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34-424: The Zaner-Bloser alphabet comprises two different sets of letters for handwriting – one for print writing (sometimes also called "manuscript printing"), and one for cursive writing. Zaner-Bloser letters are written straight up and down in print and slanted in cursive. In D'Nealian , for comparison, 13 letters change shape between print and cursive, and the slant does not change at all. A major factor contributing to

68-399: A scientific controlled test . Handwriting analysis does have its plausible-sounding separation from those other techniques though, and that's the whole "handwriting is brainwriting" idea — traits from the brain will be manifested in the way that it controls the muscles of the hand. Unfortunately, this is just as unscientific as the others. No amount of sciencey sounding language can make up for

102-483: A classification accuracy of 54%. As statistical discrimination below 0.7 is generally considered unacceptable, this indicates that most results are rather inaccurate, and that variation in results observed is likely due to sampling technique and bias. The reason for this bias varies; hypotheses are that biology contributes due to average differences in fine motor skills among males and females, and that differences arise from culture and gender bias. A company takes

136-411: A detailed examination of handwriting factors, particularly timing, fluidity, and consistency of size, form, speed, and pressure are considered in the process of evaluating patients and their response to pharmacological therapeutic agents. The study of these phenomena is a by-product of researchers investigating motor control processes and the interaction of nervous, anatomical, and biomechanical systems of

170-517: A holistic approach to graphology. Alfred Binet was convinced to conduct research into graphology from 1893 to 1907. He called it "the science of the future" despite rejection of his results by graphologists. French psychiatrist Joseph Rogues De Fursac combined graphology and psychiatry in the 1905 book Les ecrits et les dessins dans les maladies mentales et nerveuses . After World War I , interest in graphology continued to spread in Europe and

204-572: A population average or towards 90 degrees. Graphology Graphology is the analysis of handwriting in an attempt to determine the writer's personality traits . Its methods and conclusions are not supported by scientific evidence, and as such it is considered to be a pseudoscience . Graphology has been controversial for more than a century. Although proponents point to positive testimonials as anecdotal evidence of its utility for personality evaluation, these claims have not been supported by scientific studies. It has been rated as among

238-453: A technique failing when put to a scientifically controlled test. Although graphology had some support in the scientific community before the mid-twentieth century, more recent research rejects the validity of graphology as a tool to assess personality and job performance. Today it is considered a pseudoscience . Many studies have been conducted to assess its effectiveness to predict personality and job performance. Recent studies testing

272-714: A writing sample provided by an applicant, and does a personality profile, supposedly matching the congruence of the applicant with the ideal psychological profile of employees in the position. The applicant can also malpractice in this system; they may ask someone to write on their behalf. A graphological report is meant to be used in conjunction with other tools, such as comprehensive background checks, practical demonstration or record of work skills. Graphology supporters state that it can complement but not replace traditional hiring tools. Research in employment suitability has ranged from complete failure to guarded success. The most substantial reason for not using handwriting analysis in

306-430: Is a privacy violation. A 2001 advisory opinion letter from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission responded to a question regarding "whether it is legal to use an analysis of an applicant's handwriting as an employment screening tool. You also ask whether it is legal to ask the applicant's age and use of medications to allow for variants in his/her handwriting." The letter advised that in this circumstance, it

340-460: Is another good method for estimating the slant angle. Left-handed writing is often accompanied by a slant value which is larger than 90 degrees, i.e., it is bent backward, to the left. In graphology slant can refer to either upstroke or downstroke values. These strokes can be made in the upper, middle, lower, or any combination of those zones. In handwriting recognition , an affine transformation can be used to normalize handwritten input towards

374-425: Is considered to be the first book. Around 1830, Jean-Hippolyte Michon became interested in handwriting analysis. He published his findings shortly after founding Société Graphologique in 1871. The most prominent of his disciples was Jules Crépieux-Jamin , who rapidly published a series of books that were soon published in other languages. Starting from Michon's integrative approach, Crépieux-Jamin founded

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408-437: Is often used within individual psychotherapy , marital counseling, or vocational counseling. In its simplest form only sexual expression and sexual response are examined. At its most complex, every aspect of an individual is examined for how it affects the other individual(s) within the relationship. The theory is that after knowing and understanding how each individual in the relationship differs from every other individual in

