News Release

Handwriting-based tool offers alternate lie detection method

Peer-Reviewed Publication

Wiley

MOUNT CARMEL, HAIFA, ISRAEL—August 26, 2009—For ages experts and laymen have been analyzing and trying to crack the code of handwriting characteristics, in order to detect an individual's personality traits, or in most cases, gauge their innocence in the case of a crime. Although this science has often gone the way of pseudoscience, researchers are now discovering that with the aid of a computerized tool, handwriting characteristics can be measured more effectively.

The research, headed by Gil Luria and Sara Rosenblum at the University of Haifa, is published in an upcoming issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology. The researchers utilized a computerized tablet that measured the physical properties of the subject's handwriting, which are difficult to consciously control (for example: the duration of time that the pen is on paper versus in the air, the length height and width of each writing stroke, the pressure implemented on the writing surface). They have found that these handwriting characteristics differ when an individual is in the process of writing deceptive sentences as opposed to truthful sentences.

The handwriting tool has the potential to replace, or work in tandem, with popular, verbal-based lie detection technology such as the polygraph to ensure greater accuracy and objectivity in law enforcement deception detection. Additionally, polygraphs are often intrusive to the subject and sometimes inconclusive. The handwriting tool therefore provides ease and increased accuracy over common, verbal-based methods.

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This study is published in the November 2009 issue of Applied Cognitive Psychology. Media wishing to receive an embargoed PDF of this article may contact scholarlynews@wiley.com.

Gil Luria, Ph.D. and Sara Rosenblum, Ph.D. are researchers from the Faculty of Social Welfare and Health Sciences at Haifa University in Israel. They are continuing their research in the area of handwriting and lie detection. Studies about the handwriting analysis tool have been presented in international academic conferences and were published in scientific journals. For more details please visit http://hw.haifa.ac.il/occupa/hebrew/cv/sara.html. Dr. Luria can be reached for questions at gil.luria@gmail.com.

About the Journal: Applied Cognitive Psychology is the official journal of the Society for Applied Research in Memory and Cognition (SARMAC). Applied Cognitive Psychology seeks to publish the best papers dealing with psychological analyses of memory, learning, thinking, problem solving, language, and consciousness as they occur in the real world. The journal focuses on studies of human performance and basic cognitive skills in everyday environments including, but not restricted to, studies of eyewitness memory, autobiographical memory, spatial cognition, skill training, expertise and skilled behavior. Articles will normally combine realistic investigations of real world events with appropriate theoretical analyses and proper appraisal of practical implications.

About Wiley-Blackwell: Wiley-Blackwell is the international scientific, technical, medical and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons, with strengths in every major academic and professional field and partnerships with many of the world's leading societies. Wiley-Blackwell publishes over 1,400 peer-reviewed journals as well as 1,500+ new books annually in print and online, as well as databases, major reference works and laboratory protocols. For more information, please visit www.wileyblackwell.com or www.interscience.wiley.com.


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