Training Lab - How To Analyze Handwriting

TRAINING LAB – HOW TO ANALYZE HANDWRITINGNAMEBackground: We all learned basic printing, and then cursive writing style in school.However, over the years we each developed our own, unique style of writing that expresseswho we are. Handwriting has become an important Forensic Science tool due to this factthat we each have our own, unique, individual handwriting style. Would you be able torecognize your own handwriting if it was mixed in with other handwriting samples?Hopefully so! With training, you can also learn to identify the handwriting of your family,relatives, and friends – even strangers!1. You will be trained to observe and identify the different characteristics ofhandwriting samples.2. You will be trained to compare handwriting samples and look for a possibleforgery.Procedures:Part 1 – Observing Handwriting Characteristics1. Write the following sentence in the “Handwriting Sample #1” box found inTable 1. Make sure you write in your normal style of handwriting – use more than oneline to finish the sentence if needed.“The tiger with blue eyes of steel attacked the plain colored antelope”2. Have someone else in your class write the same sentence in the “HandwritingSample #2” box found in Table 1.3. The “Handwriting Sample #3” box, found in Table 1, already contains ahandwriting sample of the same sentence written by a suspect.4. The sentence you wrote in Table 1 is unique to you. Over the years you have developedyour own style of writing – the way you form your letters, cross your “t”s, and dot your“i”s. You can probably easily tell your handwriting apart from the other two examples ofhandwriting you see in Table 1. Even writing by two people with very similarhandwriting styles can be told apart if you know what characteristics to observe.5. Analyze the three handwriting samples you have in Table 1 (Handwriting Sample #1”,“Handwriting Sample #2”, and “Handwriting Sample #3”) by using the HandwritingCharacteristics described below. You should choose one answer from each of theHandwriting Characteristics below that best describes the handwriting sample you areanalyzing. Record all your observations in Table 1.STYLE – are the words written in: Cursive, Printing, or Combination Cursive/Printing?SLANT – are the tops of the letters slanted toward the: Right, Left, Straight Up, orVariable?LETTER SIZE – are the words written in letters that you would best describe as:smaller than average, average, larger than average, or variable size?90

NEATNESS – the handwriting would best be described as: Very Neat, Average,Messy, or Very Messy?LETTER SPACING – No Spaces all the letters in each word appear to be connectedtogether by one continuous line as if the pen/pencil was never lifted from thepaper; Some Spaces there are spaces present between some of the letterswhere the pen/pencil was lifted; All Spaces all the letters are separatedby spaces.UNIQUE LETTERS – are there any letters in the handwriting sample that are written in aunique style (loops, swirls, different from normal, etc.)? If so, write downthese unique letters in the same unique style to show what they look like.DOTTING OF “i”s – describe how the letter “i” is USUALLY dotted in the sample.Dot Position: To The Left, Centered, or To The Right of the “i”Dot Height (distance above the “i” and other letters): Low, Average, or HighDot Shape: draw a typical dot shape above the “i” in your table to show howthe writer dots their “i”s (examples – it is a small dot, a large dot,a short line, a curve, a circle, a heart, etc.)CROSSING OF “t”s – describe how the letter “t” is USUALLY crossed in the sample.Cross Height (distance up the “t” cross is made): Low, Middle, High, Top, orVariable.Cross Angle: Straight Across, Angled Low To High, Angled High To Low,Curved, or VariableCross Length: is the length of the cross usually Short, Average, LongCross Connections: does the cross sometimes continue on to become the nextletter in a word without lifting the pen OR is the cross sometimesformed by a continuous line coming from a nearby letter. If so,write down these two-letter cross connections to show what theylook like. If there are no cross connections record None.OTHER SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS - There are many other handwriting characteristicsto observe when analyzing a handwriting sample. Describe or copy any othercharacteristics you see in the handwriting sample that seem to be unique.For example: most people have special ways of writing their Capital Letters;the Hanging Loops found in letters like “g”, “y”, “p” can be complete loops,partial loops, hooks, or a simple line, etc.Part 2 – Using Handwriting Characteristics To Identify Handwriting Samples1. Now that you are familiar with the characteristics of handwriting, let’s see if you can putyour skills to use! Pick up the two Handwriting Analysis Pages from your supervisor.Page 1 contains IDENTIFIED (names are present) handwriting samples from twentypeople. Page 2 contains UNIDENTIFIED handwriting samples (no names are present)written by the same twenty people. Your job, as a trained handwriting specialist, is tocorrectly match each unidentified sentence with the person who wrote it. Simply writeeach person’s NUMBER from Page 1 beside the sentence you believe they wrote onPage 2. GOOD LUCK!When you have finished Part 1 and Part 2 you should complete the Questions for thisTraining Lab – “How To Analyze Handwriting”.91

