105

CHAPTER - I I I

HANDWRITING THEOKf & RELATED STUDIES.

1. Studies on Handwriting
2. Definition of Handwriting
3. Handwriting & G r a p h o lo g y
(a) History of Graphology
4. The UNESCO Monographs o n H a n d w r it in g

(a ) First UNESCO M onograph

The

(b ) The Second UNESCO nonograph

3* Wisconsin Study
6. Some Magor issues of the Teaching of
Handwriting ;
(a) Style of writing ; Manuscript
V /s Cursive Script

(b) The Use of Handwriting instruments

(c) Tracing ys copying
(d) Speed v s . Quality
(e) Race Difference and Handwriting
(fl) intelligence and Handwriting
#**
U STUDIES OH H A ND IM TIN G :

Writing serves an important function in

human communication, f t is universally recog­
nised. together with reading as a fundamental
aspect of literacy, in view of the fact that
very l i t t l e has been done by Indian research
workers in this field , a survey of some of the
important studies is attempted below. However,
before proceeding to discuss the theories of
handwriting, the term its e lf needs defined preci­
sely.

2. D EEIH IT10N OF HANDWRITING :

The term 'handwriting* should be carefully

defined before developing an objective measuring
instrument thereof, some of the usual defini­
tions are given below :

(1) The Thorndike junior Dictionary :

"Writing by hand, writing with
pen, pencils, etc. (1)

(2 ) A Learner's Dictionary of current

English ; "A person's style of wri­
ting by hand, writing by hand", (2)
Basic Dictionary of American
English : "way a person writes,
writing done by hand, not typed
or printed". (3)

The Oxford Dictionary of current

English : "writing with the hand
especially of a particular per­
son" . ( 4)
Encyclopaedia Britallica ;
"Handwriting or Ghirography, writ­
ing with the hand as distinguished
from p r in t.. . .restricted to mean
the form of writing peculiar to
each person... in addition to the
actual motor act and the resulting
scrip t, handwriting includes also
handwriting identification and
graphology". (5)
Warren's Dictionary of psychology
"Symbolic tracing or marks made on
paper or other material by the
human hand or i t s equivalent as a
. record of thought or as a means
of communication". (6)
 The above definitions are basically
similar in the scope of their meanings but
the la st definition is more comprehensive as
compared with the earlier ones, in the present
study the term handwriting is defined, bearing
in mind all the relevant ideas involved. Acco­
rdingly, handwriting is defined as, "any record
of language symbols, used to convey thoughts
or ideals, made by the hand using certain common
materials like a pen, a pencil, etc. on certain
standard media like a sla te , paper, etc. aiming
at conveying thoughts or ideas through the
symbol s.1'

3. HAJbWfilTIi-JG AHD GRAPHOLOGY :

The earlier studies of handwriting were

mainly devoted to the determination of perso­
n ality tra its by examining a person*s hand­
writing. This branch is known as graphology*
According to Dorothy Sara, "Graphology (hand­
writing analysis) reveals aperson*s inner
tr a its of character as they are expressed in
the le tte r formation". (7) B illie pesin
Rosen elaborates the same idea when he says -
 "Graphology teaches th a t each of mis­
w rites a l i t t l e d i f f e r e n t l y ; no two hand­
w ritin g s are e x a c tly a lik e , ju s t as no two
fin g e r p r in ts are ever i d e n tic a l. Every unique
v a ria tio n in our s c r ip t is m eaningful, because
i t rev eals p a r tic u la r p e rs o n a lity t r a i t s . The
grap h o lo g ical a n a ly sis of a handw riting specimen
CL
becomes a behavioural in d ic a to r and^remarkably
ac cu rate gauge of th e w rite r *s c h a ra c te r" . (S)

Robert Holder in his book "You can Analyze

Handwriting" gives a speedy o v e ra ll view of
what handw riting a n a ly sis covers ;

