A liar is caught sooner than a lame person, the saying goes. Especially if his writing is analyzed, as a group of scientists from the University of Haifa, in Israel, has just demonstrated. Instead of using a polygraph or analyzing body language, Gil Luria and Sara Rosenblum put the frankness of 34 volunteers to the test while asking them to write stories in which, using a pressure-sensitive electronic pen , on a graphic tablet they combined paragraphs of true memories with fabricated narratives .
Analyzing the writing with the help of the computer, the researchers found that when the subjects "lied" they pressed the pen less and made longer strokes and higher letters than in those paragraphs in which they narrated true facts. These traits were not detectable with the naked eye, preventing liars from "hiding" it.
Scientists suggest that handwriting changes when lying because the brain is forced to work harder when it has to make up information. The study has been published in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology .
