David Letterman Sarah Palin Apology

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David Letterman Sarah Palin Apology

Lie to Me's New Head Writer

Shawn Ryan.
He is the creator of one a fav shows in TV history, The Shield. Ryan is also a producer/writer on The Unit.

Now what does Ryan need to do?

Stay true to the psychology of Ekman, BUT include many more theories of other leaders in the field of deception (many of them are listed on the right hand side) AND include expert theory from other related areas of Academia (such as top people from communication schools with an expertise in nonverbal communication, statement analysis, and abnormal psychology, and criminology).

Introduce some more character development and possibly more characters. With the exception of Torres most of the cast is cookie cutter of Lightman, and she is working that way.

Torres should remain true to her natural talent, and in subtle ways, play the part of the critic that is wary of some of Lightman's analysis, and needs to have the attitude that sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, and we shouldn't read something into everything, and not be so willing to accept Lightman.


Foster should be more the Abnormal Psychology expert, but also she should be the organized one of the group. It should be clearer that while Lightman has talent, Foster is the one with the brains behind the group and is making the Lightman group successful.

Loker is the best positioned character on the show. All good fiction needs the characters to grow through change and he has changed the most in the first season by going from a habitual truth teller to pulling off the biggest and most destructive lie that placed the firm's future at risk. The people who are most successful at analysis of body language in real life are sales people, womanizers, gamblers at poker, and manipulative deviants. While most of these endeavors are not the highest on our moral gauges, they are interesting... in kind of a bad boy way. What better fit for the show. Using his skill to make the world a better place while at the same time bedding a random girl.

Lightman needs some work. Yes, there is the mystery of why he is tortured. But Ekman (who Lightman is loosely based one) comes off as one of the most likable guys you could meet. So likable you have to wonder does he really like me; is it an act; where do I really stand; am I being manipulated. Likable, yet creepy, if you know the whole Ekman. Hell, Ekman could be a serial killer, could get away with about a dozen murders before someone would get serious about him as a person of interest. That is Interesting when you really think about it. I don't want to turn Lightman into Ekman, we only need one of each of them! I sometimes identify with Lighman in this way: when people close to me say, "You know for someone who knows this stuff you sure don't conduct and show yourself like you don't know anything." Lightman needs to be tortured because he sees everything, he has sensory overload. This has caused him to be constantly disappointed with every relationship he has had and with those he is close to now; he struggles with this because he realizes he has never been loved or loved another person. What is love? He needs to struggle with compartmentalizing everything in his life. He needs a couple of scotches at night to slow down the thinking and attempt to turn it off. He yearns for more in the relationship area but knows relationships do not last (he knows it is not better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved) he'd rather sit this one (and all of them) out to avoid the eventual pain. He struggles with philosophical questions. It is tough to examine and understand more than anyone else what it is to be human, know others do not care about that, and to come with grips with some tough questions (Read a book called "The Dream Weaver" by Bowen, that is published by the company I currently work for, to understand the type of questions I mean). To sum up the main character, he needs to be more understood by the audience
(on the surface level) , but then the audience will realize, Do we really know him?!?! subtle character development. Lightman has to potential of being the most complex character of all of television history.

Supporting characters: He has a ton of employees, I see them in staff meetings. Get rid of all but 10-12. Give each one of them there one episode where they play a little bit bigger role, LITTLE BIT. It could be a small dialogue/conversation about anything- the show has to answer the question why does he need so many people. Have a News Analysis Division (like I do consulting for news organizations) where tapes and interviews are broken down; have a Negotiation Division that works with arbitrators, Wall Street Firms, and unions/companies; have a Ligation Department that works on jury selection, jury evaluation during trials, witness evaluation and coaching. Maybe a research/training division...

What the show should be about (beyond the 10 or so show ideas that popped in your head when you read the stuff about the Lighman Divisions)? Well I am probably most clear on this because I see it in the feedback on my postings here. People like the show for different reasons, the same as my website visitor/readers. Some like the celeb postings, some the scientific aspects, some the crime stuff, some want to learn, etc... Mix it up.

One thing that is taken too lightly on the show, because we all lie, is lying can have serious consequences- especially in high stakes scenarios. What about someone from the Lightman Group "knowing" the person on trial is not lying, but because the judge is no better than any other judge at detecting deception 50/50- they go to jail for life... and we have to let the judicial system play itself out, even though it is not "right" and the end result is not fair. It is the curse of knowing more... What about the missing or abducted person, and immediately we know there is something not right with the spouse or a parent, yet somehow the detectives do not think they had anything to do with it - even though the stats say it is them- even though they are not following protocol and allowing more time before the arrest to gather evidence and letting them talk to the press to "hang themselves..." It is the powerless to do anything characters, because they know more...

