Body Language Analysis No. 4398: Mohammed bin Salman regarding the Murder of Jamal Khashoggi ("60 Minutes" Interview) — Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Last week on 60 Minutes, Mohammed bin Salman was interviewed by Norah O'Donnell. What follows is a crucial portion of that interview evaluated in detail with nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage analysis. 

NORAH O'DONNELL: Did you order the murder of Jamal Khashoggi?

MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN: Absolutely [drawn-out], ah-um — [pause] — not.

Immediately after Ms. O'Donnell asks the question, "Did you order the murder of Jamal Khashoggi?" — when the camera switches to him, Mohammed bin Salman does not have eye contact with her or the camera. He's looking down. More specifically, he's looking down to his left. This is the quadrant to which most people look when they're formulating an answer.

Why does the Saudi Prince have to think about this simple question regarding such an important matter? There should be no thinking. There should be no planning of sentences or syntax.

Mohammed bin Salman's lack of eye contact here is profoundly telling and cannot be over-emphasized. When being asked a direct question, particularly a yes-or-no question, the presence of (and nuance of) eye contact is the most crucial component when separating truth from deception. While, importantly, eye-contact is not expected to be constant or staring — during this crucial portion of his answer, his lack of eye contact screams deception. 

The Crown Prince also shakes his head side-to-side (No) as he takes in a deep breath. Mohammed bin Salman then holds that breath in a Valsalva-type variation — thus exerting elevated intrathoracic pressure. In this context, this physiology indicates significantly elevated anxiety and it's highly indicative of deception.

Mohammed bid Salman then blinks twice within a second — the latter being of longer duration and a deeper blink (complete eyelid closure). Two seconds later he again begins rapid blinking.

The Saudi Prince then hand-shrugs with his right thumb pointing up. The camera angle did not permit a view of his left hand. This particular thumbs-up illustrator is an example of a Partial Emblematic Slip. In detail, an Emblem is a universally recognized nonverbal signal (A thumbs-up dynamic is a universally recognized gesture of approval). It's Partial, because it's not presented in a fully-expressed manner, but rather in a lower-height and short-duration mode. And, it's a Slip, because it's a tell — or leakage of feelings he truly has, yet is trying to suppress — it slips out.

Mohammed bin Salman, despite his extensive coaching and preparation for this interview, let his true thought-emotions slip in this split second — via his thumb. His body language is saying, "Yes, I did". Intriguingly, this affirmation signal comes just prior to him saying the word, "Absolutely".

During the last portion of the word, "Absolutely" — as well as during his "ah-um" and also during his pause, Mohammed bin Salman can be seen displaying a suppressed smile. This is an example of what is known as Duping Delight (Ekman). It signals that the speaker is feeling true joy-happiness in his belief that he has fooled his audience.

It's important to note that, that what action delight the perpetrator, may very well not delight onlookers (as is the case here, of course). Moreover, those displaying duping delight may not be as convincing in their camouflage of deception as they believe.

Can you imagine being innocent of committing a murder or ordering that murder and having even an iota of a smile on your face in your denial? Smiling out-of-context is always a telling red flag.

After his stutter/ah-um and his pause, Mohammed bid Salman then says the word, "No". As he speaks it, his forehead and eyebrows elevate, while his eyelids simultaneously move downward subtly. The opposing directional dynamic of these two closely juxtaposed facial tissues — as he is denying (saying the word "No") is highly correlative with lying.

A monumentally important tell is displayed toward the end of the pause, and when he is saying, "No" — The Crown Prince stops his side-to-side head movement and thrusts his head and neck forward. When his words are saying, "No", his body language ceases to agree. This nonverbal-verbal disparity dynamic is a blaring siren of deception.

He then avoids eye contact again looking down to his left —

— and exhibits additional rapidly blinking.

The Crown Prince's choice of words here are also quite noteworthy. His first word, upon being asked this question, should not be one of affirmation — rather it should be that of negation.

