From Group-Level Science to the Individual in Front of Us Introduction Something has been bugging me for decades. I have spent most of my professional life trying to understand people scientifically. Along the way, behavioral science has given us an enormous amount of valuable knowledge about human behavior. We know a great deal about…
Read MoreStudy: Can Dogs Read Human Facial Expressions of Emotion?
If you’re a dog owner, you may have had the feeling that your dog knows exactly how you’re feeling. A smile might bring an enthusiastic tail wag, while a frustrated expression can be met with a noticeably different response. But how much information can dogs actually gather just by looking at our faces? New research…
Read MoreHow the Infant Brain Tracks Their Mother’s Voice
A recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience caught my attention because it touches on a question that has fascinated me for more than four decades: How can infants understand their mothers and caregivers long before they understand language? This question has been with me since my undergraduate days at the University of Michigan.…
Read MoreFacial Expressions and the Science of Nonverbal Cues
For decades, facial expressions have often been viewed as direct reflections of emotion—a smile means happiness, a frown means frustration, and a grimace signals discomfort. While emotions certainly play a role, emerging neuroscience suggests the story is far more sophisticated. Recent research is revealing that facial expressions are not simply emotional outputs. Instead, they are…
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