While once focused on written and oral communications, the N.S.A. now
considers facial images, fingerprints and other identifiers just as important to its mission of tracking suspected terrorists and other intelligence targets, the documents show.
These
images, which were called internal working models that formed mainly through vocal and
facial interactions with the nurturer, can affect not only the way in which people think, feel, and behave in close relationships but also their emotional information processing (Pietromonaco and Barrett, 2000), especially the processing of
facial expressions, which was
considered to be an essential medium of communication in early childhood interactions (Bowlby, 1973).