442-524: The D'Nealian Method was introduced. The D'Nealian Method sought to further alleviate the difficulties of the transition from print writing to cursive writing by returning to a more cursive style based on the script of the Palmer Method with block letters that have many similarities with their cursive counterparts. It has been claimed that close to 90% of US schoolchildren who follow the traditional print-then-cursive route to handwriting are taught either

476-419: The downward stroke in handwriting based on Latin script . The slant of a sample of writing is a feature of many regional handwriting variations , and also a reflection of the copybook that is taught. A good basis for its estimation is the point of the handwritten curve where the velocity has its peak value in the downward stroke. The polar distribution of the running angle along a handwritten trajectory

510-468: The American graphology world in two. Students had to choose between graphoanalysis or holistic graphology. While hard data is lacking, anecdotal accounts indicate that 10% of the members of International Graphoanalysis Society (IGAS) were expelled between 1970 and 1980. Regarding a proposed correlation between biological sex and handwriting style, a paper published by James Hartley in 1989 concluded that there

544-805: The United States. In Germany during the 1920s, Ludwig Klages founded and published his findings in Zeitschrift für Menschenkunde ( Journal for the Study of Mankind ). His major contribution to the field can be found in Handschrift und Charakter . Thea Stein Lewinson and J. Zubin modified Klage's ideas, based upon their experience working for the U.S. government, publishing their method in 1942. In 1929, Milton Bunker founded The American Grapho Analysis Society teaching graphoanalysis. This organization and its system split

578-639: The Zaner-Bloser or the D'Nealian alphabet. In 1895, the Zanerian College of Penmanship in Columbus, Ohio, became known as the Zaner-Bloser Company , which continues to sell instruction materials for handwriting, reading, writing, spelling and vocabulary training. Since 1972, Zaner-Bloser has been a subsidiary of Highlights for Children . Slant (handwriting) Slant is the predominant angle of

612-450: The body. The Vanguard Code of Ethical Practice , amongst others, prohibits medical diagnosis by those not licensed to do diagnosis in the state in which they practice. Graphotherapy is the pseudoscience of changing a person's handwriting with the goal of changing features of his or her personality, or "handwriting analysis in reverse." It originated in France during the 1930s, spreading to

646-484: The development of the Zaner-Bloser teaching script was Zaner's study of the body movements required to create the form of cursive letters when using the 'muscular arm method' of handwriting – such as the Palmer Method – which was prevalent in the United States from the late 19th century. The Palmer Method had been developed around 1888 as a simplification of the then-established Spencerian Method and had quickly become

680-450: The employment process is the absence of evidence of a direct link between handwriting analysis and various measures of job performance. The use of graphology in the hiring process has been criticized on ethical and legal grounds in the United States. Graphology has been used clinically by counselors and psychotherapists. When it is used, it is generally used alongside other projective personality assessment tools, and not in isolation. It

714-417: The fingers used to support and steady the hand on the page for arm movement were fixed in relation to the pen (a typical instruction to writers according to the Palmer Method was that "the nails of the third and fourth fingers should rest lightly on the paper, and should follow the course of the pen in every direction"). In order to simplify the process of writing by hand, Zaner analysed how professional users of

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748-608: The geometric aspects of graphology (slant, slope, etc.) are essentially worthless as predictors of job performance. Integrative graphology focuses on the strokes and their purported relation to personality. Graphoanalysis was the most influential system in the United States between 1929 and 2000. Holistic graphology is based on form, movement, and use of space. It uses psychograms to analyze handwriting. Four academic institutions offer an accredited degree in handwriting analysis: Every system of handwriting analysis has its own vocabulary. Even though two or more systems may share

782-589: The most discredited methods of psychological analysis by a survey of mental health professionals. The word "graphology" derives from the Greek γραφή ( grapho- ; 'writing'), and λόγος ( logos ; 'theory'). In 1991, Jean-Charles Gille-Maisani stated that Juan Huarte de San Juan 's 1575 Examen de ingenios para las ciencias was the first book on handwriting analysis. In American graphology, Camillo Baldi 's Trattato come da una lettera missiva si conoscano la natura e qualità dello scrittore from 1622