Handwriting p e rs o n a lity
c h a ra c te ri s t ic s c h a r a c te r is tic s
Spacing of w ritin g S ta te of mind
Speed of w ritin g Amount of energy
Slope of w ritin g Degree of a f f e c tio n
Size of w ritin g C oncentration powers
Line of w ritin g S ta te of d is p o s itio n
Terminal stro k e s Degree of g en e ro sity
C apital l e t t e r s personal t a s t e s
Small' l e t t e r s Mental development
S ignature in d iv id u a lity
F lo u rish es S u p e rfic ia l i t i e s
Style Sharpness of mind
Margins Sense of proportion
pressure Emotional State*

Robert Holder also pointed out th at for

a quick picture of an in d iv id u al's personality
what one may need is any scrap of his haPnd -
w riting, i t can be in pen or p en cil, i t can
b.e a signature on the back of a cheque, a
h a s tily w ritten in te r-o ffic e memo. (9).

C linical investigation of handwriting

specimens has disclosed large q u a litie s of
information concerning the v a lid ity of hand­
writing' as a fin e indicator of character. There­
fore i t is important to note the . history and
sta tu re of graphology.

(a) History of Graphology ;

in tracing the origin and growth of the

study of handwriting analysis recorded history
shows th a t graphology, as we know i t today, is
a l i t t l e more than three hundred years old. in
tracing the o rig in of graphology, Dorothy Sara
w rites, "The f i r s t record of a book on the
subject of graphology is dated about 1630 A.D.,
w ritten by camillo Baldo, an I ta lia n professor.
The very long was 'T ratto come Una le tte r a
missiva s i Gognoscano la natura e q u a lita del
S eritto re" - or How to know the nature and
q u a litie s of a person by looking at l e tte r s
which he has w ritte n 11 (10). i t created a
tem porary"stir at the time, but nothing much
was done about i t , since people then f e l t one
had to possess a g if t of inner sight or in tu itio n
to be able to understand character from hand­
w riting.

About two hundred years la te r the subject

of handwriting analysis -was revived in prance,
when Abbe Flandrin, a scholarly churchman became
greatly in terested in sal do* s book. The Abbe
f e l t i t merited study and discussion. He formed
a group who worked on the subject, classify in g
handwritings of people of various in te re s ts
and p u rsu its. From the work th at group did
were born the basic rules of handwriting analy­
s is now in use * To give th is new science a
name, the Abbe used two Greek words; grapho,
meaning "to w rite11 anci ology, which means
"a science," — Thus we have the coined wordjj
1graphology.
, , ■>

in 1672,Abbe Michon wrote a book t i t l e d

*Systeme de Graphologie* and i t was the f i r s t
time th at the word ‘Graphology1 appeared in
p r in t, in I860 Michon*s work was developed
by Grepieux jamin, into more concise methods
of c la s s ific a tio n of various t r a i t s shorn
through handwriting analysis.

Scholars such as Goethe and Moreau la te r

wrote le a fle ts on the subject. Keen in te re s t
soon spread through Germany, then to England
where a group of in te lle c tu a ls including
Elizabeth and Robert Browning spent a great
deal of time developing the study and applica­
tion of handwriting analysis. Dr. Kleges of
Germany, the fath er of modern graphology, under­
took laborious task of proving and establishing
the p rin cip les of graphology.

Graphological so cieties have been in exis­

tence in many countries since the nineteenth
century. The subject is taught in many European
u n iv e rsitie s as an integral p art of psychology,
in united sta te s' graphology is s t i l l young. The
pioneers were Louise Rice and Be Witt B* Luces
whose books brought graphology to the atten tio n
of A^merican people.

THE STATUS OF HANDWRITING INSTRUCTION

IN DIFFERENT EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS IN THE
WORLD,

Several research studies have been conducted

£cm the statu s of handwriting in the world, out
of them the following two are worth mentioning ;

(a) The Unesco Monographs on Handwriting

(b) The Wisconsin s tu d y -

A b r i e f su m m ary o f b o t h th e s tu d ie s a re

g i v e n b e lo w :

THE UNESCO MONOGRAPHS ON HM D WRITING :

T h e UNESCO h a s s p o n s o r e d tw o m o n o g ra p h s

of in te rn a tio n a l s c o p e on th e . t e a c h i n g o f

h a n d w ritin g .
 .(a ,) The First H’ESOO Monograph ;

I t provides a summary of replies from

48 countries to a questionnaire on the current
practices in the teaching of handwriting (11).
This report not only gives a concise summary of
the status of handwriting throughout the world,
but also contains a number of illu stratio n s of
the types of characters which must be learned
to produce handwriting in various languages.
The chief findings of this report were la te r
summarized and elaborated upon in a more formal.
UNESCO report, the American version of which
was issued in 1256. This survey prepared by
William S. Gray, was designed to investigate
the related functions of reading and writing
so that a concerted effort might be made to
improve literacy on an international scale,
especially among adults. After noting the
nineteenth century emphasis upon the form and
the quality in handwfriting, the report indi­
ct
cates concern, since the turn of^century, with
a learner and his problem in expressing his
meaning with an acceptable standard of speed
and quality. Handwriting is widely thought of
not only as a communication tool but also as
a means of individualized, personal expression.

There appears to be considerable agreement

that ac tiv itie s which provide for simple perce­
ptual - motor coordination can be encouraged
before the child is formally taught to write.
A trend is evident in some countries to empha­
size the writing of word -■ "wholes" rather then
le tte rs , especially during the phase of in itia l
instruction. Evidence based upon the use of
Roman type le tte rs is cited to support the
position that the perception of word - "wholes"
is both easier and more meaningful to the child
during the stages of in itia l instruction', in
handwriting than is corresponding perception of
the parts of words. Many countries have7adopted
simple forms of writing to help children overcome
certain d iffic u ltie s in the beginning stages of
instructions in handwriting, in countries using
an alphabetic language, the simplified form of
writing is variously called as scrip t, print
script or manuscript writing. Handwriting is
a very complex sk ill which involves consideration
of the maturation of the learner as well as
appropriate practice opportunities. This idea
seems to be wide-spread.

(b) The Second IMESGQ Monograph :

afepoxt directs attention to the increasing

use of scales in evaluating handwriting end
citjfes the recent development of two handwriting
scales in Spain : (12). There also appears to
be wide-spread interest in many countries in
the techniques so as to diagnose and find out
the remedy for poor handwriting. The report
also touches on several controversial issues
in the teaching of handwriting on the in ter­
national scene, including such questions as
the extent to which an individual should be
allowed to vary his style of handwriting, the
relative hygienic values in the use of vertical
versus slanted writing, and certain unresolved
problems concerning the condition of practice
in handwriting.
Other aspects of the status of handwriting
are discussed in connection with the nature and
extent of illite ra c y , as indicated, by data
gathered, from responses to allESGO questionnaire
received, from 109 countries and te rrito rie s ,
representing about 80 percent cf the world's
population, i f literacy is thought of as the
ab ility to write a simple le tte r , on the one
hand, and the a b ility to read relatively simple
materials in the vernacular on the other hand,
then, the BfSSGO data suggest that approximately
onehalf of the world's population is illite r a te .

5. THE VffSCONSIN STUflf ;

This exhaustive study on handwriting

practices was completed in 1951* I t was condu­
cted on a sample of 232 school systems in the
State of Wisconsin in the m ited states of
America (13)* While selecting samples care
was taken to issue a representative sampling
of sizes ana types of schools in rural and
urban locations in a ll parts of the State*
Some of the important findings of the study
are as follows :
(a) Teachers r a te l e g i b i l i t y as the
most important objective of hand-
writing, They rate the specific
leg ib ility factors like le tte r
formation, slant and spacing as of
next importance. Speed is a factor
least stressed.

Teachers, on the whole, seem to be

aware of individual problems in
learning to write, including the
d ifficu ltie s encountered by the
left-handed writer and the corres­
ponding adjustment needed in
regard to handwriting position,
the paper and the handwiriting
instrument.

Teachers expect children to learn

a ll the symbols of handwriting at
the beginning of the fourth grade
and to acquire them in this order;
numerals, lower case le tte rs , and
capital le tte rs .

Most teachers follow a commercial

system for the teaching of hand*
writing and report that few other
outside resources are available
except for visual aids and certain
types of printed m aterials.

Less than half of the schools

reported the use of scales in
evaluating handwriting quality.
Wherever scales were used, they
were commercially prepared, although
a few locally developed scales
wore also in use.

Many oypes of handwriting instru­

ments are used by the children
during and out of the time allotted
for handwriting instruction. The
most frequently used instruments
are the pen, the fountain pen, the
b e g in n e rp e n c il, the bail-point
pen, crayon, chalk, the mechanical
pencil and the steel pen, the
holder, etc. children typically
write on lined white paper of
regular size, with space ranging
from one inch in the Kindergarten
 to three-eighth of an inch from
grade iv onwards.

(g) practice is a valuable factor in

the acceptance and use of standard
handwriting symbols. Those symbols
showing the greatest variation in
form were upper case cursive le tte rs
and manuscript numerals, whereas the
least variation in form was found
for small cursive le tte rs .

6. SOME MAJOR IS S U E S IN THE TEACHING

OF H A H M I T 1 N S :

There are certain controversial issues on

the teaching of handwriting. An attempt is made
here to discuss along with the solution, if any,
provided by experimental studies.

(a) style for writing : Manuscript

Vs. cursive Script ;
Many studies have been conducted to find
the su itab ility of these two forms of writing
in schools, v/est concludes, from experimental
evidence, that manuscript writing tends to be
written faster in the beginning grades and
cursive writing, faster in the la te r grades
and at the adult level (14) Hildreth (15)
found that the eighth grade students could
copy unjoined strokes significantly more
rapidly than they could copy joined strokes,
which gives some evidence th at manuscript
writing may, at leant under some circumstances,
be written rather rapidly.

Herrick presented the arguments for each

style of writing and summarized the researches
prior to i 960 pertaining to each. His conclu­
sion favoured the retention of manuscript writing
beyond the primary grades, but he also stated
that the question is probably not important to
most adults who should'be allowed to decide on
their own style (16).

According to Anderson (17) who examined

earlier researches on the two styles in terms
of the issues of le g ib ility , speed and ease of
learning, concluded that manuscript writing not
only is more legible than cursive but can also
be written at least as fast and learned more
easily by children and adults. He suggested
that longitudinal research is needed to provide
definitive evidence of the superiority of the
manuscript style over the other one.

Discussing the problems regarding English

Handwriting, an Indian author Mr. p.D.pathak
raises the question, "which writing should be
encouraged script oY cursive ?" He gave the
solution specially for Indian pupils, "script
writing is simple and easy, neat and legible.
I t is adapted to the child is capacity because
i t has no loops and flourishes. I t removes the
confusion from the child»s mind due to two kinds
of writing with which he has to contend in lear­
ning to read and to write. I t brings about an
improvement in spelling because a comparison
with the printed word is possible. I t produces
less strain on the hand muscles because no
effort is made to join le tte rs . For a ll these
reasons, script writing suits children who
sta rt writing for the f ir s t time". (IS)

in the a rtic le , "A Decade of Research in

Handwriting", in ‘The Education Digest1, Mr.Eunice
Askov, and others observe, ”on the question
of manuscript ys cursive writing for in itia l
instruction, only a few relevant studies were
reported in the 196o*s« Those by Rudolf Meis,
Loretta Byers and John Bolen compared the number
of errors made while children used each style,
but none offered conclusive evidence for the
superiority of either style. Elaine, Tempi in,
studying adults 10 years out of high school,
found that those who had received only manuscript
instruction in the elementary school wrote more
legibly than any others. For practical purpose^,
there seems to be no need to change from manusc­
rip t to cursive writing if manuscript writing is
introduced f i r s t. Definitive data, to show that
introduction of manuscript writing produces
superior resu lts, has not yet been reported”. (1$).

