R Review From Scalp to Soles 87
increase exponentially. I have seen a three to fourfold increase
when a person is trying to lie, for example.
Ears
Ears often flush when people are worried about being
discovered—afraid of being embarrassed, as opposed to already
being embarrassed. Some people’s ears will blush when they’re
bluffing, too, so watch for that at the poker table.
We might involuntarily send signals by touching our ears, too.
As adults, many of us occasionally revert back to the childhood
way of blocking out something we don’t want to hear by muting the
sound. Instead of slamming our palms against our ears and scream-
ing, though, we’ll probably rest our head on our hand or brush the
ears with fingertips while someone is talking as a symbolic gesture
to turn down the volume. People may even do this when they are
talking about something that is unpleasant to their own ears, such
as a lie. Similar to many adult behaviors, this is an echo of something
that has worked in our past.
Pulling the ear or lightly rubbing the ear are both common ges-
tures, but they don’t send any particular message by themselves—
unless you’re Carol Burnett. She used to tug on her ear at the end
of each show to let her grandmother know she was okay. Rubbing
or pulling an ear could be just gestural space-fillers for a person,
indicating “I’m thinking” or “I’m bored.” You’ll need other indica-
tors to conclude that this means that the person is nervous, for
example, flushed ears or eyes reaching hard to the construct side
of the brain while the action occurs.