Finding features used in the human reading of cursive handwriting

Abstract.

This paper first summarizes a number of findings in the human reading of handwriting. A method is proposed to uncover more detailed information about geometrical features which human readers use in the reading of Western script. The results of an earlier experiment on the use of ascender/descender features were used for a second experiment aimed at more detailed features within words. A convenient experimental setup was developed, based on image enhancement by local mouse clicks under time pressure. The readers had to develop a cost-effective strategy to identify the letters in the word. Results revealed a left-to-right strategy in time, however, with extra attention to the initial, leftmost parts and the final, rightmost parts of words in a range of word lengths. The results confirm high hit rates on ascenders, descenders, crossings, and points of high curvature in the handwriting pattern.