NCJ Number
216812
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 51 Issue: 6 Dated: November 2006 Pages: 1397-1404
Date Published
November 2006
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This paper describes experiments that focused on the task of signature examination and comparison, in order to determine what additional characteristics of forensic document examiners (FDEs) were important in the performance of their work of comparing a known writer with a sample of questioned handwriting in order to determine whether they were done by the same person.
Abstract
Consistent with the findings of previous studies, the current investigation found that FDEs performed significantly better on signature tasks than did lay people. The findings indicate that FDE subjects performed better than the control group of lay individuals because they took into account multiple pieces of visual information. The findings suggest that control subjects use a serial cognitive processing model that involves a sequential search for salient features of the handwriting in order to classify signatures. FDEs, on the other hand, apparently use simultaneous or parallel processing in which their decisions are not necessarily influenced by single salient features, but rather by the assessment of the "significance" of each salient feature both in relation to its own "weight" in identifying the writing process and its relationship to the absence or presence of other salient features within the writing. Eye tracking was used to measure the visual attention of 9 FDEs and 12 control subjects on a blind signature comparison trial. Subjects evaluated 32 questioned signatures (16 genuine, 8 disguised, and 8 forged) that were compared. Subjects' eye movements, response times, and opinions were recorded. In a separate experiment, the FDEs re-examined a reordered set of the same 32 questioned signatures. In this phase, each signature was presented for only 100 msec, in order to test whether eye movements were relevant in forming opinions. 7 figures and 38 references