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The Journal of Educational Research is a well-known and respected periodical journal that reaches an international audience of educators and others concerned with cutting-edge theories and proposals. For 100 years, the journal has contributed to the advancement of educational practice in elementary and secondary schools by judicious study of the latest trends, examination of new procedures, evaluation of traditional practices, and replication of previous research. The journal is an invaluable resource for teachers, counselors, supervisors, administrators, curriculum planners, and educational researchers as they consider the structure of tomorrow's curricula. Special issues examine major education concerns in-depth. Theme topics include methodology, motivation, literacy, and professional development.
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The Journal of Educational Research © 1947
Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
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HANDWRITING IDENTIFICATION AND EXAMINATION
HANDWRITING - It is the result of a very complicated series of facts, being used
as whole, combination of certain forms of visible mental and muscular habits acquired
by long, continued painstaking effort. Some defined handwriting as “visible speech.”
KINDS OF WRITINGS:
A.Cursive – connected; writing in which one letter is joined to the next.
B.Script – separated or printed writing.
C.BLOCK – all CAPITAL LETTERS.
BASIS OF HANDWRITING IDENTIFICATION:
A.In Wignore's Principles of judicial Proof, handwriting is defined as a visible effect of
bodily movement which is an almost unconscious expression of fixed muscular
habits, reacting from fixed mental impression of certain ideas associated with script
form.
B.Environment, education and occupation affect individuals so variously in the
formation of these muscular habits that finally the act of writing becomes an almost
automatic succession of acts stimulated by these habits.
C.The imitation of the style of writing by another person becomes difficult because
the other person cannot by mere will power reproduce in himself all the muscular
combination from the habit of the first writer.
NOTE: Is handwriting/signature identification an “exact science”? – In the hand
of a qualified examiner operating under proper conditions, identification by means of
handwriting/signature is certain. Proper conditions include –
1.sufficient questioned writing
2.sufficient known writing
3.sufficient time
4.use of scientific instruments
PHYSIOLOGICAL BASIS OF HANDWRITING:
In writing the pen functions as an extension of the hand. The fingers transmit to
the paper, the directive impulse and the variation in muscular tension that according
to the nature of the writer's nervous organization occur during the act or writing.
This center near the motor area of the cortex is responsible for the finger
movement involved in handwriting. The importance of this center is that when it
becomes diseased as in a graphic, one loses the ability to write although he could
still grasp a fountain pen, ball pen or pencil. Thus, the ability or power to hold a
fountain pen or pencil to form symbols and words can be said to emanate from its
cortical center.
Two Groups of Muscles Involve in Handwriting:
1.extensor muscles - push up the pen to form the upward strokes
2. flexor muscleswhich push the pen to from the downward strokes.