The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) is a

nonprofit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

in the United Kingdom. Its stated purpose is to understand events and abilities commonly described as

psychic A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws ...

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

. 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.

Origins

The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) originated from a discussion between journalist Edmund Rogers and the physicist William F. Barrett in autumn 1881. This led to a conference on 5 and 6 January 1882 at the headquarters of the

British National Association of Spiritualists The College of Psychic Studies (founded in 1884 as the London Spiritualist Alliance) is a non-profit organisation based in South Kensington, London. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena. History British National Assoc ...

, at which the foundation of the Society was proposed. The committee included Barrett, Rogers,

Stainton Moses William Stainton Moses (1839 – 5 September 1892) was an English cleric and spiritualist medium. He promoted spirit photography and automatic writing, and co-founded what became the College of Psychic Studies. He resisted scientific examination ...

Charles Massey Charles Carleton Massey (1838–1905), most well known as C. C. Massey, was a British barrister, Christian mystic and psychical researcher. Massey was born at Hackwood Park, Basingstoke. He was the first president of the British Theosophical Soc ...

, Edmund Gurney,

Hensleigh Wedgwood Hensleigh Wedgwood (21 January 1803 – 2 June 1891) was a British etymologist, philologist and barrister, author of '' A Dictionary of English Etymology''. He was a cousin of Charles Darwin, whom his sister Emma married in 1839. Early life We ...

and

Frederic W. H. Myers Frederic William Henry Myers (6 February 1843 – 17 January 1901) was a British poet, classicist, philologist, and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research. Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" ...

. The SPR was formally constituted on 20 February 1882 with philosopher

Henry Sidgwick Henry Sidgwick (; 31 May 1838 – 28 August 1900) was an English utilitarian In ethical philosophy, utilitarianism is a family of normative ethical theories that prescribe actions that maximize happiness and well-being for all affected i ...

as its first president. 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." Other early members included the author

Jane Barlow Jane Barlow (17 October 1856 – 17 April 1917) was an Irish writer, noted for her novels and poems describing the lives of the Irish peasantry, chiefly about Lisconnel and Ballyhoy, in relation to both landlords and the Great Famine. Life ...

, the renowned chemist Sir

William Crookes Sir William Crookes (; 17 June 1832 – 4 April 1919) was a British chemist and physicist who attended the Royal College of Chemistry, now part of Imperial College London, and worked on spectroscopy. He was a pioneer of vacuum tubes, inventing t ...

, physicist Sir

Oliver Lodge Sir Oliver Joseph Lodge, (12 June 1851 – 22 August 1940) was a British physicist and writer involved in the development of, and holder of key patents for, radio. He identified electromagnetic radiation independent of Hertz's proof and at his ...

, Nobel laureate

Charles Richet Charles Robert Richet (25 August 1850 – 4 December 1935) was a French physiologist at the Collège de France known for his pioneering work in immunology. In 1913, he won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine "in recognition of his work ...

, artist

Lewis Charles Powles Lewis Charles Powles (29 January 1860 – 6 July 1942) was a British Artist. Powles was born in Cirencester, England, in January 1860, one of six children. (Document) His father was Rev. Henry C. Powles. He married Isabel Grace Wingfield on 21 Jan ...

and psychologist

William James William James (January 11, 1842 – August 26, 1910) was an American philosopher, historian, and psychologist, and the first educator to offer a psychology course in the United States. James is considered to be a leading thinker of the lat ...

. Members of the SPR initiated and organised the International Congresses of Physiological/Experimental psychology. Areas of study included

hypnotism Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologi ...

, dissociation, thought-transference,

mediumship Mediumship is the practice of purportedly mediating communication between familiar spirits or spirits of the dead and living human beings. Practitioners are known as "mediums" or "spirit mediums". There are different types of mediumship or spir ...

, Reichenbach phenomena, apparitions and haunted houses and the physical phenomena associated with

séance A séance or seance (; ) is an attempt to communicate with spirits. The word ''séance'' comes from the French word for "session", from the Old French ''seoir'', "to sit". In French, the word's meaning is quite general: one may, for example, spea ...

s. The SPR were to introduce a number of neologisms which have entered the

English language English is a West Germanic language of the Indo-European language family, with its earliest forms spoken by the inhabitants of early medieval England. It is named after the Angles, one of the ancient Germanic peoples that migrated to the ...

