The purpose of facial expressions
Part2
Read the text and answer the questions below.
The Purpose of Facial Expressions
A
Do facial expressions reflect inner feelings? Or are they social devices forinfluencing others? The use of facial expressions for measuring people’semoticons has dominated psychology since the late 1960s. This was whenPaul Ekman of the University of California pioneered the idea that, bycarefully measuring facial expression, he could evaluate people’s trueemotions. Ekman carried out experiments in which people were asked to label photos of basic facial expressions – such as a smile, frown or scowl, with words for emotions. He found, for example, that a smile represented joyand a scowl represented anger. In fact, since the 1970s Ekman has dominated the field of emotion research with his theory that when anemotion occurs, a large number of electrical impulses also occur, creating specific facial expressions and other physiological changes, such as increased or decreased heart rate or heightened blood pressure.
B
Many took Ekman’s work to imply that facial expressions precisely indicatedpeople’s feelings. However, this theory has been attacked by a number ofpsychologists, such as Alan Fridlund of the University of California, whoclaim that there is no one-to-one correspondence between facial expressionsand emotions. Expressions evolved to set off certain behaviors in otherpeople, says Fridlund. So a smile may prompt people to approach, a scowlmay warn them to stay away, and a look of sadness may elicit words ofsympathy and reassurance. In other words, in Fridlund’s view, facialexpressions are inherently social – they involve not one, but two or morepeople. Even when people are alone they are holding a dialog with anotherperson internally, or imagining themselves in a social situation.
C
Thus Fridlund thinks of facial expressions as tools for influencing social
interactions, a view which, he claims, enables us to begin predicting when
certain facial expressions will occur. This in turn will allow more precise
theories about social interactions. His studies find that expressions occur
most often during pivotal points, the turning points in social interactions
during greetings, social crises, or times of appeasement, for example. At
these pivotal points there is an approach, or closeness, or more intimacy, and
facial expressions, as well as gestures, open up the possibilities of various
social interactions.
D
Although much work on the emotions relies on a link between facialexpression and emotions, psychologist James Russell, of the University ofBritish Columbia, says there is very little evidence supporting such aconnection. ‘There’s some sense in which faces express emotion, but only inthe sense that everything expresses emotion,’says Russell, along-time criticof the expression- emotion link. ‘Music does, posture does, words do, tone ofvoice does, your behavior does. The real question is, “Is there anythingspecial about faces?” And there we really do not know much. What is morelikely, argues Russell, is that facial expressions tell others something about aperson’s overall mood and context, rather than provide details about specific
emotions.
E
Others, including Ekman, argue that the face can display information aboutemotions, but they admit that it is not reliable one hundred percent of thetime. And those who only examine faces when trying to study emotion willjump to false conclusions. But according to Ekman, to say, as Fridlund does,that there is the connection at all between facial expressions and emotions issimply wrong. There is a link between facial expression and emotion,” agreesdevelopmental psychologist Linda Camras of DePaul University, ‘but it’s nota one-to-one kind of relationship as many once thought.’She believes thereare many situations where emotion is experienced, yet no basic facialexpression is displayed. And there are times when a facial expressionappears with no corresponding emotion
F
Ekman’s theory states that if the emotion comes on slowly or is rather weak,the feeling might not be strong enough to trigger the expression. This wouldexplain why there can sometimes be emotion without expression, he argues.In addition, cultural rules – which determine when and whether people ofcertain cultures display emotional expressions – can prevent this otherwiseautomatic process from being completed. Facial expressions evolved inhumans as signals to others about how they feel, says Ekman. At times,though, it may be uncomfortable or inconvenient for us to let others knowour emotions. But in the long run, over the course of evolution, it was useful to us as signalers: an angry look on someone’s face may be a warning that they are preparing to behave in angry fashion.
G
Although Fridlund disagrees with Ekman on certain matters, the two
basically share the opinion that facial expressions indicate people’s futureactions. The area of dispute between Fridlund and Ekman draws attention away from their major areas of agreement, says Joseph Campos of the University of California. Indeed, he says, ‘there is profound agreement thatthe face, along with the voice, body posture and hand gestures, forecasts tooutside observers what people will do next.’He goes on to say, ‘The face is acomponent [of emotion], but to make it the center of study of the humanbeing experiencing an emotion is like saying the only thing you need to studyin a car is the transmission. Not that the transmission is unimportant, but it’s only part of an entire system.”
Questions 14-18
Reading Passage 2 has seven paragraphs, A-G.Which paragraph contains the following information?
Write the correct letter, A-G, in boxes 14-18 on your answer sheet.
| 题号 | 题干 | A | B | C | D | E | F | G |
| 14 | a recognition that facial expressions do not always provide a true guide to feelings | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 15 | examples of ways that a person’s facial expression can affect someone else`s actions | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 16 | a reference to reasons for hiding emotions | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 17 | examples of times when facial expressions are used especially frequently | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 18 | examples of changes inside the body when an emotion is felt | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
Questions 19-23
Look at the following statements (Questions 19-23) and the list of researchers below
Match each statement with the correct researcher, A-E.
Write the correct letter, A-E, in boxes 19-23 on your answer sheet.
You may use any letter more than once.
| 题号 | 题干 | A | B | C | D | E |
| 19 | Focusing on the face in researching emotions is similar to researching a large structure by looking at just one small unit of it. | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 20 | Facial expressions developed in order to encourage other people to react in particular ways. | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 21 | Although certain researchers have different opinions about various points, they share some Important ideas. | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 22 | Both emotion and expression can exist independently of each other in certain circumstances. | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| 23 | It cannot be proved that there is a connection between facial expression and real emotion. | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ○ |
| A | Paul Ekman |
| B | Alan Fridlund |
| C | James Russell |
| D | Linda Camras |
| E | Joseph Campos |
Questions 24-26
Complete the sentences below.Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answerWrite your answers in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.
24 In Fridlund’s view ________ on someone’s face maybe intended as an invitation to come nearer.
25 According to Fridlund, when we are by ourselves we still use facial expressions because we are having a ________ with someone in our minds.
26 Fridlund considers facial expressions to be ________ that can affect our contact with other people.
答案：
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