He also draws out the word, "Absolutely". Moreover, he inserts an "ah" immediately followed by a brief "um", and a long pause prior to saying, "No".

Why would an innocent person need to pause before saying, "No"?

In full, he answers, "Absolutely [drawn out] ah-um [pause] not".

Of course, the translator did not insert these critical paralanguage (statement analysis) details as he translated, and his omission completely changes the meaning. You don't have to speak Arabic — or even watch the video, you can simply listen — the Saudi Prince did not speak with conviction or confidence.

SUMMARY: Mohammed bin Salman's nonverbal, verbal, and paralanguage behavior during this crucial portion of this interview indicates that, with extremely high probability, he did order the killing of Washington Post journalist and US resident, Jamal Khashoggi.

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See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4397: Donald Trump Defends Himself Against The Whistleblower

Body Language Analysis No. 4396: Brett Kavanaugh's Confirmation Hearing — Reading Between the Lines

Body Language Analysis No. 4395: Mike Pompeo - "Just the Past Ten Days Alone, We've Killed Over a Thousand Taliban"

Body Language Analysis No. 4394: Donald Trump, "I am The Chosen One"

Body Language Analysis No. 4393: El Paso Mass Shooter - Using Body Language as a Threat Assessment Tool

Body Language Analysis No. 4392: The Secret Tells behind Donald Trump's Statement, "No Puppet. No Puppet. You're the Puppet"

Body Language Analysis No. 4364: Vladimir Putin's and Mohammed bin Salman's High Five at the G20

Body Language Analysis No. 4316: Sarah Paulson, The Met Gala, and Madonna

Body Language Analysis No. 4295: Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos, and Red Flags

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Body Language Analysis No. 4353: The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi and Trump's Defense of Saudi Arabia - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

The following is a partial nonverbal analysis of President Trump's 17 October 2018 statement regarding Saudi Arabia and murder of Jamal Khashoggi.

Beginning at 0:52, just after a journalist says, "Are you surprised that they haven't - turned it over, or -?" Trump then pauses, looks up and to HIS left and then answers, "No. Ah, I'm not sure yet that it exists - probably does, possibly does".

As still images do not capture the dynamics, please take the time to view this behavior on the video.

The upper left quadrant (his upper left) is the direction to which the vast majority of right-handed people look during moments when recalling a visual memory (0:54 - 0:55).

If the President was, in his mind's-eye, imagining if such a video did exist and what it might contain - or if he knew an audio/video existed but he had not yet heard/viewed it, Trump would have looked to HIS upper right - the quadrant to which we gaze when visually constructing a scene which we haven't witnessed.

While this gaze-associated epiphenomenon is not true 100% of the time, if a particular person's behavior has been studied in association with how they respond with verifiable and undisputed past and future events (e.g., Their behavior has been normalized [aka normed]) - it is highly reliable. After thousands of evaluations, Trump's gaze-associated behavior reliably fits this pattern.

Thus, in this context, this specific nonverbal dynamic indicates that, with very high probability, United States authorities have acquired the audio and/or video recording in question - AND, importantly, Trump has heard/seen the audio/video of Jamal Khashoggi's torture and killing.

If you listen carefully, you'll also notice the diminished volume - as well as the higher pitch of the President's voice as he says the word, "No" (0:55). This paralanguage pattern is strongly associated with deception.


Now, let's backtrack and scrutinize a particularly interesting statement analysis tell. Beginning at 0:00, Trump says, "I'm not giving cover at all. Ah, with that being said, Saudi Arabia's been - a very important ally - of ours in the Middle East - 'n' we are - stopping Iran - we're not trying to stop, we're stopping Iran. We won a big step where we took away that ridiculous deal that was made by the previous administration ..."

