Abstract:

Evolved from graphology, graphonomics is a multidisciplinary field about handwriting and related skills. Since handwriting is a cognitive ability and even a survival skill, the study of graphonomics contributes to psychologists, educationalists, children, and ordinary adults. While traditional graphologists could study only the two-dimension handwriting, graphonomics scholars have new software and hardware that allows them to delve deeply into new aspects of handwriting like velocity, acceleration, pressure, grip height, and grip force. Handwriting has the benefit of being objective and standardized, and researchers have studied how graphonomics is related to cognition, personality, disease, and so forth. Because digital writing tools are becoming more common, more attention will be paid to a comprehensive understanding of handwriting. Furthermore, handwriting, as a psychometrical tool, could be applied to teaching evaluation, criminal investigation, and artificial intelligence. Eventually, according to theories of embodied cognition, handwriting could also be used as an intervention to enhance cognition and personality.

Key words: graphonomics, graphology, embodied cognition, development of fine motor ability, digital tablet