Darwinism, Eugenics, and Early Clinical Psyc

What is Phrenology?

The Pseudoscience of localizing moral and cognitive traits to parts of the skull.

• Theory that the skull is pushed out by the brain bulging underneath it.

• Bigger brain = more important.

Who is Franz Joseph Gall

• Influential author of manuals.

• Noticed classmate had good language skills, and a funny shaped head.

• Associated that part to language.

What is the problem with Franz Joseph Gall’s theory?

Mapping unrelated morphology to biased evaluations of character.

What is phrenology?

• Psychology levaraging the material and literary technologies to assert itself.

• Early project of localization.

What is Localization?

• Finding where certain functions or behaviours “live” within the brain.

• Some psychologists are still working on this project today.

What is Mesmerism?

Began with Franz Mesmer

• Animal magnetism, or the attraction of minds to things.

• The impactws of the tides on the human body, specifically women’s Hysteriaa.

• Holding a magnet over the right part of the body/head.

  • He said this would treat mental conditions such as hysteria.

Animal magnetism, and Mesmerism would become Hypnosis.

What is Hysteria?

• Episode of ungovernable emotion.

• *Extremely gendered.

• Catch-all term for anything in regards to women: schizophrenia, or even when a woman is angry at her husband.

Who is Jean-Martin Charcot?

• Medical Doctor in France.

• Pioneer of Modern Neurology

• First described Multiple Sclerosis, and Parkinson’s

Concluded that Hysteria was not neurological, but psychological.

Why did Captain Fitzroy think Darwin lacked determination?

Because Lavater’s Phrenology Handbook indicated that Darwin’s nose lacked determination.

Who is Charles Darwin?

• Evidence of differentiation of similar finch species.

• Transformis by natural selection.

What is Francis Galton’s contribution?

Formalized many processes:

• Statistics

• Samping and recruitment

• Differential methods

Built the foundation of experimental psychology.

What is Statistics?

• Correlation and Regression

• Bivariate Normal Distribution

  • By experiment

• Regression towards the mean

What is Sampling and Recruitment

• Survey of Twin Studies

• Longitudinal Developmental Studies.

First to investiage number-form Synaesthesia.

What is Differential Methods?

• Nature vs Nurture

• Twins were a good example of equal nature, different nurture.

What is Galton’s Scientific Racism?

• Believed Nature was the dominant force.

• Shared enthusiam of phrenology in quantifying individuals and classifying them.

What is Eugenics?

• Psychological traits we ought to select for

• Trying to improve genetic composition of the human pop. through selective breeding.