A Limited Listing of Scientific Studies Concerning Handwriting since 1970
compiled by Sheila R. Lowe, CG
About Sheila Lowe: With more than 40 years experience in the field of handwriting, Sheila Lowe has been qualified as a handwriting expert in the California Court system since 1985. She holds a Master’s degree in psychology and was certified by the American Handwriting Analysis Foundation (AHAF) in 1981, as well as the Society of Handwriting Analysts in 1985. She is an active member of the National Association of Document Examiners. In 2012 Sheila was elected president of American Handwriting Analysis Foundation.
* Ben-Shakhar, May Bar-Hillel, Yoram Bllu, Edor Ben-Abba and Anat Flug – can graphology
predict occupational success? Reports on two empirical studies for testing the validity of
graphological predictions; Journal of Applied psychology, p. 645(9),Nov. 1986
Beumont, P. – Small handwriting in some patients with anorexia nervosa; British Journal of
Psychiatry, 119, 349-350, 1971.
Boatwright, Deborah E., B.S. – Triazolam, Handwriting, and Amnestic States: Two Cases;
Journal of Forensic Sciences, JFSCA. Vol. 32, No. 4, July 1987, pp. 1118-1124.
Broern, W. – Graphology and its importance in current medical psychology; Medizinische Klinik,
Hamburg, 66, 6, 1971.
Dekay, ML – The effects of drawing method on the discriminability of characters, Visible
Language, V0025 Nf: Fall, pp 376-414, 1991.
Ericsson, l. – Graphic skills as a diagnostic tool for working with the elderly; Visible Language,
24, 2, 214-226, 1990.
(Author unknown) Economist; CIA agents in the (former) USSR are asked to send any New
Year’s cards they receive to the US so that graphologists can check whether their acquaintances
are suspicious. v315n7659, p. 97-98, June 16, 1990.
* Hartford, Huntington – You Are What You Write, cites several scientific studies Three Studies
of Beginning strokes – the degree of maturity of a writer is compared with the retention or
elimination of initial strokes. In all studies, students who retained the secondary beginning
strokes were found to be passive and immature. A Study of the Small ‘ a’. ‘d’ . and ‘f . The
copybook form and variants of these letters were correlated with education, IQ, and age. All
variants were distinguished from eleven remaining variants by a high degree of motoric economy
and radical and original departures from copybook model.
Handwriting Analysis in Cancer Detection. The author provides a brief resume of three important
studies, which were part of a research project, “Condensed Resume of Neuromuscular test
Research (Alfred Kanfer). Correct ratings were made for clinical cancer in 90-96% of 1536
cases. Similar results were accomplished in the other two studies (one controlled by American
Cancer Society, the other at Strang Clinic). Effects of Alcohol The purpose of the study was to
compare the graphomotor functioning of 68 alcoholics with 18 normals. The normals had a
generally superior performance to the alcoholics. The normals wrote with less variability than the
alcoholics
and were able to deliberately control pressure more easily than the alcoholics. Macmillan
Publishing Co., 1973
* Hatfield, Iris, E. Edward Peeples, PhD, and Robert O’Block, PhD – Examining horizontal
lengths of signatures in true vs false statements; Human Graphics Center for Research and
Information, 1994.
Hearns, R. – The use of graphology in criminology; Criminal Psychopathology, 3, 461-464, 1972.
* Heninger, Polly – Conditional Handedness: handedness changes in multiple personality
disordered subject reflect shift in hemispheric dominance; Consciousness and Cognition 1, 1992.
* Hermann, Ned and Jeanette Farmer – The Theory of Contraction and Release in Handwriting as
Related to Brain dominance; 1990.
