3 - FACIAL EXPRESSION AND THE METHODS OF CONTEMPORARY EVOLUTIONARY RESEARCH

Abstract

The 1940s and 1950s saw the emergence of two trends that furthered the study of facial behavior: the first was the investigation of Woodworth and Schlosberg of the dimensionality of emotions through factor-analytical studies of photographed faces and the second was the emphasis of ethologists such as Lorenz and Tinbergen on the innateness and almost comical stereotypy of some nonhuman consumatory and social behavior. Early ethology's documenting of instinctual, reflex-like behavior gave new impetus to evolutionary views of human behavior, and some ethologists ambitiously extended their findings to human societies. The synthetic view of evolution by natural selection was first articulated by Theodosius Dobzhansky in the landmark Genetics and the Origin of Species . In the case of facial displays, many features of facial expressivity could be under genetic control; the control may be either mono- or polygenic. Also, genetic control of a trait implies that its origins are in natural selection and doesn't imply current evolution through natural selection. Thereafter, an array of investigative strategies can be brought into play to help determine the extent of a trait's genetic control or the extent and trend of its evolution. Finally, any learning or mimicry must rely on a genetic complement. Displays may be learned or not learned, to a greater or lesser extent, in one form but not another, depending upon one's innate competences.