Hi all, some details about graphology....Hope its useful to u guys....Regards Srini
GRAPHOLOGY
An individual's physiological and psychological functions are depicted in a person's handwriting. The act of writing contains spontaneous actions for the purpose of communicating ideas. The examination of a written specimen is the legal basis for forensic identification of an individual. The consistency of script features with their graphometric measurements is repeatable and reliable. Writing is expressive behavior and communicates personality characteristics. The appearance of the written specimen and the tactile sensation of the written performance are the communication vehicles. Writing is a learned habit where the writer has refashioned basic forms. The look and feel of writing dictates our style of writing rather than our formal training. Your writing is the result of your perception of your pen-stroke's touch and visual images.
The act of handwriting uniquely fulfills the requirements for a projective personality test. The writer records responses to testing stimuli by writing. The writer spontaneously constructs random parts (strokes) to form known patterns (letters) into communicated ideas (words). Imposed organization to these ideas (sentences) in a limited area (page) conveys a conscious creative purpose (message). The physical data is recorded as a written specimen.
The conditions for a projective personality test are interpretative, constructive, cathartic, constitutive, and creative. Interpretative is to generate meaningless patterns-drawing strokes. Constructive is to place known parts into patterns-writing letters, linking letters, constructing words. Cathartic is to project and release emotions- mechanism of writing. Constitutive is to impose organization upon chaotic material-maintaining sentence structure, filling in spaces with capitals, periods, baseline, starting and finishing lines. Creative is to generate a coherent message-the purpose of writing. The act of writing satisfies all of these test conditions for graphically depicting personality according to Lawrence K. Frank's grouping of projective techniques.
The act of writing contains human physiological and neural pathway requirements for extremely complex functions. The tactile manipulation of the writing instrument while composing a creative message involves a myriad of brain activities. Writing combines and uses elements of speaking, reading, composing, and eye-hand coordination. It is difficult to perform other tasks while writing such as exercising, holding a conversation, and operating a computer. The series execution of writing contains advanced prioritized planning and parallel cognition. Dynamically integrating perception, motion, and cognition is an involved task requiring your full attention. Writing is projecting a personality description. A particular graphic stroke-structure relates to a specific behavior or underlying disposition. The test process is the systematic observation of graphic signs or written indicators. Behavior, defined here as the observable compendium of traits, is measured while the subject is unaware of the test. The subject cannot significantly alter the test procedure or the findings. A graphic indicator is an expressive movement that is the connecting link to personality. The graphic indicator is a visible sign or symbol of an invisible behavioral attribute. Mathematical and scientific principles can be applied to the graphic symbols to understand an individual. A pattern of behavior is determined from these graphic gestures and their inter-relationships.
In forensics, the routinely examined written specimen is used to identify a particular writer. Oriental ideograms are considered picture or symbolic writing and do not apply. When you are writing your hand and fingers are moving faster than you can consciously control them, but they are under control when you draw or paint. The majority of graphometric measurements are stable from test to retest and consistent with time. Another individual cannot duplicate a person's writing rhythm. It is basically impossible to replicate an individual's pen-stroke construction and speed without detection.
The foundation for graphology is that a graphic structure defines a particular personality behavior or trait. Each graphic structure is generated from primary graphic elements. The four expressive elements are the baseline, the enclosure, the imposed structure, and the stroke.
The baseline is the imaginary line that letters rest on dividing upper and lower areas while moving forward to the right. The baseline is used to divide vertical placement and to direct movement. Flipping the written page up side down, that is rotating the page one hundred and eighty degrees, is a convenient way to observe the baseline. The baseline represents reality, threshold of awareness, foundation for movement and living. Baseline patterns represents your attitudes towards life experiences and activities.
Vertical placement above and below baseline represents the division between your intangible and tangible values, between abstract and concrete concepts, between philosophical and physical ideas, between personal beliefs and personal relationships.
Horizontal movement along the baseline represents the individual's reaction to experiences, living values, time demands, learning (right motion- to advance, expand, and progress and left motion- to revert, constrict, and regress).
An enclosure is formed when a line or lines border an area. An enclosure represents imagination, concept enlargement, and idea expansion. There are three basic forms of enclosures- the loop, the circle, and the stem.
A loop represents self-generating concepts. There are upper and lower vertical loops. An upper loop is formed by a line enclosing an area by starting forward and upward, moving backward, and returning forward and downward with the crossing strokes at the baseline. The letters e and l are examples of upper loops. A lower loop is formed by a line enclosing an area by starting forward and downward, moving backward, and returning forward and upward with the crossing strokes at the baseline. The lower second part of the letters g and y are examples of lower loops. An inverted loop is an enclosure where the stroke crosses vertically away from the baseline. The non-crossing line segment rests on the baseline.
A circle represents other viewpoints or external generated concepts. A circle is formed by line or lines enclosing an area by starting backward and downward, moving forward, and returning backward and upward meeting or touching at the top. The joined apex points vertically upward. The letter o and the letter a are examples of upper circles. The lower second parts of the letter f and of the letter q are examples of lower circles. An inverted circle is an enclosure where the meeting strokes are joined at bottom pointing downward. The letter s and the buckle in the letter k are examples of inverted circles.
A proportional enclosure contains horizontal left-right balance and symmetry. A dangling enclosure does not intersect the baseline.
The imposed written structures control conventional order. The stem is an imposed structure or taught pattern and represents relative learned standards for behavior. A stem is formed by an enclosure that is taught to be restrictive. Learned retraced closed loops of the letters t, d, p, and i are stems.
Other imposed patterns in writing represent relative group standards. A period followed by a capital letter is an imposed interruption with an expanded taught structure. Starting at the upper left, moving to the right, then downwards left to right is an imposed direction for filling in a written page. Spaces allotted to margins are imposed. Your signature is imposed.
