Abstract
“Eye flash” is the name given to the facial display in which the eyelids are momentarily widened during conversation without the involvement of the eyebrows. The widening of the lids is usually sufficient to reveal the sclera surrounding the iris. The display lasts on average 0.75 seconds. Evidence is presented to show that the eye flash, when given by the speaker, emphasizes the word being spoken at that time. It occurs more often in conjunction with adjectives than other parts of speech and more often among women than men. It is argued that the display is an example of a facial expression which has similar functions to intonation: the meaning of a given word or phrase may be accentuated or changed by the occurrence of this display.
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Walker, M.B., Trimboli, C. The expressive function of the eye flash. J Nonverbal Behav 8, 3–13 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986326
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00986326