The Face as Interface

One of the main theses of Fridlund's book, that facial displays are not innately derived expressions of emotion, but are social phenomena derived from neuromuscular ontogeny, which are converted into signals is very much at odds with the major theoretical position held by Paul Ekman and Irenaeus Eibl-Eibesfeldt that facial gestures are innate aspects of communication. Fridlund supports his position by an extensive analysis of the neuromuscular underpinnings of facial expression, supported by an analysis of the interruptions that occur as a consequence of particular brain lesions. This viewpoint, to some extent, reaches back to Darwin's approach that while the facial movements themselves are governed by nervous circuits, the social knowledge that turns them into meaningful signals must be learned by both humans and other members of the animal kingdom, particularly primates. Higher primates and humans have much more complex facial musculature and innervations than other animals so the potential for a much more finely graded system of movements exists. This, coupled with the more complex interactive social lives of primates and humans, provides an adaptive advantage for learning the underlying messages sent by minute and complex facial movements. Fridlund strongly argues that the production of particular facial gestures can arise from varying emotional states. For example the production of tears (or primate 'cry face') can arise from shame, grief, pain, rage or overwhelming joy. Thus he is arguing for the decoupling of emotion and gestures in the individual, but also for the need to learn social rules for the effective comprehension of facial gestures as communicative tools. However, the social motives served by the gestures are not necessarily at the conscious level. Much learning of cause and effect can occur subconsciously and this may easily be the situation in many animal species. Fridlund supports this controversial position by including an extensive cross cultural analysis done by James Russell in which the argument for decoupling universality and innateness is advanced. The social motive of displays undermines the argument that they are innate hardwired reflexes which occur totally in reaction to the sender's emotional state. The transition from regarding facial gestures as an indicator of emotional state to a technique of social interaction brings such gestures squarely into the realm of semiotic discourse. The second book covered in this lecture, The Information Continuum by B.J. King, provides a practical example supporting Fridlund's position, although it was written the same year and …