What about the ethics of training to help someone lie, Lightman has said he won't do it on a previous episode, but what about all the training he has done for the FBI and CIA... it doesn't take a rocket science to retrofit his teaching...

Who's side is the right side. What if we taught a friend/group years ago to detect lying to help the "Drug War" and today our friends have become our enemy and is using the knowledge to promote things that could be harmful to us now. I'm not crazy, I just observe (and I know the difference between what is right and wrong) but not everyone does. Terrorists attacked our country and the symbol of our financial system (and should be punished to the fullest extent possible) and two years later after much of the financial system lies in desperate ruins because of greed and irresponsibility, I've heard normal Americans spout some of the same rhetoric that the terrorist did and want more than prison sentences and new rules. Lightman's (and Ekman's) declarations about needing a Constitution before working for them, is not as black and white as it first sounds.

Then there is the problem with "naturals" or "wizards" where emotions can interfere with their ability to see the "truth." This can be utilized several ways as it was slightly when Torres boyfriend was missing. At a deeper level Torres needs to remain uninvested in the situation/case, but several times in the first season she took it to a personal level. If this happens there should be consequences... Lightman should work to protect her from emotional attachment. The viewers wish they had her ability, but they haven't seen the downside yet...

There are so many areas, so little time.

Now the kicker... we are being "taught" things on the show, every episode. They are all pretty obvious about things. Show something, explain it, then show it again. It works. They should keep doing it. Place things in episodes 3-4 before the episode that explains the nonverbal communication. Simple, subtle things, like the way an actors feet are pointed to another. After the season, perhaps on DVD, it will surprise the now smart viewers in the most pleasant way. Like finding Waldo, or an Easter egg- what better present to the fan. It is different and better than all the symbolism that cult fans see when watching a show like x-files- that weren't even in the creators minds. To complete this is relatively easy, sure you could plan some of them and should, but it would be easier to have an eight hour complete body language class for all cast members- then be sure they can complete subtle items without appearing unnatural.

Shawn Ryan= He's a pro, I've liked and watched each of the shows that I know he was a key part of, but not as religiously as I do "Lie to Me" so I'm sure he is confident and knows what he is doing. I just hope he see this and takes some of my suggestions into consideration. Most shows are good, "Lie to Me" is great, and I want it to be the greatest.◦

Lie to Me's New Head Writer

James Hataway a Person of Interest in the Missing Person Case of Tracy Ocasio

I mentioned last week, when I was on vacation, seeing a news story in Florida. At that time I saw things such as shame while the person was in court, and he was too calm given the circumstances. When I returned home I was seeing if there was any more video of the suspect. I only found this 15 second clip as he is being escorted into a police station where a reporter was asking him questions.

It really is not a great deal of time, but sometimes that is all you have to work with. Normally when I do this type of analysis for television stations I am analyzing an entire interview (which is easier because you can establish a baseline and more easily identify gestures/clusters/and roles) but I thought it might be nice for you to see the type of thing I do for news organizations.



Notice: There was too little tape to do a voice analysis.◦

James Hataway a Person of Interest in the Missing Person Case of Tracy Ocasio

Vince Young NFL Titans ESPN Video Interview

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Vince Young NFL Titans ESPN Video Interview

Body Language for Writers

If you are writing and ignore body language you are not telling the whole story.







I've put together a compilation of quick notes that you can incorporate into your writing. Some have been scientifically proven to not always be absolute indicators of the emotion, but they are so ingrained in our minds for the emotion and are universally accepted as "truths" -they have almost become a cliche'.



Anger
Anger is one expression of fight-or-flight mode --an automatic, instinctive reaction to a threat. In many cases, there is an underlying fear of being harmed. Thanks to autonomic nervous system arousal, the heart rate increases, pupils dilate, and the face may flush. Other signs of anger:
- Balling the fists
- Crossing the arms tightly
- Clenching the fists once arms are crossed
- Tight-lipped smile
- Clenched teeth
- Shaking a finger like a club
- Stabbing a finger at someone

Attraction
- Pupils dilate
- Women will cross and uncross legs to draw attention to them
- Mirroring - (usually unconsciously) mimicking the other person’s body language

Closed to Conversation
- Keeping the hands in the pockets (esp. men)
- Arms and legs crossed
- Sitting back
- Folding the hands together on a table(creates a barrier)
- The "figure-four" leg cross (setting the ankle of one leg on the knee of the other) and then grabbing the lower half of the top leg with both hands.

