What is a “behavior detection officer” and why do we suddenly need them in U.S. airports? These are good questions posed by Patti Davis in Newsweek online this week:

“Specially trained security personnel” will be watching passengers for “micro-expressions” that will reveal treacherous agendas and insidious intentions at airports around the country.

The problem? Well, searching for the term “micro-expressions” (and permutations of that phrase) in both MEDLINE and PsycINFO show little scientific evidence that this is a respected area of research. In fact, in my search, I could only find two citations related to this area, one of which wasn’t a study, but rather a book chapter. (The other involved people diagnosed with schizophrenia, a serious mental disorder.)

There is, however, a great deal of research showing how lousy humans are at detecting others who are lying, especially through the exclusive use of nonverbal cues.

I’m sorry, but as much as I’d like to be “protected” by my government, I also want them to use scientifically-proven techniques in doing so, especially in the area of human behavior. This isn’t one of them.

Dr. John Grohol is the founder & CEO of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

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    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 18 Aug 2007
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