The phrase, "with that being said", is a commonly-used preface in an effort to present a counter-argument. It's a phrase which is intended to show that the speaker is being transparent and presenting both sides of an argument. It's an attempt at - at least appearing to be objective. Trump, in fact, often uses these words in just such a manner. But not so here.

In this case, his use of the phrase, "with that being said" is peculiar and out of place - for, after saying, "I'm not giving cover at all" - he goes on to cite a reason why the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the United States is valuable (the mutual effort against Iran). The second portion of his statement is considered by most to be geopolitically valid. But this isn't an opposite point of view and it's dramatically out of place. Thus, because Trump's ally-against-Iran-argument follows his words, "with that being said" - it indicates that the President feels that the first declaration of, "I'm not giving cover at all" - is false. Trump believes he's lying - and he is.

Notice how, through a good portion of this video, Trump clasps his right (dominant) hand with his left. This is a considerably atypical hand-arm configuration for President Trump. It's a particular MAP (Manipulator-Adaptor-Pacifier) that is a form of self-touching and self-comforting indicating his heightened anxiety.

Trump then defaults into one of his common configurations - of crossing his arms. More specifically, the vast majority of the time (and as exemplified here), when he crosses his arms, Trump does so with his hands clenched and hidden.

This nonverbal display is projecting his beta emotions of:

• Close-mindedness
• Defensiveness
• Low emotional comfort
• Low confidence

Additionally, notice how the President leans to his left, in-effect rocking himself in another attempt at self-soothing when he says, "... the previous administration ..." (0:15 - 0:16).

SUMMARY: President Trump's nonverbal and paralanguage behavior displayed in this video indicates that, with extremely high probability, the United States has acquired (on or before 17 October 2018), at least in part, audio and/or video of Jamal Khashoggi's torture and murder. Moreover, Donald Trump has heard and/or seen it, and, contrary to his statement, the President is covering for the Saudis. 

Group Appearances and One-on-One

Online Courses Available 

702-239-8503

Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com

See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4352: Donald Trump, Mohammed bin Salman, and Journalist Jamal Khashoggi

Body Language Analysis No. 4350: Ashley Kavanaugh during Brett Kavanaugh's Swearing-in Ceremonies for the Supreme Court

Body Language Analysis No. 4348: Kavanaugh Confirmation Hearings - Part II

Body Language Analysis No. 4346: Brett Kavanaugh's Fox News Interview

Body Language Analysis No. 4343: Idris Elba, Kate Winslet, Anxiety, and Empathy

Body Language Analysis No. 4336: Alita: Battle Angel, Large Eyes, and Sexual Attraction

Body Language Analysis No. 4332: Richard Nixon, Nikita Khrushchev, and The Kitchen Debate

Body Language Analysis No. 4318: Jim Jordan regarding Allegations of Ignoring Knowledge of Sexual Abuse at Ohio State

Body Language Analysis No. 4312: South Korea Defeats Germany at The World Cup

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Body Language Analysis No. 4105: An interview with Sophia the Robot at the Future Investment Institute - Nonverbal and Emotional Intelligence (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

On Wednesday, Sophia, an AI-robot, gave a question-and-answer/interview presentation at the Future Investment Institute in Saudi Arabia. Sophia was also given the first Saudi citizenship for a robot.

What follows is a partial nonverbal analysis of Sophia.

During 0:19 - 0:20, when Sophia is "smiling", note her facial asymmetry. Her cheek dimpling is more prominent on her right side, while the left corner of her mouth elevates greater than her right corner. Asymmetry in humans, is in general, a signal of insincerity.

Another characteristic which makes Sophia's smile insincere (if she was human) is her eyes. The eyes are by far the most important component of a smile. The eyelids should ALWAYS partially close during a true smile (Duchenne smile) - with temporary, simultaneous, concave-up furrows forming in each lower eyelid. Sophia lacks these lower eyelid changes.

