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| Abbreviation | SPR |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1882; 143 years ago (1882) |
| Legal status | Non-profit organisation |
| Purpose | Parapsychology |
| Location |
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Region served | Worldwide |
| Membership | Psi researchers |
President | Prof Chris Roe |
Main organ | SPR Council |
| Website | www |
TheSociety for Psychical Research (SPR) is anonprofit organisation in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described aspsychic orparanormal. It describes itself as the "first society to conduct organised scholarly research into human experiences that challenge contemporary scientific models." It does not, however, since its inception in 1882, hold any corporate opinions: SPR members assert a variety of beliefs with regard to the nature of the phenomena studied.
The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) originated from a discussion between journalistEdmund Rogers and the physicistWilliam F. Barrett in autumn 1881. This led to a conference on 5 and 6 January 1882 at the headquarters of theBritish National Association of Spiritualists, at which the foundation of the Society was proposed.[1] The committee included Barrett, Rogers,Stainton Moses,Charles Massey,Edmund Gurney,Hensleigh Wedgwood andFrederic W. H. Myers.[2] The SPR was formally constituted on 20 February 1882 with philosopherHenry Sidgwick as its first president.[3][4][5]
The SPR was the first organisation of its kind in the world, its stated purpose being "to approach these varied problems without prejudice or prepossession of any kind, and in the same spirit of exact and unimpassioned enquiry which has enabled science to solve so many problems, once not less obscure nor less hotly debated."[6][7]
In 1882Mary Everest Boole became the first female member of the SPR; however, she resigned after six months.[8] Some other early members included the authorJane Barlow,[9] the renowned chemist SirWilliam Crookes, physicist SirOliver Lodge, Nobel laureateCharles Richet, artistLewis Charles Powles and psychologistWilliam James.[10]
Members of the SPR initiated and organised the International Congresses of Physiological/Experimental psychology.[11][12]
Areas of study includedhypnotism,dissociation,thought-transference,mediumship,Reichenbach phenomena,apparitions and haunted houses and the physical phenomena associated withséances.[11][13][14] The SPR were to introduce a number of neologisms which have entered theEnglish language, such as 'telepathy', which was coined by Frederic Myers.[15]
The Society is run by a President and a Council of twenty members, and is open to interested members of the public to join.[16] The organisation is based at 1 Vernon Mews, London, with a library and office open to members, and with large book and archival holdings inCambridge University Library,Cambridgeshire, England.[17] It publishes the peer-reviewed quarterlyJournal of the Society for Psychical Research (JSPR), the irregularProceedings and the magazineParanormal Review. It holds an annual conference, regular lectures and two study days per year[7][18] and supports theLEXSCIEN on-line library project.[19]
Among the first important works was the two-volume publication in 1886,Phantasms of the Living, concerning telepathy andapparitions, co-authored by Gurney, Myers andFrank Podmore.[20] This text, and subsequent research in this area, was received negatively by the scientific mainstream,[12] though Gurney and Podmore provided a defence of the society's early work in this area in mainstream publications.[21][22][23][24][25]
The SPR "devised methodological innovations such as randomized study designs" and conducted "the first experiments investigating the psychology of eyewitness testimony (Hodgson and Davey, 1887), [and] empirical and conceptual studies illuminating mechanisms of dissociation and hypnotism"[11]
In 1894, theCensus of Hallucinations was published which sampled 17,000 people. Out of these, 1,684 persons reported having experienced a hallucination of an apparition.[26] Such efforts were claimed to have undermined "the notion of dissociation and hallucinations as intrinsically pathological phenomena".[11]
The SPR investigated many spiritualist mediums such asEva Carrière andEusapia Palladino.[27]
During the early twentieth century, the SPR studied a series ofautomatic scripts and trance utterances from a group of automatic writers, known as thecross-correspondences.[28]
Famous cases investigated by the Society includeBorley Rectory and theEnfield Poltergeist.