Openness and Honesty
- Exposure of the palms
- Arms and legs unfolded
- Leaning forward




Submissive Signals
- Smiling - that’s why some people smile when they’re upset or afraid
- Slumping the shoulders
- Doing anything to appear smaller






Distress
- Men in particular have a tendency to stroke or rub the nape of the neck when they’re upset. It acts as a self-soothing gesture to deal with a "pain in the neck." Women tend to cover up the area on the front of their lower neck
- Crossed arms - arms act like a protective barrier
- Self-hugging - arms are crossed, hands gripping upper arms
- One-arm cross - one arm crosses the body to hold or touch the other arm...women keep a hand on a purse or bag strap to make this look more natural
- Clutching a purse, briefcase, or bag with both arms
- Adjusting cuffs or cuff-links (men’s version of the purse-strap grab)
- Folding the hands together in front of the crotch (men)





Lying
Lying causes a subtle tingling in the face and neck, so the gestures below are attempts to eliminate that feeling
- Covering the mouth - can be like a shh gesture, or they may cover the mouth completely - some people try to cover it by coughing
- Touching or rubbing the nose or just below the nose - often a quick, small gesture, not a scratch
- Rubbing the eyes (especially men)
- Scratching the neck with the index finger



Superiority, Confidence, Power, Dominance
- Steepling the fingers (aka setting the tips of the fingers together)
- Folding the hands behind the back
- Thumbs sticking out from pockets when hands are in pockets (can be front or back pockets)
- Hands on hips
- Straddling a chair
- Hands folded behind the head while sitting up (in men; in women this thrusts the breasts out and becomes sexual)◦

Body Language for Writers

Science behind 'Lie to Me' - Increasing Cognitive Load to Facilitate Lie Detection: The Benefit of Recalling an Event in Reverse Order

You may remember a particular episode where a person was asked to state what they claimed to do as their alibi in reverse order.

For more about the science of deception:
Increasing Cognitive Load to Facilitate Lie Detection: The Benefit of Recalling an Event in Reverse Order. Aldert Vrij , Samantha A. Mann, Ronald P. Fisher, Sharon Leal, Rebecca Milne and Ray Bull, Law and Human Behavior; Volume 32, Number 3 / June, 2008 [Journal Article]

Abstract: In two experiments, we tested the hypotheses that (a) the difference between liars and truth tellers will be greater when interviewees report their stories in reverse order than in chronological order, and (b) instructing interviewees to recall their stories in reverse order will facilitate detecting deception. In Experiment 1, 80 mock suspects told the truth or lied about a staged event and did or did not report their stories in reverse order. The reverse order interviews contained many more cues to deceit than the control interviews. In Experiment 2, 55 police officers watched a selection of the videotaped interviews of Experiment 1 and made veracity judgements. Requesting suspects to convey their stories in reverse order improved police observers’ ability to detect deception and did not result in a response bias.◦

Science behind 'Lie to Me' - Increasing Cognitive Load to Facilitate Lie Detection: The Benefit of Recalling an Event in Reverse Order

Is He a Lying Dog Who Cheated? Wait! What About the Wife? The Mask of Betrayal

Did Jon Gosselin Cheat?



Are Jon and Kate telling us everything, are they being honest?



Let's examine it closer...



Taking a look at Eliot Spitzer's wife Silda Spitzer; and John Edwards wife Elizabeth Edwards; it is clear the husbands got caught red handed. What is remarkable is how both women show the similar facial expressions.

What am I seeing here? Subtle, subtle, subtle.

LIPS: Their mouths are showing the very tiniest of a social smile. They are having to concentrate on not showing any sadness with their lips. I'm not surprised that they are not showing any teeth- With the perfect smile you can see just a little of the teeth. So what we have here is a clear faintest of a social smile with subtle controlled anger- as evidenced by the "tightness" of their lips- this also means they are not willing to speak.

EYES: They both are showing subtle sadness with their eye brows- see how they slightly are moving downward closest to the nose. The context of the photographs are different- Silda is being photographed at a press conference while Elizabeth is being photographed simply walking. None the less, they are "blocking" with their eye lids. Silda would normally have wide open eyes when "on stage." Blocking is when we close our eyes so we are not "seeing" everything, we may take longer blinks, I like to think of it as a micro rest.

Now let's take a look at Kate Gosselin.

Once again we see the same type of facial expression.

These are not fleeting or micro expressions, they are consistently showing this face for prolong periods of time. This tells us that is is controlled and is masking true emotions.

What we are seeing is the Mask of Betrayal: The universal expression of standing by their man...

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Is He a Lying Dog Who Cheated? Wait! What About the Wife? The Mask of Betrayal

What I Learned on the Internet Today

So I was clicking on some of the latest news on the right hand side of this page and I came across something that was interesting.

