Puzzled face asks for help
Think about the last time you did something that you found difficult. Was it working out a puzzle or working hard on your math homework?
Can you remember the expression you had on your face? Most people will press their lips together and frown when they are doing something they find difficult. This is normally seen as a sign of effort. Now we've found thatitcan also say more than that.
A recent study at the University of Portsmouth in England suggests that the human expression of effort and frustration(挫折) is our way of asking others for help.
Scientists at the university gave children and chimpanzees(黑猩猩) an impossible puzzle to work out. When the children couldn't work out the puzzle, their faces expressed determination and effort. The chimpanzees' did not.
Humans and chimpanzees have many facial expressions that share the same meaning. A human smile is the same as a chimpanzee showing its teeth in happiness.
Scientists believe that over time, humans have evolved(进化) to use this facial expression to ask for help. We have also learned to respond to it by offering help.
According to Dr Albert Mehrabian, a well-known professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), only 7% of human communication happens through words and 55% is through body language. Therefore, understanding expressions is second nature to human beings.
With this in mind, next time you see a person with a frustrated expression, listen to your heart and stop to lend them a hand.
