What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (Series in Affective Science) [Hardcover]

Paul Ekman (Editor), Erika L. Rosenberg (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0195104463 | ISBN-13: 978-0195104462

Facial expressions convey a vast amount of information, but only recently have investigators begun to explore the precise details of what expressions are telling us about internal states, social behavior, and psychopathology. The Facial Action Coding System (FACS), which is a tool for comprehensively measuring facial expressions, plays a central role in this rapidly growing and exciting field.
This volume represents the state of the art in research on facial expressions. Drawing from psychology, medicine, and psychiatry, the chapters address such key issues as the dynamic and morphological differences between voluntary and involuntary expressions; the relationship between what people show on their faces and what they say they feel; and whether it is possible to use facial behavior to distinguish among different psychiatric populations. The volume includes groundbreaking work on how the face reveals emotions, deception, psychopathology, and aspects of physical health. An essential reference for anyone pursuing research in facial expressions, this work combines classic papers with up-to-date commentary by the authors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"What the Face Reveals dramatically illustrates the value of precise measurement of facial behavior in illuminating an impressive range of issues in basic and applied research. The chapters present innovative state-of-the-art applications of facial measurement, and the commentaries by authors and editors greatly enrich the readers experience. This is affective science of the highest quality, brimming with intriguing findings and promising new directions." --Robert W. Levenson, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley and Director of the Institute of Personality and Social Research and the Berkeley Psychophysiology Laboratory

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Paul Ekman is at University of California, San Francisco. Erika Rosenberg is at College of William and Mary.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 512 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (February 12, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0195104463
• ISBN-13: 978-0195104462
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,837,289 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

172 of 191 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Emotion, Personality, Theraputic Outcomes, and More, March 8, 2002

By 

Joseph C. Hager, Ph.D. - See all my reviews

This review is from: What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (Series in Affective Science) (Paperback)

I am a contributor to this book and know many of the other authors therein, but receive no
compensation from its sale. Having declared this possible conflict of interest, I can recommend
purchase of this book if you are interested in learning what can be discovered from the face
through measurement of facial muscular action in scientific research. Its approximately 500
pages contains 22 scientific articles, mostly published previously in journals, that report
research studies conducted in the late 1970s to the early 1990s, most towards this later date.
These articles cover a diverse range of topics, methods, and principles having to do with the
relationship between facial expression and emotion; clinical diagnosis, treatment, and outcome;
and other related issues. The editors's selection process, based on the use in the study of the
Facial Action Coding System (FACS, a method for measuring facial behavior), has included
competent research with above average interest, thoughtful reflection, theoretical and practical
relevance, and plain good sense that generally exceeds what you might find, for example, in your
typical social psychology journal. The authors of the articles work in many places around the
world and represent most of the people in the vanguard of the FACS movement and the new
approaches to studying behavior and emotion. This book is particularly helpful if you are new to
the study of facial behavior or have not been diligent in collecting the important articles using
facial measurement, which are published many different journals. The book provides an efficient
vehicle to catch up on the significant issues, findings, trends, and controversies in the areas
covered, including the quality and usefulness of the information provided by the face, the
relationship of facial expression to emotion, whether emotion is a coherent response system,
differences between genuine and false smiles, expression in pathological states, affect in the
psychotheraputic process, etc. The included works provide a solid foundation for understanding
how facial measurement contributes to investigating behavioral science problems. Even in the
unlikely event that you have previously read all the published works reprinted here, this volume
has value because each chapter has at least one afterward that expands on the original work in
revealing and useful ways that bring you up to date on the topic, and there is one thought
provoking article by Ekman et al. on the relation between facial behavior and psychiatric
outcomes that you will not find elsewhere. Also, the editors include their own new chapters
introducing, and finally, summarizing and integrating the works included. A table of contents,
forward by M. Brewster Smith, original source references, author list, and a lengthy subject
index are included. Take a look at the table of contents provided on this site to see more
details. The overall statement of this book is that the face contains important data about
concepts that are vital to diverse behavioral science issues. You will find that the perspective
of this book is different from several other books on facial expression currently in print. If
you are contemplating research on emotion, facial behavior, non-verbal behavior, and related
topics, this book is a helpful guide containing useful background; if you are currently planning
research in these fields, it is indispensible reading.

54 of 64 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars What the face reveals, July 21, 2005

By 

Alton Craig Lowe (usa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (Series in Affective Science) (Paperback)

This book is far more technical and should be considered advanced among those that are attempting to understand body language.

42 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars very complex, February 15, 2007

By 

J. Grimm - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What the Face Reveals: Basic and Applied Studies of Spontaneous Expression Using the Facial Action Coding System (FACS) (Series in Affective Science) (Hardcover)

This is a very techinal book, containing papers poublished in scientific journals. While I liked it very much, it was a tough read.