Phrenology has been a cultural factor in the Latter Day Saint movement (informally Mormons) since around the time of its founding in 1830. Phrenology is a pseudoscience which involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. Developed in the 1790s, it became widely popular in the United States in the 1830s and 1840s, coinciding with the rise of the Latter Day Saint movement.