Murder, She Wrote
Handwriting analysis may reveal dishonesty
A new study adds “writing with large strokes and applying high pressure on paper” to the list
of telltale signs that someone might be lying. Researchers at Haifa University in Israel could tell whether or not students were writing the truth by analyzing these physical properties of
their handwriting.
Lying requires more cognitive resources than being truthful, says lead author Gil Luria. “You need to invent a story, make sure not to contradict yourself, et cetera.” Any task done simultaneously, therefore, becomes less automatic. Tabletop pressure sensors showed this effect in the students’ handwriting, which became more belabored when they fibbed.
Handwriting analysis could eventually complement other lie detection methods and would add a new dimension because, unlike almost all other techniques, it doesn’t rely on verbal communication, Luria says.
—Nicole Branan
Electric Surprise
Stimulating brain cells may be trickier than we thought
Scientists and doctors have long used electricity to both study and treat the brain. But a report in the August 27, 2009, issue of Neuron indicates that the brain’s response to electricity is exceptionally complex. Using a new type of optical imaging, Harvard Medical School researchers observed neurons as they were stimulated by an electrode. Instead of activating a small sphere of surrounding neurons as expected, the electrodes caused sparse strings of neurons to fire across the brain. The finding suggests that brain surgeons and the designers of neural prosthetics have a much smaller margin of error than previously thought—shifting an electrode even slightly could activate an entirely different set of neurons.
—Melinda Wenner
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19 Comments
Add CommentA new study adds “writing with large strokes and applying high pressure on paper” to the list
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisof telltale signs that someone might be lying. Researchers at Haifa University in Israel could tell whether or not students were writing the truth by analyzing these physical properties of
their handwriting.
I think they’re wrong, totally wrong, just the opposite is right.
Handwriting analysis is about as accurate as a polygraph.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBoth can be beaten easily.
This is a very poor "study" designed, it seems, to re-enforce a pre-existing belief.
Handwriting analysis is a complex and powerful tool that should be given more credence than the limited arena of Questioned Documents Examiners. Jury selection is one of the few areas that acknowledges the use of experienced graphologists as a tool to understanding the amount of information revealed through our handwriting. Neurologists should be studing more that just micro and macrographia in understanding the link between the motor skills used in writing and our brain synapse.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWell, that did it. Now I am going to have to give up writing fictional novels...everybody's going to know that they are made up.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou might want to try out a wonderful invention called the typewriter. Computers don't lie!
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOh wait, I guess the researchers forgot that nobody writes documents by hand anymore. Silly researchers.
Good point galaxy-man. I doubt I could write a legible line today. It's easily been 20 years since I stopped writing by hand.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou are right again galaxy_man. I totally forgot that it has been 30 years since I wrote my last novel by longhand. I reckon all of them, but that first one, is safe from being recognized as a lie. I was sweating bullets there for awhile.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis study also does not account for psychopaths who take more effort to tell the truth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thiswhat if someone just has a lot of problems on their mind, and again their handwriting is different. what a poorly conducted study.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey should test this theory on fiction writers - who write by hand - and see what they come up with. Two possible answers 1)there is truth in fiction, when written by talented professional , or 2) good writers are damn good liars.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey should test this theory on fiction writers - who write by hand - and see what they come up with. Two possible answers 1)there is truth in fiction, when written by talented professional , or 2) good writers are damn good liars.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey should test this theory on fiction writers - who write by hand - and see what they come up with. Two possible answers 1)there is truth in fiction, when written by talented professional , or 2) good writers are damn good liars.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThey should test this theory on fiction writers - who write by hand - and see what they come up with. Two possible answers 1)there is truth in fiction, when written by talented professional , or 2) good writers are damn good liars.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThis process only detects the pressure of the writing instrument and deduces lying from that. I can imagine this would be useful in analyzing written statements.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is not the same as graphology, the study of letter formations and how they reflect the writer. You could tell from a person's normal handwriting if they have a propensity for lying.
You could tell from a person's normal handwriting if they have a propensity for lying.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisOr, for that matter, if they have a vivid imagination.
This "study" doesn't account for the fact that we all use deception to a greater or lesser extent when even deciding how much of the truth is acceptable to tell to others - who may then use it to their or our disadvantage.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAnd by the way, these truth seeking graphologists themselves are liars, as they know full well there is little or no truth to be determined from that pseudo "science."
I wonder what they would make of my signature when "doing" bills....yeah i still write some;-)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMaybe its not all deception but carrying out an unpleasant task...
Well now that it's out the liars can now fix this problem so they will cosciously write smaller and with less pressure. Then we add another parameter that is if they write slowly then they're lying again.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisTo this day I have a callous above the end knuckle of my right middle finger from the death grip I had to have on my pencil to learn to write with my right hand - as was enforced by some teachers years ago. The hard bearing down was simply an artefact of writing with the wrong hand - in a way that's "lying".
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