Lesson 1: What’s the Emotion? It’s All in the Eyes.

The human face conveys a number of emotions through very brief expressions. These expressions only last for fractions of a second. Yet, skilled experts using video images can decipher people’s true emotions, such as fear and deception, by analyzing the facial changes. Do you think that the eyes can give away a person’s emotional state?

Doing the science

1. Start the Microexpressions Simulation by clicking on the "Sim" tab.
2. Study the various parts of the screen. Note the five buttons at the bottom of the screen that allow you to select the emotion portrayed by the figure’s face.
3. In this lesson, you are going to focus on the eyes of the face. Try to ignore the other facial features and only study the changes in the eyes.
4. Click the "Start" button. Watch the figure’s eyes and determine the emotion conveyed by the eyes.
5. Click on one of the appropriate emotion buttons: Happiness, Fear, Sadness, Surprise, or Anger.
6. You can select the "Show Face Again" button if you were unable to determine the face’s expression. This function repeats the expression.
7. Go through all three levels of the simulation: Easy, Moderate, and Difficult. Again, remember to only view the eyes to determine the emotion conveyed by the face.
8. Record your results in Table 1 below.