Which statement best explains why phrenology, an early school of thought in psychology, has been discredited?

• A. Phrenology was discredited because it focused too much on unconscious motives.
• B. Phrenology was discredited because it rejected the use of biological explanations for behavior.
• C. Phrenology lacked scientific evidence and its claims about brain areas and personality were not supported by empirical research.
• D. Phrenology was discredited due to its emphasis on introspection as a research method.

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand what phrenology is — it was an early psychological theory that suggested personality traits and mental abilities could be determined by the shape and bumps on the skull.
2. Step 2: Recognize the importance of scientific evidence in psychology — for a theory to be accepted, it must be supported by empirical research and reliable data.
3. Step 3: Analyze why phrenology was discredited — it lacked empirical support because its claims about specific brain areas corresponding to personality traits were not validated by scientific methods.
4. Step 4: Compare phrenology to modern neuroscience — unlike phrenology, modern psychology uses rigorous methods like brain imaging to study brain-behavior relationships.
5. Step 5: Conclude that the main reason phrenology was discredited is its failure to provide scientific evidence, rather than issues like focusing on unconscious motives or introspection.