Phrenology is best described as:

• A. A pseudoscience that personality traits are determined by skull shape.
• B. A medical procedure to repair skull fractures.
• C. The study of how neurons communicate within the brain.
• D. An approach that links spinal cord injuries to personality.

Answer: (A)

Phrenology is the belief that bumps and shapes of the skull reveal personality traits and mental abilities, a claim that is considered a pseudoscience because it lacked reliable evidence and testability. Historically proposed to reflect areas of the brain responsible for different faculties, it suggested skull morphology could map character. But the method didn’t produce consistent, replicable results, and neuroscience later showed no solid link between skull shape and traits. The other options aren’t about phrenology: it isn’t a medical procedure to repair skull fractures, it isn’t the study of neuron-to-neuron communication, and it isn’t about spinal cord injuries determining personality.