The unit of measurement of feelings. Israeli scientists have learned to read minds according to the handwriting.

Are you stressed and depressed? Are you happy and emotions overwhelm you? Write any words on paper. We will find out what happens to you when we see HOW, not WHAT, you have written.

Scientists at the University of Haifa learned to identify the inner state of a person by the size and shape of letters, the spaces between words and the pressure on the paper at the time of writing.

“The manner of writing,” the researchers claim, “provides a unique opportunity to measure feelings. Understanding a person’s emotions in such a simple and non-aggressive way can lead to a breakthrough in psychotherapy. ”

“Start writing, no matter what…” 

― Louis L’Amour

According to cognitive theory, when the brain performs several actions simultaneously, secondary actions, including automatic ones, are weakened. On the basis of this theory, a system for assessing the change in handwriting was created, and a program, that is able monitor and remove the parameters of these changes carefully, was developed.

The ComPET handwriting assessment system is installed on special tablets that help to “disassemble” a person’s handwriting. This program can even document how a person writes in the air.

The level of mood

The electronic system allows you to study the daily behavior and distinguish mood by such a complex thing as handwriting. The program may recognize, for example, a lie, or early signs of Parkinson’s disease.

The study involved 62 people, arbitrarily divided into three groups. Each group watched films that created a different mood – good, bad and neutral. Then, each participant was asked to write a Hebrew text on the tablet.

The participants in each group were in a different mood and this was reflected in the handwriting. For example, letters written by people in a bad mood were much smaller than those of people in a good and neutral mood. Participants with a bad mood wrote much more faster than other participants.

How to measure the level of happiness

These studies can help therapists not only to identify the mood of the patients, but also to fix the changes, which is very important for the process of treatment and diagnosis. And in the future it will be possible to measure the level of happiness or misery. Sooner or later, diagnostics will contribute to the treatment and improvement of people with developmental delays and various diseases of the nervous system.

Vladislava Mironenko