phrenology

Study of the shape and protuberances of the skull, based on the now discredited theory of the Austrian physician Franz Josef Gall that such features revealed measurable psychological and intellectual traits.

Phrenology was based on the assumption that mental faculties are localized in the brain, and that these areas are identifiable from peculiarities of bone formation on the skull. In fact, although some brain functions are partly localized, this has no connection with external variations in the shape of the cranium.