Now, a team at the University of Haifa has come up with a computerised handwriting tool which it claims can provide ease and increased accuracy over common, verbal-based methods to detect a lie.
Researchers have utilised a computerised tablet that measures the physical properties of the subject's handwriting, which are difficult to consciously control, for example -- the duration of time the pen is on paper versus in the air, length and height and width of each writing stroke, the pressure that is implemented on the writing surface etc.
They have found that these handwriting characteristics differ when an individual is in process of writing "deceptive" sentences as opposed to truthful sentences.
According to the researchers, the handwriting tool has the potential to replace, or work in tandem, with popular, verbal-based lie detection technology such as the polygraph to ensure greater accuracy and objectivity in law enforcement deception detection.
Additionally, polygraphs are often intrusive to the subject and sometimes inconclusive. "The handwriting tool therefore provides ease and increased accuracy over common, verbal-based methods," they said.
The research, headed by Gil Luria and Sara Rosenblum, has been published in the latest edition of 'Applied Cognitive Psychology' journal.