(b) The Use of Handwriting instruments ;

The nature of handwriting instruments that

fa s c ilita te learning to write is an important
factor to consider. Research in this area is
too scanty to permit any conclusion, y/hittaker
compared the relative effectiveness of steel
 40

pens and fountain pens in the attainment of

speed and quality. He found that improvement
in quality and speed favoured the fountain pen
and that both children and teachers preferred
fountain pens to steel pens. (20) The most
notable series of studies during the decade of
1960-70 were by Herrick in this area. He reported
that children prefer adult pencils over beginner
pencils, which have not been shown objectively
to be better for beginning w riters. (21) in
another study the general conclusion was reached
that the use of ball point pens is conducive to
deterioration of handwriting quality. (22)

More work is needed in this area to deter­

mine what modifications in writing instruments
are associated with easier, faster and more
legible writing.

(c) Tracing vs copying :

There are controversies as to which of

the procedures is more suitable for the beginner.
Research studies conducted in 1923 by Gates and.
Taylor have proved that in learning handwriting,
copying is a b e tte r method than tracin g (23)
Rertaberg in a study conducted in I926 comes
to the sane conclusion (24).

(d) Speed versus Quality* j

A formula for expressing the relatio n sh ip

between quality and speed in a combined hand­
w riting score was developed and validated by
G ates. (25) • fhe relatio n sh ip expressed in a
formula in which the •combined score equals
quality times the cube root of speed* re fle c ts
the more recent emphasis upon quality in the
Instruction of handwriting. Another study by
A.ft. y i l l s , conducted in England, showed that
in successive age lev els from eight to twelve
years, speed and quality in normal handwriting
tended to vary, together with substantial posi­
tiv e correlation (26).

(e) Race Difference and Handwriting ;

Garth and others compared the handwriting

speed and quality of Negro and yhite children
in grade IV to V III. They found th at there was
 I ht

no significant differences in handwriting

speed and quality between the two groups. (27)»

(f) intelligence and Handwriting ;

On the basis of several studies to find

the relation between intelligence and hand­
writing i t appears that; there is a low but
positive correlation between these two factors.
The study of Gates and pa S adie, which proved
-e
earlier this relationship has been verified by
other research workers also. (2S).

Over and above, there are other issues

like slant in writing, handwriting, end fatigue,
the role of d rillin g , le ft handedness which
also need £©3? further basic research. These
factors also effect directly the handwriting
process.

I f we want to understand the factors

involved in the instruction of handwriting
and to improve i t , some of the studies on the
above issues must be conducted in each language
sxea in our country.
* **
 Q t*

B I B L I 0 G R A P HY

1. Thorndike, E.L., (1948) : The Thorndike

junior D ictionary, London, university
of London p ress, Warwick Square, p.393*

2. Hornby, Gatenly & walace F ie ld , (1948) •

A t,earner »s- Dictionary of current
E n g lis h : London, Oxford university
press, p. 56S.

3* Basic Dictionary of American English :

(1966) : Holt Rine Hart & yinston
-Inc.-New-York, p . 352. -

4. Fowler, H.F. & Fowler, f .G. (Eds), (1950):

Concise Oxford Dictionary of current
English, Oxford, clarendon p ress, p.547»

5* william Benton, (1964) ; Encyclopaedia

Bri-tanica, London, vol. i l l .

6. warrens, Howard c», (1934) ; Dictionary of

psychology,.Massachusetts, Honghton
Miff in company.

