Handwriting Analysis

Andrea McNichol is one of the leading forensic graphologists and examiners of questioned documents in the United States, and a highly respected researcher in the field. McNichol studied graphology at the Sorbonne and at the University of Heidelberg. After receiving a bachelor's degree and teaching credential from the UC Berkeley, she undertook an eight-year study in conjunction with psychiatrists and other medical doctors, and criminologists, correlating graphological characteristics with mental and physical conditions, and forensic handwriting comparison. In 1975, McNichol designed the first college-level graphology course at an accredited U.S. university, UCLA. Since that time she has taught courses on graphology at eight campuses of the University of California. She has been consulted on such celebrated cases as the Hitler Diaries, the Billionaires Boys' Club murder, the Howard Hughes Will Case, the Josef Mengele Nazi War Criminal case, the OJ Simpson and JonBenet Ramsey murder cases. Andrea has been featured in such publications as the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Psychology Today, U.S. News and World Report, Time Magazine, and has appeared on numerous national television programs, including most of the major network news shows, Good Morning America, CNN, the Tonight Show and Geraldo Rivera. The author of HANDWRITING ANALYSIS: Putting It to Work for You, Hidden Messages in Your Children's Writing and Advanced Studies in Graphology, along with numerous technical articles, Andrea has been published in a wide variety of books, magazines, and other publications. In 1980, McNichol founded the Los Angeles-based firm Graphology Consultants International, specializing in examination of questioned documents and behavioral profiling for businesses and law enforcement agencies. Andrea regularly consults with several Fortune 500 companies and other corporations in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. She conducts training seminars throughout the world in the use of graphology, and forensic handwriting identification, and is one of the most sought-after speakers and teachers of the science in the United States today. McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

McNichol's commonsense explanations are salted with wry humor and ironic observations on the handwriting of the famous as well as the infamous. No one, including the reader, is safe from her barbs. This is an excellent introduction to graphology ... and an incentive to type all correspondence! Library Journal 19940103

• CONTENTS,Acknowledgments IX Introduction xi Last-Chance Page Xill PART I: GETTING YOUR HANDS WET1 Fun Quiz 3 2 Explanation of Answers 9 3 What Does Getting the Right Answers Mean? 19 PART II: THE SCIENCE OF GRAPHOLOGY 4 Handwriting as "Brain Prints" 23 5 Science Quiz 26 6 Graphology and the Three Facets of Man 32 7 Graphological Deductions: The Five Ways They Are Made 41 8 Summary: Graphology as a Science 54 PART III: AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT SOME SPECIFIC HANDWRITING TRAITS9 A Few Things to Know Before Getting Started 5910 Slant 63 11 Baselines 93 12 Margins 102 13 Spacing 120 14 Pressure 13015 Size 140 16 Speed 152 17 Zones 157 18 Printing vs. Connected Writing 177 19 Connecting Strokes 188 20 Signatures 200 PART IV: PERSONALITY CHARACTERISTICS 21 High vs. Low Functioning Intelligence 231 22 Extroversion vs. Introversion 236 23 Strong vs. Weak Work Drive 240 24 Honesty vs. Dishonesty 244 PART V: TRYING YOUR HAND AT IT 25 Your First Analysis 255 PART VI: THE USES OF GRAPHOLOGY 26 Graphology and Psychology 261 27 Graphology and Social Work 265 28 Graphology and Medicine 268 29 Graphology and Education 271 30 Graphology and Business 273 31 Graphology and Personal Uses 278 32 Graphology and Crime Solving 280 PART VII: GRAPHOLOGY AND YOUR LIFE 33 The Future of Graphology 303 34 Those Last Few Tidbits 311 35 Analyzing Your Own Handwriting 314 36 Where Do You Go from Here? 318 PART VIII: A BIT ABOUT DOODLES 37 Doodles 321 Bibliography 340 About the Authors 343 Index 344