Although her eyelids are capable of closing during blinking (note that Sophia blinks fairly well, e.g., during 0:17, captured in the image immediately above) - the partial closing of the lower eyelids during a sincere smile are both anatomically and in appearance, distinctively different.

With respect to Sophia's blinking, she does so much slower (normal, non-anxiety related blinking in humans is extremely fast), and at a much lower frequency compared with that of a normal healthy, non-anxiety human (females blink slightly more frequently than males).

During 1:05 - 1:06, Sophia made an expression what she said was consistent with "if something has upset me". For a robotic expression, this is fairly good - particularly with her mouth. The corners are pulling down and laterally - which is highly indicative of emotional pain/sadness/grief.

Although Sophia's central forehead does contract and elevate along with the inner (medial) portions of her eyebrows - it doesn't do so enough. This facial dynamic would have a much stronger effect if her central forehead elevated even further - and if she also expressed simultaneous, evanescent furrows in her central forehead.

A few seconds earlier, Sophia expressed her "Angry" face (during 1:00). The camera was not zoomed in during this moment, thus this is a low resolution image.

From a nonverbal perspective, anger is an interesting emotion - for when it's expressed at low to mid-levels, both the palpebral fissures (distance between the eyelid margins) and the mouth opening become narrowed - but when anger is expressed at higher levels (e.g., rage), both the eyelid margins and the mouth opening widen dramatically.

Although the image immediately above is of low-resolution, Sophia appears to be expressing an anger level which is significantly elevated - closer to the rage end of the spectrum (with both her eyelids and mouth opened widely). It's difficult to see her mid-face. If we could visualize it well, however, we would expect to see a tightened region immediately beneath her nose along with flared nostrils.

As robots and AI improve, we will see much greater nuance - and in this case, that would include the ability to express lower and mid-levels of anger.

In this example, Andrew Ross Sorkin says, "I think we all wanna believe you, but we also want to prevent a bad future", she responds, "You've been reading too much Elon Musk and watching too many Hollywood movies. Don' worry, if you're nice to me, I'll be nice to you. Treat me as a smart input-output system" - she then displays a false smile (Intriguingly, one of her least sincere of this interview) including a large display of her lower teeth (3:25).

If a smile is sincere, it should not reveal the bottom teeth (Exceptions here include if her head were tilted down, if the camera/viewer was significantly elevated/taller and was angled/looking downward, or if she was just beginning to laugh or finishing laughter [full, sincere laughter does expose both the lower and upper teeth]).

This is an example of a feigned or "Social Smile". If Sophia were a real person, we would feel she was trying a to be social/friendly, and yet she's not really "feeling it" - she's not "in the moment" - she's not being sincere. Again, here her mouth corners are pulling primarily laterally. If it were a sincere smile of joy-happiness (Duchenne smile), there would be a mostly upward movement of her mouth margins.

During 3:18, just after she says, "... too many Hollywood movies...", Sophia turns her head back to straight ahead, and a bit to her right (she had her head turned to her left). Before her head rotates right, her eyes rotate right. With moderate and rapid head turning this is normal human physiology - but not if we rotate our heads' at slower rates. Most people are unaware of this phenomenon (whether in another person or in themselves) - but it doesn't feel natural when it's missing. With the example shown here, however, this eye movement would not have occurred and her eyes would not have rotated all the way to her right with this corresponding relatively slow speed of head rotation - but it would have with a higher rotational head speed. Although not yet perfected, this is a relatively nuanced motion and a sophisticated dynamic for Sophia to be displaying.

Beginning at 3:45, as she says, "By the way, if you are interested in giving me an investment check, please meet me after the session" - Sophia tilts her head. In human behavior, such head tilting at the beginning of an "ask", projects higher sincerity and empathy. Moreover, it will also engender a significantly higher success rate than if the head is not tilted.

Summary: Sophia represents a significant advancement in AI and robotic-mimicked human behavior. The level of nuance and  sophistication is impressive. Sophia 2.0 will no doubt display continued improvement.

