My latest fovorite tv show is "Lie to me", featuring "The Lightman Group" - a team of deception detection specialists aka. human lie detectors. The show might portray fictitious perps and situations but it is not a fiction show. The character of Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) is based on a real person, Dr. Paul Ekman, a notable psychologist and expert on body language and facial expressions at University of California, San Francisco.Lie to Me (titled as Lie to me*) is an American television series that premiered on the Fox network on January 21, 2009. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightman Group accept assignments from third parties (commonly local and federal law enforcement), and assist in investigations, reaching the truth through applied psychology: interpreting microexpressions, through the Facial Action Coding System, and body language.
Facial Action Coding System (FACS), Micro Expression Training Tool (METT), and Subtle Expression Training Tool (SETT) are programs to teach a person to detect signs of deception in another person's facial expressions (called "microexpressions"). I have been playing with METT last night and my very first trial-run score was 58%. Meh, indeed, but that was what I knew just from watching the series. I went through the short practice session, and my next test score was 71%. I then attempted the advanced test (no hints of any kind) and <gasp> my score was 88%! All this from just watching the episodes of Lie to me... and who says television teaches you nothing? Tonight I'm going to practice more of METT and take a shot at SETT.
If you want to take a crack at learning microexpressions online, try Artnatomy here: http://www.artnatomia.net/uk/artnatomiaIng.html The "naturalistic model" works best.
A sample of real-life face reading here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/15/weekinreview/15marsh.html?_r=1
