready to jump right in and get it done, so the last thing you want to do is overload them with details or steps that get in the way of them taking action.<br />
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What about Proactives and Passives in the workplace? Who would you want in a dangerous front-line situation where you had to react quickly? Who would you want in a job that required lots of research, planning and design?<br />
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In our classes we often use the Ready-Aim-Fire analogy to distinguish between the two. The Proactive version of this is - <i>Fire!</i> The Passive variant is <i>Aim-Adjust the site, Aim, Re-adjust, Re-think the trajectory, Redesign the site.....</i>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-57207922146438759972010-11-03T08:54:00.000-07:002012-01-02T12:46:11.097-08:00Tight-lipped Boehner speaks volumes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AEv5i6vVmvo/TwIXcgP6A4I/AAAAAAAABSI/BL-1WSpfiJc/s1600/s-BOEHNER-large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AEv5i6vVmvo/TwIXcgP6A4I/AAAAAAAABSI/BL-1WSpfiJc/s1600/s-BOEHNER-large.jpg" /></a></div>This clip of House Minority (now Majority) Leader John Boehner was the cover photo for a Wall Street Journal video about yesterday's midterm elections. Mr. Boehner shows a "thumbs up" but it seems his tight-lipped mouth has something else to say. His gesture and his facial expression are incongruent. When this is the case, trust the face to tell you how the person really feels. <br />
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I'll talk more on what tight lips "say" in a subsequent post.Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-37288510420464952042010-08-20T08:16:00.000-07:002010-08-20T09:16:44.753-07:00The Best of Body ReadingI've just finished reading Joe Navarro's book - <i>What Every Body is Saying</i>. I confess that when I first picked it up I wasn't expecting much, not because of the author, but because there are so many crappy books on body language out there. I was pleasantly surprised and I highly encourage you to pick up a copy of Joe's book.<br />
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</div><div>Navarro's work is based on the reactions of the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">limbic</span> brain and the freeze-fight-flight response. The way we sit or stand, what we do with our hands, our feet, our face, all signal where we are on the comfort-discomfort scale. Discomfort doesn't necessarily mean lying, but it does offer up some important clues. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Here are a couple of interesting points from the book:</div><div><ul><li>People tend to distance themselves from those with whom they feel uncomfortable. They'll lean away, point their feet away or put something between themselves and the other person. They'll create artificial barriers with either their shoulders and arms or with inanimate objects in front of them.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Pacifying behaviors, such as rubbing of the forehead or touching the neck or cheek are automatic responses to the brain's "Please help me feel comfortable again" request. The brain asks and the hands respond.</li>
</ul><ul><li>When you cross one leg in front of the other while standing, you reduce your balance significantly. If there was a threat you wouldn't be able to respond quickly. For this reason the <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">limbic</span> brain allows us to perform this behavior only when we feel comfortable or confident.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Confident and higher status people claim as much physical territory as possible (with both their body and their things), while less confident people tend to shrink.</li>
</ul><ul><li>The human brain is programmed to sense the slightest hand and finger movement. In fact, our brains give a disproportionate amount of attention to the wrists, palms, fingers and hands. Hiding your hands creates a negative impression, makes people suspicious.</li>
</ul><ul><li>When individuals carry their thumbs high, it is a sign they think highly of themselves.</li>
</ul><ul><li>Research tells us liars tend to gesture less, touch less and move their arms and legs less than honest people (<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Vrij</span>, 2003). This is consistent with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">limbic</span> reactions. In the face of a threat (for example having a lie detected, we move less or freeze so as not to attract attention.</li>
</ul></div><iframe frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_top&bc1=000000&IS1=1&nou=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=wwwaboutpeopcom&o=1&p=8&l=as1&m=amazon&f=ifr&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&asins=0061438294" style="height: 240px; width: 120px;"></iframe>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-57425353536707145912010-06-25T08:33:00.000-07:002010-06-25T08:39:27.577-07:00Easier to fake a smile than originally thought<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; font-size:13px;">For years psychologists believed that a real smile was signaled by upturned lips and crinkly eyes. This genuine smile is named after the French physician Duchenne, who passed electrical currents through live subjects and took photos of their weirdly contorted faces.<div><br /></div><div>It was believed that fewer than 20% could fake a smile that would trick others because we don't have voluntary control over the muscles around our eyes which signal the Duchenne smile.</div><div><br /></div><div>But now it seems that exactly the opposite is true. Writing in a recent issue of the journal Emotion, Krumhuber and Manstead found that 83% of the people in their study produce fake smiles that others mistook for the real thing in photographs.