The article is titled, "Change your body language, attitude"

What I learned is, "Strozzi-Heckler has found that 300 repetitions of something give your body the memory, and after 3,000 repetitions, it becomes part of who you are. "

It is known that if we smile, others that see your smile are likely to smile also. I have also seen this with the raised eyebrows (that we unconsciously do when we see someone we know) if you do it to a stranger they do it back at you.

Our faces, over the years, take on the expression of our most common emotions. Mine is natural, with a subtle down turning of the corners of my lips- Subtle sadness. I'm in my early 40s and have consciously attempted to smile more often. As a practitioner of body language I'm constantly mimicking facial expressions and the body language that I see to gain a deeper understanding of the "feeling" associated with a particular action. Some actions seem so unnatural to me- such as holding hands open and palms facing upward to show openness and honesty... but with this theory of 300-3000 repetitions it would become more natural to me. So with this knowledge we can train ourselves to mimic "good" body language, such as smiling, good posture, open arms, etc. until it become second nature.

http://www.buffalonews.com/185/story/702002.html

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What I Learned on the Internet Today

One Way to Spot a Pedophiles or Shoplifter in Real Life with Their Body Language

This is the one area where I was clearly able to spot before any training in body language.

Note: Everybody acts differently depending on the situation. To say it more concretely, if you see a man you see acting in the way I describe below, he could be acting that way because he HATES kids and becomes nervous around them. I only offer this as a guide to be more aware and careful with your own kids.

I first learned to spot shoplifters while working at a grocery store. I then noticed the same behavior with potential pedophiles after I had my own kids.

The spot or tell is clearly seen when you know what to look for. The first time I saw this I was working in the meat department after school. Everybody had to pass by the meat counter to enter the store and almost immediately I could pick out potential shoplifters. I got so good at it all I had to do was give a quick call to the manager up in the office, he had a one way mirrored window and could watch the shoplifter from his lofty perch. I made the call a couple of times a week, and I only worked there for 2-3 hours an evening.

What to look for? 90% Gestures and 10% eyes.

Both the shoplifter and pedophile uses very little gestures.

Their movements are controlled and planned to the point where it always appearedto me as unnatural.

With the shoplifter they will pick up a few things, but it is all for show- and you can tell it is for show by the way they hold items higher and away from their body- then they pick up the thing they are going to pocket and you can tell by how they reach for it and the speed of their arms and hands. They appear to be browsing but the scan of the store is unnatural and their eyes will even pay much more attention to other people in the store than the actual merchandise. If you want to identify the shoplifter simply concentrate on the lack of gestures and controlled movements.

The pedophile is similar in many ways. When they see a object of their affection they also get "tight" and gesture less. They most often quickly look away, for fear someone will see them watching someone else. They will glance around more, and often will focus on adults closest to who they really want to look at, so they can use their peripheral vision to watch the child. It looks slightly unnatural compared to how others there are acting. They glance at many different people so it does not look obvious that they would be looking at a child, but they will hold the gaze a slight beat or two more than the others he is glancing at. Children are fast and move in a nonstop way, this works to the pedophiles advantage and disadvantage. It allows them to scan, but if you are looking for it, it gets them caught because their gaze settles a beat too long. If you want to identify the potential pedophile simply concentrate on the lack of gestures.

What to do with this information? Nothing and Everything.

I rarely get involved with shoplifters, people are crazy and willing to do all kinds of stupid things for drugs, etc. I can spot undercover security as clearly as the shoplifter (they look both too natural and unnatural; and even though they do not interact with others working at the store you can tell by the way hold eye contact a beat too long, or quickly avoid eye contact with clerks; etc.). A couple of times I've done is a quick double take at the shoplifter, show disgust, and simply walk away- this is enough for security to pick up on them and at least notice them. Other times I have starred at them, I've even acted like security browsing items in the same isle. It all depends on the situation.

Potential pedophiles are a different ball game. I can never be sure why they are acting strangely so I am immediately on guard. I study the person and determine the level of threat. I see if they are alone. If they are alone I'll make it a point to be closer to the individual so I can more closely examine the situation. In my 20 years of being able to see this behavior I've seen 10 or so people that put me on high guard. Of course I can do very little other than make my presence known subtly and not so subtly, and take responsibility for each and every child in the area.

Note: This only works with the strangers. It does not work at all with those who have mastered the art of being placed in an authority position with our children (teachers, camp leaders, etc).
There is also another thing I need to mention, not ALL pedophiles act the same way. We obviously need to be careful and always be on the guard, especially with those we place our trust of our children in.◦

One Way to Spot a Pedophiles or Shoplifter in Real Life with Their Body Language

Rupert Murdoch on Fox News: Unemployment Will Reach 10 or 11 Percent

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Rupert Murdoch on Fox News: Unemployment Will Reach 10 or 11 Percent