816-682: The most popular handwriting system in the US. Zaner considered the hinge action of the forearm as the 'central energy of movement' and that its relation to the direction of writing, or page angle, could affect letter form and the effort required. By changing from a page angle which placed letter down strokes on a line towards the center of the body, as other educators advised, Zaner offered a means to link muscle effort with balanced (medium), condensed (compact style), or extended (running hand) letter forms. In most styles of cursive handwriting that existed in Zaner's time,

850-486: The pen, which Zaner termed as 'hand action'. Zaner's studies and Bloser's contributions gave rise to a simplified ('streamlined') form of the script used in the Palmer Method. By the mid-20th century, the Zaner-Bloser Method was the most popular style of penmanship instruction in the US, while interest in the Palmer Method had been declining from the 1950s. Use of the Zaner-Bloser Method declined after 1978, when

884-435: The relationship, the resulting marriage will be more enduring. With a comparative analysis receiving and non-receiving parts responses are measured. Medical graphology is probably the most controversial branch of handwriting analysis. Strictly speaking, such research is not graphology as described throughout this article but an examination of factors pertaining to motor control . Research studies have been conducted in which

918-522: The same words, the meanings of those words may be different. The technical meaning of a word used by a handwriting analyst, and the common meaning is not congruent. Resentment, for example, in common usage, means annoyance. In graphoanalysis, the term indicates a fear of imposition. A report by the Hungarian Parliamentary Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information says that handwriting analysis without informed consent

952-667: The standards which a genuine psychological test must pass before it can ethically be released for use on the public. Dean found that no particular school of graphology fared better than any other. In fact, no graphologist of any kind was able to show reliably better performance than untrained amateurs making guesses from the same materials. In the vast majority of studies, neither group exceeded chance expectancy. Dunning concludes: Other divining techniques like iridology , phrenology , palmistry , and astrology also have differing schools of thought, require years of training, offer expensive certifications, and fail just as soundly when put to

986-405: The then-existing handwriting styles used their 'rest' fingers to control movement. For writing lower case letters, Zaner recommended a technique of letting the little finger slide to the right in making up strokes, but to rest or drag for down strokes in order to improve control of the arm movement. This required the joints of the 'rest' fingers to act on the down strokes, independent of those holding

1020-448: The validity of using handwriting for predicting personality traits and job performance have been consistently negative. Measures of job performance appear similarly unrelated to the handwriting metrics of graphologists. Professional graphologists using handwriting analysis were just as ineffective as lay people at predicting performance in a 1989 study. A broad literature screen by King and Koehler confirmed that dozens of studies showing

1054-639: Was also dismissed as a pseudoscience by the skeptic James Randi in 1991. In his May 21, 2013 Skeptoid podcast episode titled "All About Graphology", scientific skeptic author Brian Dunning reports: In his book The Write Stuff , Barry Beyerstein summarized the work of Geoffrey Dean, who performed probably the most extensive literature survey of graphology ever done. Dean did a meta-analysis on some 200 studies: Dean showed that graphologists have unequivocally failed to demonstrate any validity or reliability of their art for predicting work performance, aptitudes, or personality. Graphology thus fails according to

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1088-614: Was illegal under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) to ask a job applicant whether he or she is taking any medications, and also advised that asking an applicant for his or her age "allegedly to allow for variants in analyzing his/her handwriting" was not a per se violation of the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (ADEA), but could be significant evidence of age discrimination. The letter also said that there

1122-674: Was no judicial guidance on "whether a policy of excluding applicants based upon their handwriting has an adverse impact on a protected group" under the ADA, ADEA, or Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 . A 1991 review of the then-current literature concluded that respondents were able to predict the gender of handwriting between 57 and 78% of the time. However, most of these samples, as well as subsequent studies, are based on small sample sizes that are collected non-randomly. A much larger and more recent survey of over 3,000 participants only found

1156-493: Was some evidence in support of this hypothesis. Rowan Bayne, a British psychologist who has written several studies on graphology, summarized his view of the appeal of graphology: "[I]t's very seductive because at a very crude level someone who is neat and well behaved tends to have neat handwriting", adding that the practice is "useless... absolutely hopeless". The British Psychological Society ranks graphology alongside astrology , giving them both "zero validity". Graphology

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