</div><div><br /></div><div>The researchers also explored how people perceived genuine and fake smiles when they saw videos rather than just static pictures. Then it emerged that fake smiles were easier to spot, but the supposedly crucial crinkling around the eyes didn't help much. Instead, telling a real from fake smile relied more on dynamic processes such as how long people hold it, the symmetry of the expression and whether conflicting emotions are communicated by other facial areas.</div><div><br /></div><div>So the Duchenne smile has taken a bit of bashing in this research, which suggests that most people can fake crinkly eyes. Not only that but the crinkly eyes aren't as crucial for us in judging the sincerity of a smile as other factors. Rather than just the crinkly eyes, it's the whole movement of the face which tells a tale either of deception or of genuine, felt emotion.</div><div><br /></div><div>Stay tuned for more on facial symmetry.....</div></span>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-44820469149754846162010-04-24T10:06:00.000-07:002010-04-24T10:46:49.367-07:00How to read people by the words they useYou can learn a lot about a person by simply listening to the words they use. <br /><br />For purposes of this discussion, let's use the four personality types: Driver, Analytical, Amiable and Expressive. Based simply on the words I'm using in this post, what type do you think I am? OK, I'll give you some more information, because I want you to be able to figure this out on your own. You may need to think through it a couple of times, but I know you'll make sense of it. The mere fact that you're at this site and reading this post means you're curious and you want to learn more.<br /><br />Figure it out yet? OK, I'll give you a way to compare. Let's imagine that you are interviewing my husband and co-author Michael and me on the same topic. Let's use our book Face Values as an example. You ask this question:<br /><br />How did you choose this topic to write about?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Pam</span>: After studying NLP and researching different Myers-Briggs and other personality profiling programs, we realized that although each of these programs had merit, there were serious flaws in the logic and serious usability issues. All of them required people to take a test in order for you to know what the other person's personality type is and that simply doesn't make sense if you're one-on-one with someone trying to figure them out. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Michael</span>: I wanted to be more effective communicating with people. I wanted to figure them out. I wanted to understand. I wanted to connect. The psychology excites me. It's hard to fun with people you don't understand. <br /><br />See the differences in response? Not only in the words used but also in the sentence structure. Mine is long and convoluted, Michael's is short and sweet. Michael is "I" focused, I am "thing" focused (programs, processes, etc.). <br /><br />Now let's look at the words. Here is a summary of the words and phrases I used:<br /><br />figure out<br />think through<br />make sense<br />study<br />know<br />logic<br />curious<br /><br />Now let's look at Michael's words<br /><br />I (I want to.... I am.....)<br />understand<br />communicate<br />connect<br />excite<br />fun<br /><br />Now can you identify which type each of us is? One of us is Analytical, the other is Expressive. <br /><br />If you've enjoyed this post consider reading a copy of our book <a href="http://www.aboutpeople.com/Catalog/index.php">Face Values: How to read people and connect with them in less than 3 minutes. </a>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-14416487386044523202009-03-28T20:18:00.000-07:002009-03-28T21:04:35.897-07:00How real recollection differs from a fabrication<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Aldert</span> <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Vrij</span> of the University of Portsmouth in England uses a method called Criteria-Based Content Analysis to help police identify whether the retelling of an incident is truthful. The method is based on research indicating that a story of a real recollection differs from a fabrication in specific ways. <br /><br />According to <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Vrij</span>, actual experiences have the following properties:<br /><ol><li>They are coherent and consistent but generally not in chronological order.</li><li>They contain a lot of detail and include unusual and <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">superfluous</span> elements.</li><li>They depict personal interactions and reiterate speech and conversation.</li><li>They describe feelings and thoughts - the narrator's and in many cases those the storyteller ascribes to the perpetrator.</li><li>They contain spontaneous corrections, the admission of memory gaps and doubts about the believability of the story. </li></ol>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-73929669554097479692009-03-10T09:31:00.000-07:002009-03-10T11:20:58.132-07:00How to Recognize a NarcissistThere were and continue to be no shortage of verbal assaults on the good character of Barack Obama. Most are so absurd as to not even merit rebuttal. One that did catch my attention recently, however, was an email that claimed Mr. Obama was the poster boy for narcissism. I couldn't let this one pass, primarily because nothing is further from the truth. In fact, Obama displays far fewer narcissist tendencies than most of his political counterparts. Let's take a look at some of the clues that help us recognize a narcissist and you can judge for yourself.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Big, loud and braggadocios.</span> The narcissist displays an air of superiority and haughtiness in both posture and speech. <span style="font-size: 100%;"></span>His body language and verbal language are typically loud, big and braggadocios.