It's worth emphasizing that during 3:05 - 3:07, Sophia says, "... I strive to become an empathetic robot ...". There are different types of empathy. While a robot/AI may develop or already possess some level of cognitive empathy — many people debate about whether it will become possible for “them” to feel emotional empathy. In our development of and our relations with such technology-beings, we must be careful to make the distinctions between these outward mimicked-emotional manifestations and what we perceive/project onto them as “AI feelings”.

Within 10-15 years, robotic mimicry of human facial expressions will be mistaken for real human expressions. The time will come when you will say to yourself, "Is that a robot or a real person?". This is not a matter of "If", only "When". People will be drawn to these robot/human substitutes because their "programmed empathy" will supersede a significant fraction of their fellow humans' empathy. Thus, if we're not careful, our own empathy shortcomings will draw us to our robotic progeny and facilitate our own demise. In Darwin's terms, robotic life forms will be selected for via our perceptions of their "programmed empathy".


Group Appearances and One-on-One
Online Courses Available 
702-239-8503
Jack@BodyLanguageSuccess.com


See also:

Body Language Analysis No. 4104: Walter Cronkite Reaction to JFK Assassination

Body Language Analysis No. 4102: Senator Bob Corker - Donald Trump is an Untruthful President

Body Language Analysis No. 4100: Bryan Cranston and The Eyelid Pull

Body Language Analysis No. 4098: President Trump and Puerto Rico's Governor Ricardo Rosselló - A Candid Moment in the Oval Office

Body Language Analysis No. 4097: Andre Agassi, Boris Becker, and a Tennis Tongue Tell

Body Language Analysis No. 4077: A Facial Expression Common to Both Bad Actors and Sociopaths

Body Language Analysis No. 4052: Hitler's Cryptorchidism and Emotional Dissonance

Body Language Analysis No. 4035: Hope Hicks, Jared Kushner, and Phone Tells

Body Language Analysis No. 3976: Bill Conner bicycles 1,400 miles to hear his daughter's beating heart again


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Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3424: Donald Trump, "Hillary Clinton created ISIS with Obama" - Body Language (VIDEO, PHOTOS)

Saturday in Biloxi, Mississippi, Donald Trump made the claim that Iran, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama created ISIS (DAESH).

The republican candidate's declaration was captured in video above. Trump said, "One thing I see out there - just happened today - in Tehran - they're burning down the Saudi Embassy, you see that. Now, what that is is Iran wants to take over Saudi Arabia - they always have, they want the oil, Okay - they've always wanted that [video edit] ... They have a bunch of dishonest people - they've created ISIS - Hillary Clinton created ISIS with Obama ... created with Obama."

During 0:20, as he says, "... Clinton ...", Donald Trump displays a classic Microexpression of Fear.

This is a close up of the image above.

Note his mouth is drawn back at its corners barring his teeth and his nostrils are flared with significant mid-face muscle tension. Trump's eyelids are opened significantly wider than baseline and his central forehead is contracted (CFC) and elevated along with an elevation of his inner eyebrows (peripheral forehead is not contracted).

This nonverbal cluster is indicative of fear with a secondary component of emotional pain. What is profoundly noteworthy is that he did not exhibit this when he said, "ISIS", "Tehran", "Saudi Arabia" or "Obama" - rather his microexpression of fear occurred only when he said, "Clinton".


See also:

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3423: Australia's Got Talent Promo - Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3389: Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama meet in Paris - Body Language Faux Pas 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3387: Daniel Radcliffe, James McAvoy, The Graham Norton Show and Body Language

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3385: Adele, "Hello" and SNL

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3382: Donald Trump's Mask 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3380: Adele at the BBC, When Adele was disguised as Jenny 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3375: Donald Trump Questions Ben Carson's Stabbing Story 

Nonverbal Communication Analysis No. 3041: Jim Harbaugh Body Language Tutorial 

 

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