Pseudoscientific study of human characteristics according to shape of the skull
Not to be confused with Phenology.
For the music album by the Roots, see Phrenology (album).
Phrenological skull, European, 19th century. Wellcome Collection, London
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Phrenology or craniology (from Ancient Greek φρήν (phrēn) 'mind', and λόγος (logos) 'knowledge') is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits.[1][2] It is based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules.[3] It was said that the brain was composed of different muscles, so those that were used more often were bigger, resulting in the different skull shapes. This provided reasoning for the common presence of bumps on the skull in different locations. The brain "muscles" not being used as frequently remained small and were therefore not present on the exterior of the skull. Although both of those ideas have a basis in reality, phrenology generalizes beyond empirical knowledge in a way that departs from science.[1][4] The central phrenological notion that measuring the contour of the skull can predict personality traits is discredited by empirical research.[5] Developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall in 1796,[6] the discipline was influential in the 19th century, especially from about 1810 until 1840. The principal British centre for phrenology was Edinburgh, where the Edinburgh Phrenological Society was established in 1820.
Phrenology is today recognized as pseudoscientific.[1][2][7] The methodological rigor of phrenology was doubtful even for the standards of its time, since many authors already regarded phrenology as pseudoscience in the 19th century.[8] There have been various studies conducted that discredited phrenology, most of which were done with ablation techniques. Marie-Jean-Pierre Flourens demonstrated through ablation that the cerebrum and cerebellum accomplish different functions. He found that the impacted areas never carried out the functions that were proposed through phrenology. Paul Broca also discredited the idea when he discovered and named the "Broca's area". The patient's ability to produce language was lost while their ability to understand language remained intact. Through an autopsy examining their brains, he found that there was damage to the left frontal lobe. He concluded that this area of the brain was responsible for language production. Between Flourens and Broca, the claims to support phrenology were dismantled. Phrenological thinking was influential in the psychiatry and psychology of the 19th century. Gall's assumption that character, thoughts, and emotions are located in specific areas of the brain is considered an important historical advance toward neuropsychology.[9][10] He contributed to the idea that the brain is spatially organized, but not in the way he proposed. There is a clear division of labor in the brain but none of which even remotely correlates to the size of the head or the structure of the skull. While it contributed to some advancements in understanding the brain and its functions, skepticism of phrenology developed over time.
The Phrenologist, a sketch by A.S. Hartrick, 1895
While phrenology itself has long been discredited, the study of the inner surface of the skulls of archaic human species allows modern researchers to obtain information about the development of various areas of the brains of those species, and thereby infer something about their cognitive and communicative abilities,[11] and possibly even something about their social life.[12] Due to its limitations, this technique is sometimes criticized as "paleo-phrenology".[12]
^ abcWihe, J. V. (2002). "Science and Pseudoscience: A Primer in Critical Thinking". Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience. California: Skeptics Society. pp. 195–203.
^ abHines, T. (2002). Pseudoscience and the Paranormal. New York: Prometheus Books. p. 200.
^Fodor, Jerry A. (1983). Modularity of Mind: An Essay on Faculty Psychology. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press. pp. 14, 23, 131. ISBN 0-262-56025-9.
^Bunge, M. (2018). From a Scientific Point of View: Reasoning and Evidence Beat Improvisation across Fields. Cambridge: Cambridge Scholar Publishing. p. 74.
^Parker Jones, O.; Alfaro-Almagro, F.; Jbabdi, S. (2018). "An empirical, 21st century evaluation of phrenology". Cortex. 106: 26–35. doi:10.1016/j.cortex.2018.04.011. PMC 6143440. PMID 29864593.
