Psychology/FACS & Observation/Observing the face responsibly
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FACS & Observation
Observing the face responsibly
You can record facial and bodily movement usefully without claiming to know what it means. The discipline is the same as everywhere else on this platform: describe what is visible, and keep the inference in its own column.
Describe movement, not meaning
| Instead of | Write |
|---|---|
| Looked angry. | Brows drawn together; lips pressed together; jaw visibly tightened. |
| Was pretending to be happy. | Corners of mouth raised; no visible change around the eyes. |
| Was embarrassed. | Looked down and away; hand covered lower face; face visibly reddened. |
| Was bored. | Gaze directed away from the speaker for approximately 40 of 60 seconds; yawned twice. |
| Was uncomfortable with the question. | Shifted position twice; broke gaze; pause of about 4 seconds before answering. |
| Faked surprise. | Brows raised; mouth opened; movement began approximately 1 second after the statement. |
Five rules
- Record the whole context, not the face alone.A face without the setting, the task, the people present and what was just said is close to uninterpretable — and highly susceptible to whatever you expected.
- Record duration and timing.How long a movement lasted, and how soon after the triggering event it began, is usually more informative than which movement it was.
- Never treat a single expression as evidence of anything.Faces move constantly, for many reasons including none. Patterns across many observations are the only usable unit.
- Ask, when you can.The person’s own account of their state outranks your inference from their face, every time. Observation is what you use when asking is not possible or not appropriate — not a substitute for it.
- Keep your reading in its own column, initialled.Your interpretation may be valuable. It is not a finding, and it must not be inherited as one.
The one-sentence version
Record the movement, the context and the timing. Ask the person. Keep your reading separate and signed. Never conclude from one face on one occasion.
PMA Quick Observation Card
The whole observation discipline on two pages — define before you watch, record the environment before the behaviour, keep description and interpretation apart — plus a printable tally sheet. (5 pages, PDF)
Free download
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