Prompt Cast
The Decline of Cursive Handwriting and the Role of Handwriting Analysis in Forensic Science
TLDR Cursive handwriting is becoming obsolete as people write by hand less frequently, leading to the decline of cursive writing skills. Handwriting analysis, based on the principle of uniqueness, is used in forensic science to determine if two documents were written by the same person by comparing individual characteristics and underlying style characteristics.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
This podcast episode is about handwriting analysis and its connection to forensic science.
04:40
Cursive handwriting is becoming less common and is considered to be dead, as people are writing by hand less frequently and struggling to remember how to write in cursive.
09:00
Handwriting analysis is based on the principle of uniqueness, which states that everyone has their own unique brand of handwriting, and by comparing the characteristics of one person's handwriting to another, it can be determined if they were written by the same person or not.
13:40
Handwriting analysis involves comparing individual characteristics and underlying style characteristics, which are influenced by the copy book used to learn handwriting, and when it comes to forensic examination, the focus is on individual characteristics rather than style characteristics.
18:03
Handwriting analysis had to overcome early obstacles in creating procedures for requesting exemplars and comparing numerous documents to account for variations in writing style and fatigue, as well as analyzing letter form, line forms, formatting, and spacing.
22:19
Handwriting analysts create tables of different examples of each letter in order to compare and determine if two documents were written by the same person.
26:32
Handwriting analysis can be thrown off by simulating different handwriting styles, but analysts have ways of determining if someone is trying to deceive them.
31:04
Handwriting analysis has been subjected to scientific testing, including using identical twins' handwriting samples, and while it is not a fully scientific field, steps are being taken to make it more scientific in order to protect jobs and allow it to be used in court.
35:48
Handwriting analysis is being modernized through the use of the forensic information system for handwriting, which digitizes and compares handwritten material using numeric values, and research has shown that people write differently when they are lying compared to when they are telling the truth.
40:07
Handwriting analysis requires training and certification, but there are no college programs specifically for this field, and it typically involves a minimum of two years of full-time training under the guidance of an expert.
Categories:
Society & Culture