In 1912 the Society extended a request for a contribution to a special medical edition of its Proceedings toSigmund Freud. Though according to Ronald W. Clark (1980) "Freud surmised, no doubt correctly, that the existence of any link between the founding fathers of psychoanalysis and investigation of the paranormal would hamper acceptance of psychoanalysis" as would any perceived involvement with the occult. Nonetheless, Freud did respond, contributing an essay titled "A Note on the Unconscious in Psycho-Analysis"[29] to the Medical Supplement to the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research.[30]
Much of the society's early work involved investigating, exposing and in some cases duplicating fake phenomena. In the late 19th century, SPR investigations into séance phenomena led to the exposure of many fraudulent mediums.[31]
Richard Hodgson distinguished himself in that area. In 1884, Hodgson was sent by the SPR toIndia to investigateHelena Blavatsky and concluded that her claims ofpsychic power were fraudulent.[32] However, in 1985 the original finding of fraud was questioned and reinvestigated by the SPR researcherVernon Harrison, president of the Royal Photographic Society and an expert at detecting forgery. Harrison determined that "As an investigator, Hodgson is weighed in the balances and found wanting. His case against Madame H. P. Blavatsky is not proven."[33]
In 1886 and 1887 a series of publications by S. J. Davey,Hodgson andSidgwick in the SPR journal exposed theslate writing tricks of the mediumWilliam Eglinton.[34] Hodgson with his friend, S. J. Davey, had staged fake séances for educating the public (including SPR members). Davey gave sittings under an assumed name, duplicating the phenomena produced by Eglinton, and then proceeded to point out to the sitters the manner in which they had been deceived. Because of this, some spiritualist members such asStainton Moses resigned from the SPR.[34]
In 1891,Alfred Russel Wallace requested for the Society to properly investigatespirit photography.[35]Eleanor Sidgwick responded with a critical paper in the SPR which cast doubt on the subject and discussed the fraudulent methods that spirit photographers such asÉdouard Isidore Buguet,Frederic Hudson andWilliam H. Mumler had utilised.[36]
Due to the exposure ofWilliam Hope and other fraudulent mediums,Arthur Conan Doyle led a mass resignation of eighty-four members of the Society for Psychical Research, as they believed the Society was opposed to spiritualism.[37] Science historianWilliam Hodson Brock has noted that "By the 1900s most avowed spiritualists had left the SPR and gone back to the BNAS (theLondon Spiritualist Alliance since 1884), having become upset by the sceptical tone of most of the SPR's investigations."[38]
The Society has been criticized by both spiritualists and skeptics.
Prominent spiritualists at first welcomed the SPR and cooperated fully, but relations soured when spiritualists discovered that the SPR would not accept outside testimony as proof, and the society accused some prominent mediums of fraud. SpiritualistArthur Conan Doyle resigned from the SPR in 1930, to protest what he regarded as the SPR's overly restrictive standards of proof. Psychic investigator and believer in spiritualismNandor Fodor criticised the SPR for its "strong bias" against physical manifestations of spiritualism.[39]
Sceptics have criticised members of the SPR for having motives liable to impair scientific objectivity. According to SPR criticsJohn Grant andEric Dingwall (a member of the SPR), early SPR members such asHenry Sidgwick,Frederic W. H. Myers, andWilliam Barrett hoped to cling to something spiritual through psychical research.[40][41] Myers stated that “[T]he Society for Psychical Research was founded, with the establishment of thought-transference—already rising within measurable distance of proof—as its primary aim.”[42] Defenders of the SPR have stated in reply that “a ‘will to believe’ in post-mortem survival, telepathy and other scientifically unpopular notions, does not necessarily exclude a ‘will to know’ and thus the capacity for thoroughself-criticism, methodological rigour and relentless suspicion of errors.”[43]
The sceptic and physicistVictor J. Stenger has written:
The SPR ... on occasion exposed blatant cases of fraud even their own credulous memberships could not swallow. But their journals have never succeeded in achieving a high level of credibility in the eyes of the rest of the scientific community. ... most articles usually begin with the assumption that psychic phenomena are demonstrated realities.[44]
