Training, Certification, and Experience of Handwriting Analysts

Abstract

The significance of type of training was evaluated as were the effects of certification and years of experience of handwriting analysts of the psychogram ( n = 13), gestalt ( n = 11), and stroke analysis ( n = 13) subgroups in the United States. Thirty-seven handwriting analysts volunteered to participate in the analysis of one subject's handwriting and to rate personality attributes of that subject using the factor descriptions from Cattell's Sixteen Personality Factor Test Profile. The test subject answered the 187 questions of the Cattell test, generating her own 16 PF profile. There was a negative correlation between the test profiles generated by the handwriting analysts and that of the 16 PF self-reported by the subject. Intergroup correlations were quite high among the three groups, intragroup correlations were positive but of smaller magnitude. When analysts were rank-ordered by correlations to the subject profile, certification and years of experience did not appear significant.