•  78
    Facial expression of pain, empathy, evolution, and social learning
    Behavioral and Brain Sciences 25 (4): 475-480. 2002.
    The experience of pain appears to be associated, from early infancy and across pain stimuli, with a consistent facial expression in humans. A social function is proposed for this: the communication of pain and the need for help to observers, to whom information about danger is of value, and who may provide help within a kin or cooperative relationship. Some commentators have asserted that the evidence is insufficient to account for the consistency of the face, as judged by technical means or in …Read more
  •  37
    Facial expression of pain: An evolutionary account
    Behavioral and Brain Sciences 25 (4): 439-455. 2002.
    This paper proposes that human expression of pain in the presence or absence of caregivers, and the detection of pain by observers, arises from evolved propensities. The function of pain is to demand attention and prioritise escape, recovery, and healing; where others can help achieve these goals, effective communication of pain is required. Evidence is reviewed of a distinct and specific facial expression of pain from infancy to old age, consistent across stimuli, and recognizable as pain by ob…Read more