Since it’s beginning, the field of psychology has been interested in identifying, measuring, and influencing various aspects of human behavior. For example, at the beginning of this century, one group of psychologists was interested in efficiency studies. They measured physical actions at the work scene. They made many assembly line time studies of men and women picking up tools, tightening bolts, and laying down tools; just to get another partially finished product to work on. They were called efficiency experts, and then as today, workers cursed them and employers worshiped them.
Another large group of psychologists were more interested in working as clinicians who helped clients with their emotional or interpersonal problems. These Clinical Psychologists usually used the method of talking with a patient to both find out about their problems and to help them change their thoughts, emotions, behaviors, etc. However, they also discovered that not only did some of their patients take a long time before they trusted the psychologists with their "secrets," but some weren't even aware of their secrets, and some weren't very verbal.
Fortunately, they also discovered that patients would more quickly reveal some of their intellectual and emotional makeup by other, indirect means. These early psychologists discovered that a lot could be found out about the intellectual and emotional make-up of patients by using drawings, questionnaires and other techniques. And these techniques took a relatively short time when compared to the time talking took to reveal their psychological makeup.
One of the earliest methodologies was the use of word associations. For example, if a therapist said "Dog" and the response was "Kill," and the therapist then said, "Cat" and the response was "Murder," and he next said "Mother," and the response once again was “Murder,” then it quickly could be shown that there definitely were some issues for the two to deal with.
Thus, psychology first explored personality and treatment for psychological dysfunction by talking methods. Then it discovered shortcuts that would more quickly reveal the intellectual and emotional strengths and weaknesses of patients. Also during this same time, Psychology started to stringently utilize the scientific method to ascertain whether or not it’s methods worked or just seemed to work.
Just as psychology searched for methods that would accurately reveal the emotional and intellectual makeup of a person, so did graphologists. Long, long ago, just as Psychologists discovered that certain verbal, written and drawn responses to material would help give a more complete picture of an individual, graphologists discovered that the design of letters, space, etc., would likely match certain personality characteristics.
Sheila Lowe (1999:51) states, “When you find graphology books in the new age or occult section at your favorite bookstore, do everyone in the field a favor and ask the manager to put them there they belong – in the Psychology section. The Library of Congress (http://www.loc.gov) changed graphology’s classification in 1980, from occult to three different listings: Documentary Evidence Selection of Personnel by Management, Personnel Selection, and Diagnostic Graphology.”
Over the last 50 years, psychology and the other sciences searched and found methods that could be trusted to test the accuracy of procedures that claimed to reveal accurate information about us. Just as these scientific methods test whether a drug probably does what it's manufacturer said it does, these same methods can test whether the interpretation of a personality characteristic is probably accurate. In essence, with scientific testing of a procedure or method, we have the ability to tell whether a given procedure or method is probably doing what it’s discoverer claims it is doing.
It was found that scientific testing could also give us an idea of whether the interpretation of personality by means of a particular method probably does describe a person's present or future behavior. There is another way of looking at the purpose of scientific testing. It simply answers the question of whether or not the predicted results (of the things that are tested) happening just by chance.
The Scientific Community has not accepted Handwriting Analysis with applause; even though it is one of the oldest methods used to gain a look at the inner characteristics of a person. In fact, some "scientific research" has been done which suggests that handwriting analysis has no validity whatsoever. Some evaluations claim that handwriting analysis, as a procedure that tells us about humans and their behavior, is as effective as throwing cards or chicken bones.
The Coalition of Handwriting Analysts International (CHAI), believes that handwriting analysis has validity. Rather than complain about studies that criticize handwriting analysis, CHAI will present scientific studies (performed by us and others) that will prove its validity.
When we use methods that are recognized as valid and reliable by the scientific community, it will make us, and our material, scientifically acceptable. We believe that when we perform a study in such a way that the scientific community will see the plan as appropriate, the results will most likely be accepted. We also know that part of what makes results valid is correct administration by someone trained appropriately for that test; but that’s another story to be discussed at another time.
The founders of CHAI are interested in not only sharing ideas about graphology with others, but most of all in providing scientific evidence to the world that handwriting can be used in many ways as a scientific, analytical, and therapeutic tool. The members of the CHAI board are interested in projects that will accomplish these goals.
For example, Karen Weinberg,QDE, CHAI’s Executive VP, is actively working on a project using Grapho-therapy to reduce or eliminate the symptoms of a physical stroke that occurred in an 80-year-old woman. She has carefully collected medical and other pre-stroke data. She has carefully documented the procedure of administering Grapho-therapy. At present Karen is carefully collecting emotional and physical post-therapy data.
We have other projects in mind that will affect children as well as adults. For example, we are interested in creating graphological diagnostics and therapy for adults with Alzheimer’s disease and for children with dyslexia and other childhood problems. Additionally we are working on new ways graphology can contribute to forensic and personality description. For example, we are interested in exploring the "meaning" of spatial attributes of handwriting that have not yet been explored and possibly linking these descriptions to descriptions of specific physical and mental problems and their treatments.
To summarize, CHAI is interested in presenting scientific studies that will be accepted by the scientific community for the benefit of the entire handwriting community.
Lowe S (1999). The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Handwriting Analysis. New York. Alpha
1. JERRY WEISS, PH.D. is CHAI’s VP and Director of Science & Research, he has been a Clinical and Forensic Psychologist for over 20 years. For the last 10 of those years Doctor Weiss has had a serious interest in Graphology.Email docjerry@chaiusa.org
2. CHAI invites you to join and share its vision and goals. See www.chaiINTL.org.
Last updated 13 December 2001. Please report any corrections to me at this email address bradlen@graphology.ws
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13 December 2001