Table 1 – Using handwriting characteristics to analyze handwriting samplesHandwriting Sample #1 (Mine)Handwriting Sample #2 (Friend's)Handwriting Sample #3 (Suspect)HANDWRITINGCHARACTERISTICSHandwriting Sample Handwriting Sample Handwriting Sample#1 (Mine)#2 (Friend)#3 (Suspect)StyleSlantLetter SizeNeatnessLetter SpacingUnique Letters"i" Dot Position"i" Dot Height"i" Dot Shape"t" Cross Height"t" Cross Angle"t" Cross Length"t" Cross ConnectionsOther SpecialCharacteristics92

Handwriting Analysis PagePAGE 1 – IDENTIFIED HANDWRITING SAMPLES93

Handwriting Analysis PagePAGE 2 – UNIDENTIFIED HANDWRITING SAMPLESNAME94

QUESTIONS – HOW TO ANALYZE HANDWRITINGNAME1. Can you copy the Handwriting Characteristics of another person well enough to forgetheir signature and fool others? It’s not as easy as it looks!A. Choose a lab partner and give them YOUR pen or pencil.B. Have your partner use YOUR pen or pencil to sign their name in the AUTHENTICSIGNATURE box below (the top box).C. Next, have your partner use YOUR pen or pencil to sign their name in any TWO ofthe six FORGERY CHALLENGE boxes (they should randomly choose two boxes tosign in).D. Practice forging your partner’s signature a few times on another piece of paper.When you are ready, use your pen or pencil to forge your partner’s signaturein the remaining FOUR FORGERY CHALLENGE boxes.E. Take this paper to your supervisor to see if they can correctly identify the FOURforged signatures in the FORGERY CHALLENGE boxes.AUTHENTIC SIGNATUREFORGERY CHALLENGEMY FINAL SCORE – I managed to forge the signature so well that I fooled my supervisor TWICE. Ipromise, however, that I will only use my skills to help solve - not commit - crimes! I managed to forge the signature well enough to fool my supervisor ONCE. Ipromise, however, that I will only use my skills for the good of humankind! I tried my best, but did not manage to fool my supervisor. This is not a problem,however, because forging signatures is against the law!95

2.Every year the Boston Convention Center hosts the National SportsMemorabilia Show. This event attracts thousands of visitors who cometo purchase, sell, and trade sports memorabilia – including autographs.We are always on the look-out for fake memorabilia, and this year locateda booth that was selling FIVE, rare, autographed photos of Patricia A.Peticini for 9500 each. Patricia A. Peticini was a famous tug-of-warchampion from the early 1900’s, and only ten of her signatures areknown to exist. We immediately became suspicious and confiscated theautographed photos for handwriting analysis.Please examine the five signatures and give us your professional opinion.Are the signatures authentic, or are any of the signatures forgeries?We have included an authentic Patricia A. Peticini signature forcomparison. Please let us know your results as soon as possible.Thank you very much,Alyce CantonDirectorSports Memorabilia ShowMark any of the signatures below that you believe are forgeries. Next to each signaturemarked as a forgery, you should explain WHY you chose it as a forgery (be specific!).96

5. Analyze the three handwriting samples you have in Table 1 (Handwriting Sample #1", "Handwriting Sample #2", and "Handwriting Sample #3") by using the Handwriting Characteristics described below. You should choose one answer from each of the Handwriting Characteristics below that best describes the handwriting sample you are analyzing.