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''For the album by the hip-hop group The Roots, see Phrenology (album) Phrenology (from Greek: φρήν, phrēn, "mind"; and λόγος, logos, "logic") is a theory which claims to be able to determine character, personality traits, and criminality on the basis of the shape of the head (reading "bumps"). Developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall around 1800, and very popular in the 19th century, it is now discredited as a pseudoscience. Phrenology has however received credit as a protoscience for having contributed to medical science the ideas that the brain is the organ of the mind and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions.

Its principles were that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that mind has a set of different mental faculties, each particular faculty being represented in a different part or organ of the brain. These areas were said to be proportional to a given individual's propensities and importance of a mental faculty, and the overlying skull bone to reflect these differences.

Phrenology, which focuses on personality and character, is to be distinguished from craniometry, which is the study of skull size, weight and shape, and physiognomy, the study of facial features. However, these fields have all claimed the ability to predict traits or intelligence. They were once intensively practised in anthropology/ethnology and sometimes utilized to "scientifically" justify racism. While some principles of phrenology are well-established today, the basic premise that personality is determined by skull shape is largely considered to be false.

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Just played: The Seed 2.0 - The Roots - Phrenology(Geffen)
WRGWnow (WRGW RadioActivity) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 21:43:47 -0000
Just played: The Seed 2.0 - The Roots - Phrenology(Geffen)
Rockin' The Roots' Phrenology, forgot how fucking awesome that album is!
axiomseekr (axiomseekr) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:22:16 -0000
Rockin' The Roots' Phrenology, forgot how fucking awesome that album is!
knowledge" hypothesis stating that the personality traits person derived from the shape of the skull http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology
bruce033 (Bruce Attfield) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:56:01 -0000
knowledge" hypothesis stating that the personality traits person derived from the shape of the skull http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phrenology
The Roots Phrenology http://cinegirlz.com/u/epj
mickael2u (Mickael) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:26:07 -0000
The Roots Phrenology http://cinegirlz.com/u/epj
#Type : phrenology head http://tinyurl.com/yhvyaox
wFreelance (workflowFreelance) Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:10:35 -0000
#Type : phrenology head http://tinyurl.com/yhvyaox
the new "face" of phrenology? RT @meyourprofessor @PsychScience Telegraph: 'Aggressive people have wider faces' http://ow.ly/yCEI
ACSChemNeurosci (ACSChemNeurosci) Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:39:39 -0000
the new "face" of phrenology? RT @meyourprofessor @PsychScience Telegraph: 'Aggressive people have wider faces' http://ow.ly/yCEI

 
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Brontë Sources, Texts, and Criticism - The text, Elements of Phrenology by George Combe is offered in its entirety.

History of Phrenology and the Psychograph - A brief overview of the psychograph, a device used to measure the anatomical structure of a head.
Meta Description: [ The Museum's most popular device is the Psychograph, an antique phrenologymachine. Phrenology was the 'in theory' of the 19th century for determiningpersonality. ]

Neuroscience: The Legacy of Phrenology - Essay examining the relevance of phrenology to the evolution of modern neuroscience.
Meta Description: [ Psychology is defined as “the science of behavior and mental processes,” which encompasses an array of specialty areas. Similarly, psychologists stand as the most diverse group of people in our society to share the same title. The psychology department strives to give all its students a s... ]

Phrenology - Dedicated to the promotion of modern scientific study, Van den Bossche Peter offers a synopsis of the study and offers examples in modern and paleolithic man. Also includes a bibliography and a sign-up for a mailing list.

Phrenology and the Fine Arts - Offers an interactive phrenological head which maps the various organs to their characteristics. Includes images of the symbolic head and physiognomy illustrations.
Meta Description: [ Phrenology - a major force in 19th century psychology - and its influence on American art of the 19th century ]

Phrenology Head - Order an exact reproduction of an early 20th century piece made from quality porcelain. It comes in its own box complete with pamphlet.

Reading Heads and Ruling Passions - An overview of phrenology across the world. Includes some unique extracts from primary documents.

Skeptic's Dictionary: Phrenology (cranioscopy) - Historical information, details on related sciences and a list of links are offered from a skeptic's perspective.
Meta Description: [ over 400 skeptical definitions and essays on occult, paranormal,supernatural and pseudoscientific ideas and practices with references to the best skeptical literature ]

The History of Phrenology - Consists of essays on themes in the history, as well as a collection of images, digitized books relevant not only to the history of phrenology, but also to the history of evolutionary thought.

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Quackery Gallery - "Phrenology and the Psycograph"
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