Ivor Lloyd Tuckett, an author of an early sceptical work on psychical research, wrote that although the SPR have collected some valuable work, most of its active members have "no training in psychology fitting them for their task, and have been the victims of pronounced bias, as sometimes they themselves have admitted."[45]Trevor H. Hall, an ex-member of the Society for Psychical Research, criticised SPR members for their "credulous and obsessive wish... to believe." Hall also claimed SPR members "lack knowledge of deceptive methods."[46]
WriterEdward Clodd asserted that the SPR membersWilliam F. Barrett andOliver Lodge had insufficient competence for the detection of fraud and suggested that their spiritualist beliefs were based onmagical thinking and primitive superstition.[47] Clodd described the SPR as offering "barbaric spiritual philosophy", and characterised the language of SPR members as using such terms as "subliminal consciousness" and "telepathic energy," as a disguise for "bastard supernaturalism."[48]
A 2004psychological study involving 174 members of the Society for Psychical Research completed a delusional ideation questionnaire and adeductive reasoning task. The study found that "individuals who reported a strong belief in the paranormal made more errors and displayed more delusionalideation than skeptical individuals". The study also claims that reasoning abnormalities may have a causal role in the formation of paranormal belief.[49]
Some sceptical members have resigned from the SPR.Eric Dingwall resigned and wrote "After sixty years' experience and personal acquaintance with most of the leading parapsychologists of that period I do not think I could name half a dozen whom I could call objective students who honestly wished to discover the truth. The great majority wanted to prove something or other: They wanted the phenomena into which they were inquiring to serve some purpose in supporting preconceived theories of their own."(1985)[40]
The following is a list of presidents:
| Society for Psychical Research | |
|---|---|
| 1882–84 | Henry Sidgwick (1838–1900), Professor, Trinity College, Cambridge; Philosopher and Economist |
| 1885–87 | Balfour Stewart (1827–1887), Professor, Owens College, Manchester; Physicist |
| 1888–92 | Henry Sidgwick (→ 1882), Professor, Trinity College, Cambridge; Philosopher and Economist |
| 1893 | Arthur Balfour KG, OM, PC, DL (1848–1930), Politician, later Prime Minister; known for the Balfour Declaration |
| 1894–95 | William James (1842–1910) Professor, Harvard University; American Psychologist and Philosopher |
| 1896–99 | SirWilliam Crookes (1832–1919), Physical Chemist; discovered the element Thallium, invented theCrookes tube |
| 1900 | Frederic W. H. Myers (1843–1901), Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge; Classicist and Philosopher |
| 1901–03 | SirOliver Lodge (1851–1940), Professor, University College, Liverpool; Physicist; developer of wireless telegraphy |
| 1904 | William F. Barrett FRS (1845–1926), Professor, Royal College of Science, Dublin; Experimental Physicist |
| 1905 | Charles Richet (1850–1935), Professor, Collège de France, Paris; French Physiologist, Nobel Prize in Medicine/Physiology 1913 |
| 1906–07 | Gerald Balfour (1853–1945), Politician, brother of Arthur Balfour; Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge |
| 1908–09 | Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick (1845–1936), Principal, Newnham College, Cambridge; Physicist |
| 1910 | Henry Arthur Smith (1848–1922), Barrister-at-Law, Middle Temple, London; Lawyer and author of legal treatises |
| 1911 | Andrew Lang (1844–1912), Fellow, Merton College, Oxford; Classicist and writer on folklore, mythology, and religion |
| 1912 | William Boyd Carpenter KCVO (1841–1918), Pastoral Lecturer, Theology, Cambridge; Bishop of Ripon |
| 1913 | Henri Bergson (1859–1941) Professor, Collège de France, Paris; Chair of Modern Philosophy; Nobel Prize, Literature 1927 |
| 1914 | F. C. S. Schiller (1864–1937), Fellow, Corpus Christi College, Oxford; Philosopher |
| 1915–16 | Gilbert Murray (1866–1957), Regius Professor of Greek, University of Oxford; Classicist |
| 1917–18 | Lawrence Pearsall Jacks (1860–1955), Professor, Manchester College, Oxford; Philosopher and Theologian |
| 1919 | John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh OM, PRS (1842–1919), Cavendish Professor, Trinity College, Cambridge; Physicist, Nobel Prize, Physics 1904 |
| 1920–21 | William McDougall FRS (1871–1938), Professor, Duke University; Psychologist, founder J B Rhine Parapsychology Lab |
| 1922 | Thomas Walker Mitchell (1869–1944), Physician and Psychologist, Publisher of theBritish Journal of Medical Psychology 1920–35 |
| 1923 | Camille Flammarion (1842–1925), founder and first president of the Société Astronomique de France, author of popular science and science fiction works |