<span style="font-size: 100%;"> </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">His speech is peppered with "I", "my", "myself", and "mine". No matter how he describes himself (which he does quite a lot) it is always in the extreme - richer, smarter, more creative more successful and so on. If he has struggled in life, it will always be a bigger and more profound struggle than anyone else.<br /></span> <p><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Only interested in self. </span> The narcissist likes to talk about himself and only about himself. He's not interested in others or what they have to say, unless he perceives them as helpful to him getting what he wants. He is impatient, easily bored, </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">and has strong attention deficits – unless and until he is the topic of discussion. He can become </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">disdainful, even angry, if he feels that others are intruding on his time and space. </span><br /></p><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Expects special treatment. </span> The narcissist expects and often demands special treatment. To be served first, to pay less or get more, </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">to talk directly to authority figures (and not to their assistants or secretaries), to be granted special payment terms, to enjoy custom tailored arrangements. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Is very class and rank conscious.</span> The narcissist sees himself at the top of the food chain and also sees a very defined pecking order. He tends to react</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> with rage and indignation when denied his wishes and if treated equally with others whom he deems inferior. Ever witness someone in a restaurant or shop vehemently dress down the waiter or sales clerk in front of everyone? That's your narcissist.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Jekyll and Hyde - Idealizes or Humiliates.</span><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span> The narcissist is not without compliments for those he sets his sites on. He can flatter, admire, woo, even idealize. But, like most things with the narcissist the extremes are always in play. His admiration is over the top, exaggerated, overdone, and therefore it's sincerity questionable. He can turn it on and off very quickly. Just watch the change when the target leaves the room. Or when the target rejects him. He can move from adoring to hostile in a moments notice. And the hostile jabs will be equally exaggerated and over the top. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">All hat and no cattle.</span> Ever been around </span>someone who claims to be in the know on virtually every topic discussed? The person who's mastered every trade, climbed every mountain, and is friends with every powerful person? That's the narcissist. <span style="font-size: 100%;">The narcissist never admits to ignorance in any field. He would have you believe he can do and already has mastered everything there is to master. But it's all show and no substance. </span><span style="font-size: 100%;">One of the most effective methods of exposing a narcissist is by trying to delve deeper. With just a little bit of digging you can quickly expose the narcissist. </span><span style="font-size: 100%;"></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"></span><span style="font-size: 100%;"> </span><p><span style="font-size: 100%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Impersonal. </span> The Narcissist avoids emotions and emotional issues, preferring to intellectualize, rationalize and detach. Narcissists often refer to themselves in third person. <br /></span></p><div id="wikipage" class="box wikistyle"><div style="" id="wikipage-inner"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Lack of empathy. </span> Think about someone you know who is naturally empathetic, able to connect with different kinds of people in a profound and meaningful way. Now imagine the opposite kind of person. That's a narcissist. A narcissist is unable (or certainly unwilling) to get out of themselves and into the lives and emotions of other people. </div> </div>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-37523266160509630452009-03-05T09:30:00.000-08:002009-03-05T09:33:20.201-08:00Note symmetry of facial expression for clues to deceptionAccording to Paul <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Ekman</span>.....<br />Two distinct <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">neuropathways</span> govern voluntary and spontaneous facial expressions. One major difference is that spontaneous expressions tend to always be more symmetrical - with both sides of the face being more equally effected. When a facetious expression is made voluntarily, this symmetry is always less obvious. Thus, a crooked expression where the sides of the face are mismatched, is a reliable indication that the expression is not genuine but is being voluntarily created. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Ekman</span> is referring to relative facial symmetry. Some people naturally have more asymmetrical expressions than others, but when the expression appears more mismatched than usual, that's when you should become suspicious.Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5061402867181460307.post-31453644546347374082009-02-21T19:26:00.000-08:002009-02-24T12:25:53.231-08:00Detecting Deception via Body Language and Verbal CluesWe share in this post a number of things to look for to determine if someone is lying. Bear in mind that it's not a matter of checking things off a list. Deception detection is about recognizing variances from what is normal for the person. Lying is stressful for most people, except perhaps for master manipulators and psychotics, so the number one thing to look for are signs of stress. Stress can show up in posture, movements, facial expressions and in speech. For example, stressed posture is stiff and limited. A stressed facial expression includes tight lips and a tight jaw. Stressed speech is high pitched and overactive.