Facial expressions 'not global'

[Tricky42]

This is an interesting BBC article

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8199951.stm

[Paddy]

This is an interesting BBC article

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8199951.stm

I read in a book once about an experiment in New Guinea. Some scientists showed pictures of different facial expressions to the native of New Guinea, who had never had any contact with outside world. They all identified correctly all the facial expressions like happy, sad, contempt, fear, etc. These scientists concluded that facial expressions were universal.

[Tricky42]

I agree. I think they are universal. The primates exhibit similar facial expressions to ourselves. The conclusion of this study was that the interpretation of certain facial expressions was not not universal though. Quite why that may be is another question? But I am always wary of 'studies' as we hear generally hear about the conclusions but little about the methods and the statistics.