Nowadays, one of the issues of concern that brought on by the aging population is legal disputes that have been increasing in number every year. One core problem in these legal disputes involves handwriting identification. There are however not many previous studies in China that have been concentrated on this field. Hence, the study on elderly Chinese subjects' handwriting has an extremely broad potential value for its application for academic usage and practical meaning. This study uses an empirical technique, gathering first hand data and analysing them by employing proper methods. There are 7 handwriting features and characteristics that have been found in the study to represent the key characteristics of the elderly Chinese subjects' handwriting. They are: Pen pressure, occurrence rate of traditional Chinese words, letter size, poor structure, tremor, half-way stop sign, and towing sign at beginning and end of strokes.

Handwriting as a unique expression of human behaviour has evoked continuous interest as a means of analyzing and studying personality – a study known as Graphology. Research in graphology has shown diverse results, ranging from negative to highly favourable. Many of the studies disregarding the value of graphology can be criticized on the grounds of their research methodology as well as the method used in handwriting analysis, namely the ‘trait-method’ whereby isolated graphological features are simplistically linked to personality as opposed to a more encompassing, holistic approach. In the present study the special link between personality and graphology is illustrated as well as the decisive influence the gestalt and form standard of a writing have on the interpretation of that particular writing. The approach to the graphological analyses was holistic, as it complements the complex uniqueness of personality. The study also focuses on the recommended methodology of handwriting analysis, by offering a tailor-made personality ‘picture’ of the individual. Graphological findings were compared to the clinical findings of the same client/patient according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diseases IV-TRTM (DSM-IV-TRTM). Five (5) case studies have been reported in this qualitative research study. The analyses of the writings were done by an independent graphologist. The objective graphological findings show similarities with clinical findings of the same clients/patients. The holistic approach to handwriting analysis deems to have diagnostic value and is promising in providing guidelines for psychotherapy. Graphology can thus be regarded as a useful and viable tool in psycho-educational assessment. / Education / D.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The 7 Graphology Factors Scale is standardised for application in industry. A literature study based on the personality theories of Freud, Jung, Murray and Cattell precedes the empirical research. Graphology is conceptualised, relevant existing graphology models are explored and a graphology theory and method for use in industry proposes that graphology should be regulated and applications classified on the same basis as psychometric tests. The empirical research is based on a sample comprising 360 subjects, stratified according to gender, position and language. The written protocol is subject to analysis of 59 characteristics on the basis of the configuration of the writing. language is irrelevant and the presentation of an intervening stimulus is avoided. Factor analysis results in eight secondary factors. These are I Task Orientation - Directive, II Task Orientation- Conscientious, Ill Emotional Stability, IV Extroversion, V Independence, VI Conceptualisation, VII Openness to Experience and VIII Need for Power. Cronbach's alpha coefficient achieves 0, 61 for Factor I. Stepwise regression analysis provides correlations between factors of the Thematic Apperception, Structured Objective Rorschach and 16 Personality Factor tests with all but Factor Ill, which is hypothesised to be a new construct. Five of the factors are hypothesised to align with the Big Five Personality Model. Thr9e-way analysis of variance, t-tests and the Mantei-Haenszel tests are applied to establish differentiation based on the stratification criteria. Norm tables based on Indigenous, English and Afrikaans first language groups are provided in stens and bands. Conclusions are that graphology has a worthy theoretical heritage and offers benefits to the psychological profession and specifically industry, as part of an assessment strategy. limitations are outlined and recommendations are made for further research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial Psychology)

Handwriting as a unique expression of human behaviour has evoked continuous interest as a means of analyzing and studying personality – a study known as Graphology. Research in graphology has shown diverse results, ranging from negative to highly favourable. Many of the studies disregarding the value of graphology can be criticized on the grounds of their research methodology as well as the method used in handwriting analysis, namely the ‘trait-method’ whereby isolated graphological features are simplistically linked to personality as opposed to a more encompassing, holistic approach. In the present study the special link between personality and graphology is illustrated as well as the decisive influence the gestalt and form standard of a writing have on the interpretation of that particular writing. The approach to the graphological analyses was holistic, as it complements the complex uniqueness of personality. The study also focuses on the recommended methodology of handwriting analysis, by offering a tailor-made personality ‘picture’ of the individual. Graphological findings were compared to the clinical findings of the same client/patient according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Diseases IV-TRTM (DSM-IV-TRTM). Five (5) case studies have been reported in this qualitative research study. The analyses of the writings were done by an independent graphologist. The objective graphological findings show similarities with clinical findings of the same clients/patients. The holistic approach to handwriting analysis deems to have diagnostic value and is promising in providing guidelines for psychotherapy. Graphology can thus be regarded as a useful and viable tool in psycho-educational assessment. / Education / D.Ed. (Psychology of Education)

The 7 Graphology Factors Scale is standardised for application in industry. A literature study based on the personality theories of Freud, Jung, Murray and Cattell precedes the empirical research. Graphology is conceptualised, relevant existing graphology models are explored and a graphology theory and method for use in industry proposes that graphology should be regulated and applications classified on the same basis as psychometric tests. The empirical research is based on a sample comprising 360 subjects, stratified according to gender, position and language. The written protocol is subject to analysis of 59 characteristics on the basis of the configuration of the writing. language is irrelevant and the presentation of an intervening stimulus is avoided. Factor analysis results in eight secondary factors. These are I Task Orientation - Directive, II Task Orientation- Conscientious, Ill Emotional Stability, IV Extroversion, V Independence, VI Conceptualisation, VII Openness to Experience and VIII Need for Power. Cronbach's alpha coefficient achieves 0, 61 for Factor I. Stepwise regression analysis provides correlations between factors of the Thematic Apperception, Structured Objective Rorschach and 16 Personality Factor tests with all but Factor Ill, which is hypothesised to be a new construct. Five of the factors are hypothesised to align with the Big Five Personality Model. Thr9e-way analysis of variance, t-tests and the Mantei-Haenszel tests are applied to establish differentiation based on the stratification criteria. Norm tables based on Indigenous, English and Afrikaans first language groups are provided in stens and bands. Conclusions are that graphology has a worthy theoretical heritage and offers benefits to the psychological profession and specifically industry, as part of an assessment strategy. limitations are outlined and recommendations are made for further research. / Industrial and Organisational Psychology / D.Litt. et Phil. (Industrial Psychology)

This paper concerns methods of verification of person's signature and handwriting. Some of commonly used techniques are resumed and described with related literature being referred. Next aim of this work is design and implementation of a simple handwriting verification application. Application is based on edge detection and comparison of a set of structural and statistical features. As a support classification tool a SVM classifier of the LIBSVM software is employed. The Application is written in C language using OpenCV graphics library. Testing and training set was extracted from samples found in the IAM Handwriting Database. Application was created and tested in the Windows XP operating system.