7* Doroth, Sara, (I96S) ; Handwriting Analysis,

New York:-pyramid Books, p. 15*
8. B illie , pesin Rosen, (1 968) ; The Science
of Handwriting Analysis, New York :
paperback Library Edition; park Avemie
South, p. 1.
 128

9* Robert, Holder, (1963) : You can Analyse

Handwriting ; Bombay, D.B.Taraporevala
Sons & oo., p.- 13-14.

10. Dorothy, Sara, (I968) : Handwriting Analysis;

lew York ; pyramid Books, p. 11.

11. "international conference on public Educa­

tion" . The Teaching of Handwriting,
international Bureau of Education,
publication Ho. 103 Golumbiauniversity,
1948, p. 125.

12. Gray, william s* (1956) ; The Teaching of

Reading and writing ; An in tern atio n al
Survey on Fundamental Education No.lO
Columbia u n iv ersity , p. 281.

13* University of Wisconsin, (1951) : Department

of Education, committee for Research in
Handwriting. Handwriting in Wisconsin,p .77•

14. west, Paul 7 . (1350) ; Handwriting : in Monrol

Walter S*(Ed), Encyclopedia of Educational
Research, Rev.Ed., lew York; Macmillan
Go., p. 524-529.
15. H ildreth, Gertrude, (1945) : "Comparative
Speed of joined and unjoined waiting
Strokes", journal of Education psycho­
logy, 36 . 81-102.
16. Harrick, y irg ile : "Handwriting & Children's
Writing", Elementary English, journal
of Educational Research, vol* 647' ~
No.3, Nov. 1970, P. 106.
 129

17. Enderson, Dan w. (1965) : "Handwriting

Research, Style and practice" in Horn,
Thomas 4..(Ed). Research on Handwriting
and S pelling, National council of Tea­
chers of England, champaign, i l linos is
p. 18-28, Journal of Education Research
V Q l. 64, n o . 3, Nov. i9 /0 , p. 107.

IS* pathak, p.D ., (1974) ; Teaching of English

in In d ia , Agra, yinod pustak BhandarTp»133 •

19* The Education Digest, volume 36, No*7,

March, 1971• p. 46.

20* Whittaker, F orest, M*, (1934) ; An Experi­

mental Study of the Relative Efficiency
of Steel Pens and Fountain Bens in
Teaching penmanship* M aster's Thesis,
University of Southern C alifornia.

21. Herrick, Virgil, E* > (1961) : "Handwriting

Tools for Children", National Education
Association, 50; 49-50. journal of
Educational Research, vo'lY 64, No.3
Novr. 1970, Madison Wisconsin, p. I 08.
22. B ulletin of the in tern atio n al surea-u of
Education 37 : (No. 147) Geneva, Second
quarter, 1963.
23. Gates, Arthur. 1 . & Taylor, G.A., (1923) :
Acquisition of Motor Control in
Writing by pre-school children,
Teachers college records, 24, p .459-68.
24. Hertzborg, osoar, E* : A comparative study
Of D ifferent Methods Used' in Teaching
Beginners to w rite, I.C . 1 9 2 6 ,p .61.
 u

25 • Gates, A rther, 1 . , "delation of Quality

and Speed of performance : A Formula
for combining the Two in the case of
Handwriting, j ournal of Educational
psychology, No. 15. 1924, p. 129-44.

26. w ill is , A.R. : "investigation of the

Relationship Between Rate and Quality
of Handwriting in primary Schools",
B ritis h journal of Educational Psycho­
logy, No. 6, 193%, p. 229- 5gT

27. Garth, Thomas, R. & others : "The Hand-

w riting of Negroes", journal of Educa­
tional Bsychology, 30, 1939, p.69-73.

28. Gates, Arthur, I . & La S alle, j . , "study

of writing A bility and i t s Relation to
Other A b ilitie s Based on Repeated Tests
During a period of 20 months", journal
of Educational psychology, 1924,-15,
P. 205-16.

* * *