SNIPPETS
By Rose Matousek

"Among the projective methods now in use, handwriting analysis has found a place as a 'refractive projective' method in which 'retention of common means of communication are evaluated.'"

• From:  Handwriting A Personality Projection by Frank Victor, Ph.D.  Fern Ridge Press.  1989.  [p.12]

"Chapter 1.  Graphology:  A Reflection of Your Inner Self.  Graphology is the evaluation of handwriting to determine character, disposition, and aptitudes.  Like facial expressions, bodily movements, and other mannerisms, handwriting expresses personality:  as a series of highly personalized gestures, it reflects the thoughts, feelings, and habits present at the movement the writer puts pen to paper."

• From:  Between the Lines by Reed Hayes.  Destiny Books, 1993.  [p.5]

"Every person is uniquely different from every other, so personality may be defined as an individual's characteristic pattern of more or less enduring behaviour and thought, as distinct from those of others.  Personality is therefore a concept derived from behaviour and so is observable."

• From:  Handwriting Analysis at Work by Frits Cohen and Daniel Wander.  Thorsons, 1993.  [p.44]

"... to make an evaluation of your personality ... use your intuition as well as what you've learned to get an overall impression of your personality profile.  Look for harmony and balance.  Look for traits that contradict and check if controls have been developed.  Remember, the frequency with which traits show up is an important evaluation factor.

• From:  Grapho-Types by Sheila Kurtz and Marilyn Lester.  Crown Publishers, Inc. 1983.  [p. 202]

"A tidbit journal is another kind of collection box for ideas ... as a place to jot down images and phrases seen and heard during the day.  ... not just for remembering details, but to pay attention in a sharper way to what was happening all around."

• From:  Write It Down, Make It Happen by Henriette Klauser, Ph.D.  Touchstone, 2000.  [p.53]

"Personality is the final piece in the puzzle.  It's the 'style' that defines each of us.  Your personality is a result of your preferences, such as your inclination to introversion or extroversion.  ... Personality traits appear early in life, and they don't go away."

• From:  Emotional Intelligence Quick Book by Travis Bradberry and Jean Greaves.  Fireside Book, 2005.  [p.225-27]

"I suggest that you have a pen and paper handy so you can capture any thoughts or impressions that might come up."

• From:  Discover Your Inner Wisdom by Char Marolis with Victoria St. George, Fireside Book, 2008.  [p.32]

"Your personality style is a kind of map of both your inner geography and the outward direction of your life.  You follow its pathway every day of your life.  You seek and react to experiences and people according to your own style.  You change, or stay the same, according to your own style."

• From:  The New Personality Self-Portrait by John M. Oldham, M.D. and Lois B. Morris.  Bantam Book, 1995. [p385]

Library of Congress

• AAHA was instrumental in getting the Library of Congress to reclassify handwriting analysis in its Dewey Decimal Classification System in 1980 and getting it removed from its former occult category into categories of 155.282 (Diagnostic graphology), 363.2565 (Documentary evidence), and 658.3112 (Selection of personnel by management).

Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT)

• In 1990, AAHA was instrumental in getting the U.S. Department of Labor to reclassify the occupation of graphologist from "Entertainment" to "Miscellaneous professional? in its Dictionary of Occupational Titles (DOT).

Consistency of Writing

• If a writer loses the use of his hands and has to write with the pen in his mouth or toes, the same writing characteristics -- size, upper and lower extension ratios, spacing, connections -- are retained in the new writing as with former writing.

Writing of Identical Twins

• Identical twins have similar handwriting styles which are predominantly rounded or predominantly angular.

Brainwriting

• A German professor of physiology, Otto-Joachim Grusserm, published a proposition that patients unable to read or write suffered damage to the gyrus angularis of the brain.  (Sunday Times) 05/19/96)

Graphology Degree Status

• The Ministry for University and for Scientific and Technological Research in Italy has a degree level for graphology.  Emerson University College, Buenos Aires, Argentina, also offers degree status for graphology which is recognized by the Ministry of Education.

Fine Motor Control Study

• The work of Ruth Shrairman and Alexander Landau of VeriFax Corporation for Johnson Space Center reported in "Non-Invasive Method for Assessment of Human Fine Motor Control" that there is an underlying "theory of the granular stationarity of the statistic properties" of handwriting dynamics.  They summarized the results of an experiment in which an instrument called an Impairscope (formerly called a Neuroskill device) measured a degradation of handwriting performance in a group of students under the stress of final examinations.

"GRAPHOLOGY:  A Reflection of Your Inner Self."

• From:  Between the Lines -- Understanding Yourself and Others through Handwriting Analysis.  Reed Hayes.  [Title of Chapter I]

"Handwriting analysis is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle or baking a cake -- you need all the pieces or ingredients to create the whole from the parts."

• From:  Grapho-Types -- A New Slant on Handwriting Analysis.  Sheila Kurtz and Marilyn Lester.  [p.9]

"What really matters is the traces of minute, unconscious writing movements, those inconspicuous features which are typical of the writer's personality, which are beyond his control ..."

• From:  What Your Handwriting Shows.  Robert Saudek.  [p. 127]

"Master of the skill of handwriting analysis is generally acquired in three stages:  first exposure, experience, and synthesis."

• From:  Handwriting Analysis -- A Guide to Understanding Personalities.  Baruch M. Lazewnik, Ph.D.  [p.7]

"Our handwriting is far more than a succession of words put together to create a means of communication.  It is a map of our attitude toward life, a labyrinthine pathway to long forgotten hiding places inside, a diagram of our unconscious mind."

• From:  Your Handwriting Can Change Your Life.  Vimala Rodgers.  [p. 15-16]

 " ... the examiner focuses upon the sample as a whole, totally eliminating its contents from the field of observation and allowing the latter to turn into a pattern of movement trails.  ... by virtue of it, the examiner not only can gain an overall impression of the sample but can allow single or recurrent characteristics to catch his attention ...  The phenomenon here approached is clearly not one or the other 'trait' but personality as a functional unit ..."

• From:  Handwriting Analysis As a Psychodiagnostic Tool.  Ulrich Sonnemann, Ph.D.  [p.13]

 "It cannot be repeated sufficiently that handwriting is movement, not a series of static forms.  To express it differently, letter forms are static:  their size, slant, width or ratio change when the creating movements change."

• From:  Handwriting -- A Personality Projection.  Frank Victor.  [p.22]