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Natural Variation in Length of Signature Components

NCJ Number
226523
Journal
Problems of Forensic Sciences Volume: 74 Dated: 2008 Pages: 182-189
Author(s)
Szymon Matuszewski; Jowita Maciaszek
Date Published
2008
Length
8 pages
Annotation
Using signatures from 60 students obtained at weekly intervals over a period of 15 weeks, this study examined the level of natural variation in the lengths of signature components (forename and surname), the kind of distribution that reflected this variation, and whether the lengths of signature components covaried.
Abstract
The lengths of components of a full signature were found to be highly stable, with the lengths of women’s signatures being more stable than men’s signatures. The distribution of natural variants in the lengths of components of a full signature was, as a rule, positive skewed; and the lengths of components of a full signature was usually covariant, i.e., the variation in length of one component was usually accompanied by variation in the same direction in the length of the second component. The study involved 32 women and 28 men ages 20-27. The signatures were signed with the participants’ own writing instruments on a dotted line of a blank sheet of paper under the sentence “I hereby certify my attendance at criminalistics classes.” Each subject provided not less than 48 signatures, signed 6 or 9 at once, at weekly intervals or longer for a period of 15 weeks. The length of a graphic set was defined as the distance between the left and right extreme points of the set measured in projection on the base line of the middle zone of the set. Measurements were made with 1 mm accuracy for both components of the signature (forename and surname). Results of measurements were analyzed from the perspective of the level of variation, kind of distribution reflecting this variation, and covariation of the length of signature components. 4 tables and 12 references