^Graham, Patrick. (2001) Phrenology [videorecording (DVD)]: revealing the mysteries of the mind. Richmond Hill, Ont.: American Home Treasures. ISBN 0-7792-5135-0
^Bunge (1985), p. 54; Stiles (2012), p. 11; Cooter (1990), p. 156; Christison-Lagay & Cohen (2013), pp. 337–354
^Flourens (1844), p. 150; Anonymous (1860), pp. 249–260; Winn (1879), pp. 18–29; Robinson Storer (1866), p. 134
^Fodor, JA. (1983) The Modularity of Mind. MIT Press. pp. 14, 23, 131
^Simpson, D. (2005) "Phrenology and the Neurosciences: Contributions of F. J. Gall and J. G. Spurzheim" ANZ Journal of Surgery. Oxford. Vol. 75.6; p. 475
^Beaudet, Amélie (2017). "The Emergence of Language in the Hominin Lineage: Perspectives from Fossil Endocasts". Frontiers in Human Neuroscience. 11: 427. doi:10.3389/fnhum.2017.00427. PMC 5572361. PMID 28878641.
^ abHughes, Virginia (2013-03-13). "From Neanderthal Skull to Neanderthal Brain?". National Geographic. Archived from the original on 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2021-03-30.
Phrenology or craniology (from Ancient Greek φρήν (phrēn) 'mind', and λόγος (logos) 'knowledge') is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps...
The American Phrenological Journal was a periodical in the United States devoted to the racist pseudoscience of phrenology, a collection of theories correlating...
functions in the brain. Claimed as the founder of the pseudoscience of phrenology, Gall was an early and important researcher in his fields. His contributions...
The Edinburgh Phrenological Society was founded in 1820 by George Combe, an Edinburgh lawyer, with his physician brother Andrew Combe. The Edinburgh Society...
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1832) was a German physician who became one of the chief proponents of phrenology, which was developed c. 1800 by Franz Joseph Gall (1758–1828). Spurzheim...
subject of phrenology. The three were "in large measure" responsible for the mid-19th century popularity of phrenology. The practice of phrenology was frequently...
With the Aid of Phrenology is a lost 1913 short silent film comedy directed by Edward Dillon and starring Charles Murray. It was produced by the Biograph...
childhood to the date of [his] injury".[H]: 4 (In the pseudoscience of phrenology, which was then just ending its vogue, nervo-bilious denoted an unusual...
character, phrenology, was originally considered a science. It influenced psychiatry and early studies into neuroscience. As science advanced, phrenology was...
With heightened popularity came mounting pressure. The Roots released Phrenology (named after the pseudoscience of the same name) in 2002. Despite not...
Psychographics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. The psychograph was a phrenology machine, invented and marketed by Henry C. Lavery in the early part of...
physiognomy figures prominently in the short stories of Edgar Allan Poe. Phrenology, a form of physiognomy, measures the bumps on the skull in order to determine...
Scottish lawyer and a spokesman of the phrenological movement for over 20 years. He founded the Edinburgh Phrenological Society in 1820 and wrote The Constitution...
publication of phrenology journals and the creation of phrenometers, which measured the bumps on a human subject's head. While phrenology remained a fixture...
(1787-1859), although details of his early life are hazy. He studied phrenology under Johann Gaspar Spurzheim in Paris; and, then, attended classes at...
The Boston Phrenological Society was formed in 1832 upon the death of a prominent continental phrenologist, Johann Gaspar Spurzheim. Spurzheim was an...
popularizer of phrenology. Wells founded Fowler & Wells Company, published the American Phrenological Journal, and taught the first class in phrenology in the...
Mineral Supplement Naturopathy Palmistry Panchagavya Patent medicine Phrenology Primal therapy Radionics Reiki Traditional medicine Traditional Chinese...
Mineral Supplement Naturopathy Palmistry Panchagavya Patent medicine Phrenology Primal therapy Radionics Reiki Traditional medicine Traditional Chinese...
Spurzheim through James Simpson. He began to lecture on phrenology in 1827. For Epps, phrenology was integrated with his Baptist Calvinism. With John Elliotson...
of phrenological thinking, and his brother, Andrew Combe (1797–1847), who was later appointed a physician to Queen Victoria, wrote a phrenological treatise...
of anthropometry, measurement of the human body. It is distinct from phrenology, the pseudoscience that tried to link personality and character to head...
Mineral Supplement Naturopathy Palmistry Panchagavya Patent medicine Phrenology Primal therapy Radionics Reiki Traditional medicine Traditional Chinese...
classification system Female body shape Enterotype Habitus (disambiguation) Phrenology Physiognomy This article includes a list of related items that share the...