<br /><br />The second big area for detecting deception is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">incongruence</span>. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Incongruence</span> is when you say one thing with your words but your body is saying something different. For example, you nod your head (as if to say yes) while actually saying the word no.<br /><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Deception Detectors - Physical Clues</span><br /><ul><li>Physical movements are likely to be limited and stiff, with few arm and hand movements.</li><li>Hand, arm and leg movements tend to be inward toward their own body rather than outward towards the other person</li><li>Liars tend to touch their hand to their face or throat. They may cover their mouth, rub the bottom of their nose or rest their hands around their throat.<br /></li><li>Liars tend to be physically closed and small and take up less space than when they're telling the truth.</li><li>A person who is lying to you will avoid making eye contact. (Be careful with this one as many people are aware of this clue and have learned to make eye contact even when lying).</li><li>Liars tend to take a defensive stance both verbally and physically. Physically they may turn their head or body away.</li><li>A liar might unconsciously place objects (book, coffee cup, etc.) between themselves and you. </li></ul><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Deception Detectors - Congruence</span><br /><br /><ul><li>Speech is <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">incongruent</span> with body language or facial expression. For example frowning or shaking your head no when saying "I love you."</li><li>When someone is faking an emotion, their expressions are typically limited to mouth movements. For example, when someone smiles naturally their whole face is involved, especially the eyes. With a fake smile, only the mouth is smiling.</li><li>Timing delay between expression and sentiment. For example, when receiving a gift the person says I love it! then smiles after making the statement, rather than at the same time the statement is made. </li><li>When a person is asked a question that requires a yes or no answer, if they are telling the truth, they'll nod their head (and only thier head) quickly. If they are lying or unsure about the answer the nod will start in their shoulders and will be significantly slower.</li></ul><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Deception Detectors - Verbal Tap Dancing<br /><br /></span><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"></span><ul><li>Liars sometimes avoid "lying" by not making direct statements. They imply answers instead of denying something directly.</li><li>Liars often pause before answering.<br /></li><li>Liars answer a question with another question attempting to take the conversation in a different direction.<br /></li><li>A liar will use your words to answer a question. When asked, “Did you eat the last cookie?” The liar answers, “No, I did not eat the last cookie.”</li><li>A statement with a contraction is more likely to be truthful: “ I didn't do it” instead of “I did not do it”</li><li>A liar may leave out pronouns and speak in a monotonous tone. When a truthful statement is made the pronoun is emphasized as much or more than the rest of the words in a statement.</li><li>Words may be garbled and spoken softly, and syntax and grammar may be off. In other words, his sentences will likely be muddled rather than emphasized.<br /></li></ul><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Deception Detectors - Other Signs of Stress</span><br /><br /><ul class="indent"><li>Voice is higher pitched than normal. </li><li>Face and hands becomes a bit paler as blood is withheld from extremities.</li><li>Nostrils may open wider ('flare'). </li><li>Breathing deeper and maybe audible. </li><li>Lips become thinner and tighter. </li><li>Shoulders pulled up and elbows pulled in to sides more. Body takes up less space. </li><li>Forehead tightens up a little in area between eye brows. </li><li>Eye contact breaks away from you and eyes may squint or close. </li><li>Heart rate increases. </li><li>Hand palms turned down or closed, and not revealed to you. </li></ul><br /><span style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold">Deception Detection - Eye Movements</span><br /><br />Generally, if people are thinking of visual information to answer a question, their eyes will move up: this is how they retrieve mental pictures. Most right handed people will look up and right when remembering and up and left when creating or imaging. We do this unconsciously, but we also tend to do it reliably. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2E-GLW7kZG0/SaD2HhUjQRI/AAAAAAAAAqc/HRkS-ddgFQw/s1600-h/eyeaccessing.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5305510970106528018" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; WIDTH: 200px; CURSOR: pointer; HEIGHT: 150px" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_2E-GLW7kZG0/SaD2HhUjQRI/AAAAAAAAAqc/HRkS-ddgFQw/s200/eyeaccessing.jpg" border="0" /></a>Now, it doesn't mean that if I look up and left to the "create the visual spot" that I'm making something up. It simply means I'm searching for a mental picture.<br /><br />The key in reading eye movements is the same as reading other clues. You look for what's different. Notice when they don't look up in the same way, or when they look up but perhaps to the other side, or when they maintain eye contact with you when they would normally do otherwise.<br /><p>This last is an interesting point. Most people imagine that we maintain eye contact when we tell the truth and break it when we lie. Not so. The majority of people will maintain eye contact when lying, because they don't need to retrieve information from their minds and, therefore, don't need to move their eyes. At another level, they are eager to appear sincere, and so consciously decide to keep looking at you.</p>Pam Hollowayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02022279995407904172noreply@blogger.com2