What debugging techniques can be used to troubleshoot PHP form validation errors, such as the "Name must consist of letters and spaces" message?

One common debugging technique for PHP form validation errors like "Name must consist of letters and spaces" is to check the regular expression pattern used to validate the input. Ensure that the pattern allows for letters and spaces only. Additionally, check the input data for any special characters or numbers that may be causing the validation error.

$name = $_POST['name'];

if (!preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z ]*$/", $name)) {
    $errors['name'] = "Name must consist of letters and spaces";
}