A Study on the Levels of Difficulty in the Simulation of Individual Characteristics in a Signature

This study looks at the levels of difficulty in simulating a signature with respect to 12 selected individual characteristics in a model signature. The objective was to find out which of these features in the signature were relatively easy or difficult to simulate and to compare the results with those expected based on the team’s knowledge and experience in forensic handwriting and signature examination. Sixty-two volunteers took part in the study. The results of the analysis show that the experimental data is generally in agreement with the expected relative levels of difficulty of the characteristics studied. This study provides good evidence that the principles and knowledge applied in forensic handwriting and signature examination are sound and reliable and that characteristics in a person’s signature are individualized.