ABSTRACT
Young children are puzzled that what others say is not always what they mean but gradually learn that what is said must be interpreted in terms of context and soon realise that to pass as acceptable humans they must learn to offer, as well as to understand, non-verbal cues. Discrepancies between people’s words and their facial expressions, tones of voice and body language are not necessarily indicators of dissimulation. Older people recognise happiness much more quickly and easily than sadness, anger, fear or disgust. Recognising and interpreting expressions is not just a matter of searching through mental checklists of subtle cues. An interesting idea is that we recognise facial expressions partly by internal mimicry. There is some evidence that the amygdala, which is directly involved in feeling and expressing anger and rage, is also involved in recognition of the degree of “trustworthiness” of the faces of strangers and possibly also in recognition of body postures that are signals of threat.
