The Blink Flurry: Deception, emotion and cognition
In The expression of the emotions in man and animals, Darwin described women “incessantly blinking… with extraordinary rapidity”. He described the blink flurry, a rapid succession of three or more blinks occurring within a three-second window.
This intriguing eye behaviour has been described under several names; it’s been called an eyelid flutter, blink burst, flicker, flickering, volleys of aftereffects, aftereffect burst, a rebound in blink rate, blinking compensation or compensatory effect.
I usually refer to this behaviour as an eyelid flutter, the same name that body language expert Joe Navarro uses; however, in this article, I’ll refer to it as the blink flurry since the bulk of scientific research refers to it as that.
Despite Darwin’s early observations, research surrounding the blink flurry is relatively sparse but spans almost a century. It's usually studied alongside blink rate frequency. It has been mentioned in research on deception detection, lexical access difficulties (difficulties searching for the right word when speaking), fatigue, cognitive processing and attention. Let’s take a look at some of the research.
Research Findings: The blink flurry/eyelid flutter
The Blink Flurry/Eyelid Flutter and Blink Inhibition
The blink flurry is usually observed after a period of blink inhibition. For example, when trying to maintain visual attention on a target, so we don’t miss something. However, this isn't always the case—it can occur without blink inhibition. Interestingly, blinking has been found to switch off attention and processing for the duration of the blink. This makes sense because when we are aroused or engaged, we blink less, holding off the interruption of a blink—this usually occurs below our level of consciousness.
Some researchers claim the blink flurry is a compensatory effect occurring after the period of blink inhibition, suggesting an effort to catch up on one’s blinking following the release from a cognitive processing task, almost like a recovery function from not blinking. However, further research has found that this may not be the case.
The Blink Flurry/Eyelid Flutter and High Cognitive Load
Most of the research discovered that the blink flurry often occurs after cognitive loading (complex thinking) or information processing. Again, if we think about blinking, this makes sense, as a high blink rate is associated with high cognitive load (as well as stress).
Several researchers concluded that the blink flurry occurs at mental transition points, such as completing a task. Blinking often occurs at transition points too. So the flurry could reflect a period of reduced alertness or attention or a release of resources in cognition.
Interestingly, researchers also discovered that females exhibited significantly more flurries than males and had a higher number of blinks in a flurry.
The Blink Flurry/Eyelid Flutter and Deception
What is most interesting, especially to you, my regular readers, is its link to deception. Are you blinking less now because your engagement is piqued? Many studies have found that during deception, blinking is inhibited, and a couple of studies have found that a blink flurry follows blink inhibition during deception. You read that right—blinking is typically inhibited during deception. One of the big myths surrounding deception is that we make less eye contact when we lie. Science tells us otherwise.
One reason proposed for blink inhibition during deception is that because of the widespread myth of making less eye contact, we compensate by making more (and not blinking) to appear honest. Another reason is that we are more aroused (and by that, I don’t mean sexually aroused) because we have to make the lie look like the truth. Furthermore, we need to determine whether the other person believes us so our attention increases.
Before you get too excited, we can’t observe blink inhibition followed by a blink flurry and declare deception because these behaviours are not always present during deception. Additionally, they can be present when there is no deception. So like other nonverbal behaviours, although there can be a link to deception, it’s complicated.
Anecdotal Evidence: The blink flurry/eyelid flutter and negative emotion
I’ve mentioned blinking while talking about the flurry because the flurry consists of a rapid succession of blinks, so there’s a connection. It could be a type of blink or perhaps an independent behaviour.
There is a huge amount of research on blinking, and a large portion of it connects blinking to emotion and communication. However, I haven’t found one piece of research connecting the flurry to emotion or communication. Yet observing the blink flurry as a behavioural response and during communication suggests it’s closely connected to negative emotion (as well as to high cognitive load).
The blink flurry seems to appear during periods of emotional loading, when people are struggling emotionally, for example, when talking about a traumatic experience. I’ve seen this often during conversations or while watching interviews and documentaries. It seems to reflect an inner turmoil stemming from emotion or cognition, a wtf moment.
Blink Flurry and Emotion Examples
The video below shows a conference host introducing keynote speaker Charlie Caruso. As the host explains Charlie’s preferred approach to Q&A, Charlie displays a blink flurry. In context, it isn’t easy to connect this flurry to emotion. However, Charlie had asked me to review her presentation, and fascinated by the flurry, I asked whether there was a point of contention surrounding the Q&A approach. Surprised that her behaviour had revealed her feelings, Charlie explained that while she encouraged questions throughout her presentation in six prior events, not one question had been asked. This made her off-the-cuff presentation difficult.
In a more personal example, after losing my mother to illness, my father displayed a blink flurry as he explained he could no longer sleep in their bed because he would look for her while sleeping.
In another example, during a press conference connected to missing person Karen Ristevski, Karen’s aunt, Patrice, was asked whether she knew of anyone who may have wanted to harm Karen. Patrice replied, “No, I don’t. There is absolutely nobody. And if that was the case…”. At this point, Boris Ristevski, standing behind Patrice, displayed a blink flurry. Boris was later convicted of the murder of his wife.
These are just a few examples that suggest a potential link between a blink flurry and emotional load or negative emotion. I have yet to observe it appearing alongside positive emotion.
Based on the theory that blinks occur at endpoints to disengage or reset, perhaps the blink flurry acts as an enhanced reset after an episode of high emotional (or cognitive) load. Maybe it indicates a release of resources in stimulus-related emotion.
The Blink Flurry/Eyelid Flutter In Summary
The scientific evidence is relatively sparse but suggests the blink flurry is connected to high cognitive load, information processing, and deception. Anecdotal evidence also suggests a link to negative emotional load.
The blink flurry is relatively common, so keep your eyes peeled, and I’m sure you’ll observe it within days. To simplify its meaning, consider where it stems from when you spot it. Is it emotion, or cognition-based? It could be someone concealing emotion if it’s hard to tell.
When we spot nonverbal behaviours, understand their meaning and gain a better understanding of a person's feelings and emotions, it puts us at an advantage, allowing us to offer a better response. The magic isn't in the observation; instead, it's in our behaviour and how we respond to what we see. So if you spot the blink flurry and realise someone is struggling to deal with something emotionally, consider whether there's something you can do or say to help them out.
Feel free to come back and share your observations in the comments below. And if you observe it while watching online videos, please share.
The video below digs deeper and provides references if you want to learn more about the research. If you’re not interested in the nitty gritty research, the video below will most likely bore you, although my passion for a seemingly insignificant behaviour might be entertaining. The outtakes video is amusing—me trying to be academic, yet unable to say ‘blink rate frequency’!