The stroke depicts life force, energy flow. The stroke's pressure represents intellectual vitality, physiological energy, sexual passion, and emotional intensity. Pressure is defined by how much force you apply to the writing surface with the writing instrument and not the hand grip pressure. Pressure is how hard you press down on the paper. Pressure indicates the capacity for vigorous activities.
The stroke's thickness represents sensory capacity. The stroke's color contrast relative to the writing surface represents sensory discrimination. The stroke's straightness represents a firm approach, curves a soft approach. The stroke's transition is defined as the point of inflection. This is the point where the line changes its direction and its slope. The line's transition represents the degree of cognizance awareness and flexibility.
An upstroke from and a downstroke to the baseline represent the subconscious and the conscious response to maintain life movement, respectively. Stroke directions on a page are defined as upward towards top, downward towards bottom, forward towards right and backward towards left.
Writing speed is controlled by the individual's physiological clock. It appears that the writer subconsciously maintains a maximum stroke velocity with a superimposed variable oscillating profile. The writer is constantly adjusting the velocity function with changes in the stroke's length, direction, duration, pressure,and acceleration. To define a measurement unit or units is extremely difficult even with the aid of a computer's writing pad to capture the process. The basic unit of measurement is not the letter which makes it difficult for computer aided reading of handwriting. The secondary affects on speed are grip pressure, distance of the pen hold to the pen point, pen slant to the paper, pen point rotation, and pen point pressure to the paper. The thinnest fastest stroke is a straight forty five degree line moving up to the right where the finger-thumb controls the vertical and the wrist the horizontal motions. Fast writing is a catalyst to inner energy enhancing rapid movement, thinking, and reactions. Writing size represents the difference between inner and outer control of attention.
• Middle area loops and circles
# broadminded, narrowminded, openminded, closedminded
# communicative, uncommunicative, secretive planned, hedges, evasive
# sincere, self-deceit, self-deceit extreme, secretive, secretive extreme, intentional deceit
# worrier, gullible, yielding, biased, placid, mundane unsophisticated
• Lower area loops and circles
# determination, pushing determination, restraining determination, change
# tangible harmonious line values, desire for variety, selectivity, clannish, clannish exclusive, concrete fantasy, requited, regimental, concrete distorted ideas
# lives unto self, isolation, laid-back, foot-tapper
# foresight, tyrant, cynical belligerent
• Upper area loops and circles
# intangible harmonious line values, diversified beliefs, abstract distorted ideas, abstract fantasy, idealism, henotheism, believer
# desire for responsibility, jealousy, rebellious, defiant, persistent
• Stems
# pride, vanity, independence, dignity, sensitivity to criticism, formality, deliberate, cajole, obstinate
# physicalminded- desire for, skillful, controlled, vigorous, structured, offensive, and unhurried action; argumentative
• Middle area patterns
# thinking process, investigative, analytical, cumulative, comprehensive
# superficial thinking, thinking shortcoming (skips), constructive, engineering awareness
# flexible mentality, diplomacy, self-conscious
# tempo, schedule adherence, intuitive
• Baseline direction and line spacing
# optimism, depression, euphoria, pessimism, steady
# routine, kaleidoscopic nature, versatility, insouciant attitude, suicidal tendency
# clarity of thought, confusion of interest
• Line or stroke quality
# emotional intensity- much available, little available, very active, slightly active, stored
# sensory discrimination- strong, weak
# sensuous, abstemious, sensual, graceful, adaptability to stress
# hesitation, hesitation involuntary, physiological decay, degenerative exhaustion, unscrupulous
• Baseline upstroke slant
# emotional responsive- impulsive, objective detachment, hysteria, withdrawal, stable, changing, split personality
# suppression, repression, inhibited, overbearing, restrictive
• Size and space
# size- concentration, desire for notice
# horizontal space- emotional display, emotional confinement, extravagance, ultraconservative, elbowroom, covetous, detached, intrusive, despondent
# space- ostentatious, self-involvement, frenzy, self-aware, self-liaison, lost of spontaneity
• Stroke finals
# indecisive, decisive, positive, emphatic, blunt, tenacity
# stingy, generosity, showmanship, cautious, cautious chronic, petty, self-reproach, self-castigation
# aggressive
• Initial strokes
# simplicity, direct
# acquisitive, humor, facetious, temper prone, fault finder, resentment, antagonistic
• T-bars and i-dots
# t-bar- will power, purpose, willpower in reserve
# t-bar vertical placement on t-stem- low goals, practical goals, distant goals, visionary goals
# t-bar horizontal placement on t-stem- precision, procrastination, impatience, explosive temper
# t-bar direction- seriousness of purpose, self-control, shallowness of purpose, lackadaisical purpose, forgetful
# sarcasm, domineering, dominating, dictatorial, lighthearted, chides self
# i-dots- attention to details, procrastination, impatience, forgetful
# loyalty, edetic, irritability, idiosyncrasy
• Unique patterns such as capitals, corrections, integrated combinations, signatures, overstrokes
# capitals- egoism, egotism, humility
# aesthetic tastes, cultural refinement, figurehead, picayune, autonomous, artistic independence
# corrections- perfection, pedantic
# structures- -organization ability, fluidity, imagination, sense of proportion
# signatures- persona, image- prominent, private, dynamic, status quo
# self-reliance, venturesome adventuresome
# reaction formation internal- goal inadequacy, bluff, ruminating, hopeful, hopeless, action concern, callous, incoherent
# reaction formation external- broadminded concern, original information concern or skeptic, showmanship concern or showoff, compulsive