A little History: Phrenology

In this post I will provide a classic in the history of psychology, called phrenology. In phrenology it is tried to provide a localization of function in the brain. The theory was but incorrect. But the story is nostalgic.

Franz Josef Gall (1758-1828) was the originator of the then ninetheenth-century highly popular phrenology. Gall thought that special psychological "faculties" could be assigned to special parts of the brain. Furthermore, Gall thought that the bumps und hills of the skull were related to the brain areas that were underlying it, and were according to him thus associated with these special "faculties" (Fancher, 1996, p. 76). 

By using craniometry, which was supposed te assess the physical parts of the skull, Gall wanted to find support for the shape of the brain underlying the skull (Fancher, 1996, p. 77-78). For instance, an area just above the ear was supposed to be the organ of the faculty "destructiveness".