Some Phenomena Affecting Handwriting Analysis

Abstract

In this investigation designed to explore some of the phenomenological aspects of the present status of handwriting analysis, as an expressive technique largely, the results indicate that the technique is of value although it needs considerable refinement. The significant clues which one uses at this stage in analyzing the handwriting are apt to be something in the content, rather than the actual handwriting itself. Many handwriting specialists may be laboring under a false impression that they are picking up cues from the handwriting which really stem from other sources, principally the content of the material. The most significant results thus far seem to depend on clinical skill stemming from assaying content of the writing productions, more than the handwriting itself. The results cannot be said to rule out the value of cues from the handwriting per se, but at the present state of refinement, handwriting is largely still in the realm of many projective techniques in that objective and measurable clues currently employed for handwriting analysis do not seem reliable.