| 1924–25 | John George Piddington (1869–1952), Businessman, John George Smith & Co., London |
| 1926–27 | Hans Driesch (1867–1941), Professor, Universitaet Leipzig; German Biologist and Natural Philosopher, performed first animal cloning 1885 |
| 1928–29 | Sir Lawrence Evelyn Jones (1885–1955) Honorary Fellow, Balliol College, Oxford; Author |
| 1930–31 | Walter Franklin Prince (1863–1934), Clergyman |
| 1932 | Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick (→ 1908) andOliver Lodge (→ 1901) |
| 1933–34 | Edith Lyttelton (born as Edith Balfour; 1865–1948), Writer |
| 1935–36 | C. D. Broad (1887–1971), Philosopher |
| 1937–38 | Robert Strutt, 4th Baron Rayleigh (1875–1947), Physicist |
| 1939–41 | H. H. Price (1899–1984), Philosopher |
| 1942–44 | Robert Henry Thouless (1894–1984), Psychologist |
| 1945–46 | George Nugent Merle Tyrrell (1879–1952), Mathematician |
| 1947–48 | William Henry Salter (1880–1969), Lawyer |
| 1949 | Gardner Murphy (1895–1979), Director of Research, Menninger Foundation, Topeka, Kansas; Psychologist |
| 1950–51 | Samuel Soal (1889–1975), Mathematician |
| 1952 | Gilbert Murray (→ 1915) |
| 1953–55 | F. J. M. Stratton (1881–1960), Astrophysicist, Professor in Cambridge University |
| 1956–58 | Guy William Lambert (1889–1984), Diplomat |
| 1958–60 | C. D. Broad (→ 1935) |
| 1960–61 | H. H. Price (→ 1939) |
| 1960–63 | E. R. Dodds (1893–1979), Hellenist, Professor in Birmingham and Oxford |
| 1963–65 | Donald J. West (1924 - 2020), Psychiatrist and criminologist |
| 1965–69 | SirAlister Hardy (1896–1985), Zoologist |
| 1969–71 | W. A. H. Rushton (1901–1980), Physiologist, Professor in Cambridge |
| 1971–74 | Clement Mundle (1916–1989), Philosopher |
| 1974–76 | John Beloff (1920–2006), Psychologist at the University of Edinburgh |
| 1976–79 | Arthur J. Ellison (1920–2000), Engineer |
| 1980 | Joseph Banks Rhine (1895–1980), Biologist and Parapsychologist |
| 1980 | Louisa Ella Rhine (1891–1983), Parapsychologist, wife of Joseph Rhine |
| 1981–83 | Arthur J. Ellison (→ 1976) |
| 1984–88 | Donald J. West (→ 1963) |
| 1988–89 | Ian Stevenson (1918–2007), Psychiatrist |
| 1992–93 | Alan Gauld (b. 1932), Psychologist |
| 1993–95 | Archie Roy (1924–2012), Professor of Astronomy in Glasgow, founded the Scottish SPR in 1987 |
| 1995–98 | David Fontana (1934–2010), Professor of Psychology in Cardiff |
| 1998–99 | Donald J. West (→ 1963, → 1984) |
| 2000–04 | Bernard Carr, Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy in London |
| 2004–07 | John Poynton, Professor Emeritus of Biology, University of Natal |
| 2007–11 | Deborah Delanoy, Parapsychologist |
| 2011–15 | Richard S. Broughton, senior lecturer in psychology at The University of Northampton |
| 2015–18 | John Poynton (→2004) |
| 2018–21 | Chris Roe, Professor of Psychology, University of Northampton |
| 2021–25 | Adrian Parker, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Gothenburg |
| 2025– | Caroline Watt, Professor Emeritus of Psychology, University of Edinburgh[50] |
The Society publishesProceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, theJournal of the Society for Psychical Research, and theParanormal Review, as well as the onlinePsi Encyclopedia.[51][52][53]
First published in 1882 as a public record of the activities of the SPR, theProceedings are now reserved for longer pieces of work, such as Presidential Addresses, and are only occasionally published.[54] The current editor is David Vernon.
TheJournal of the Society for Psychical Research has been published quarterly since 1884. It was introduced as a private, members-only periodical to supplement theProceedings.[54] It now focuses on current laboratory and field research, but also includes theoretical, methodological and historical papers on parapsychology. It also publishes book reviews and correspondence. The current editor is David Vernon.
TheMagazine of the Society for Psychical Research, formerly known as thePsi Researcher andParanormal Review, has been published since 1996. Previous editors have included Nicola J. Holt.[55] The current editor isLeo Ruickbie.[52]
ThePsi Encyclopedia is a collection ofarticles and case studies about psi research, involving the scientific investigation of psychic phenomena.[56] A bequest of Nigel Buckmaster enabled the foundation of the encyclopedia.
A number of other psychical research organisations use the term 'Society for Psychical Research' in their name.
Membership does not imply acceptance of any particular opinion concerning the nature or reality of the phenomena examined, and the Society holds no corporate views.
SPR histories
Scholarly studies
Criticism
Media related toSociety for Psychical Research at Wikimedia Commons
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