, such as '

telepathy Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic ...

', which was coined by Frederic Myers. The Society is run by a President and a Council of twenty members, and is open to interested members of the public to join. The organisation is based at 1 Vernon Mews, London, with a library and office open to members, and with large book and archival holdings in

Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of the over 100 libraries within the university. The Library is a major scholarly resource for the members of the University of Cambri ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to t ...

, England. It publishes the peer reviewed quarterly ''Journal of the Society for Psychical Research'' (''JSPR''), the irregular ''Proceedings'' and the magazine ''Paranormal Review''. It holds an annual conference, regular lectures and two study days per year and supports the ''LEXSCIEN'' on-line library project.

Research

Psychical research

Among the first important works was the two-volume publication in 1886, ''

Phantasms of the Living Frederic William Henry Myers (6 February 1843 – 17 January 1901) was a British poet, classicist, philologist, and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research. Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" w ...

'', concerning telepathy and

apparitions Apparition may refer to: Supernatural *Apparitional experience, an anomalous, quasi-perceptual experience * A vision, something seen in a dream, trance, or religious ecstasy *Ghost, the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that can appear ...

, co-authored by Gurney, Myers and

Frank Podmore Frank Podmore (5 February 1856 – 14 August 1910) was an English author, and founding member of the Fabian Society. He is best known as an influential member of the Society for Psychical Research and for his sceptical writings on spiritualism. ...

. This text, and subsequent research in this area, was received negatively by the scientific mainstream, though Gurney and Podmore provided a defense of the society's early work in this area in mainstream publications. 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), ndempirical and conceptual studies illuminating mechanisms of dissociation and hypnotism" In 1894, the ''Census of Hallucinations'' was published which sampled 17,000 people. Out of these, 1,684 persons reported having experienced a hallucination of an apparition. Such efforts were claimed to have undermined "the notion of dissociation and hallucinations as intrinsically pathological phenomena". The SPR investigated many spiritualist mediums such as

Eva Carrière Eva Carrière (born Marthe Béraud 1886 in France, died 1943),

and

Eusapia Palladino Eusapia Palladino (alternative spelling: ''Paladino''; 21 January 1854 – 16 May 1918) was an Italian Spiritualist physical medium. She claimed extraordinary powers such as the ability to levitate tables, communicate with the dead through ...

. During the early twentieth century, the SPR studied a series of automatic scripts and trance utterances from a group of automatic writers, known as the

cross-correspondences The cross-correspondences refers to a series of automatic scripts and trance utterances from a group of automatic writers and mediums, involving members of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). According to psychical researchers the corresp ...

. Famous cases investigated by the Society include Borley Rectory and the

Enfield Poltergeist The Enfield poltergeist was a claim of supernatural activity at 284 Green Street, a council house in Brimsdown, Enfield, London, England, United Kingdom, between 1977 and 1979. The alleged poltergeist activity centred around sisters Janet (11) ...

. In 1912 the Society extended a request for a contribution to a special medical edition of its Proceedings to

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( , ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating pathologies explained as originating in conflicts i ...

. 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" to the Medical Supplement to the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research.

Exposures of fraud

Much of the 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.

Richard Hodgson Richard Hodgson (born 1 October 1979) is an English former professional footballer. Hodgson began his career as a trainee with Nottingham Forest, turning professional in October 1996. He was released in March 2000, having failed to break into ...

distinguished himself in that area. In 1884, Hodgson was sent by the SPR to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

to investigate Helena Blavatsky and concluded that her claims of

power were fraudulent. In 1886 and 1887 a series of publications by S. J. Davey,

Hodgson Hodgson is a surname. In United Kingdom, Britain, the Hodgson surname was the 173rd most common (766 per million) in 1881 and the 206th most common (650 per million) in 1998. In the United States, United States of America, Hodgson was the 3753rd mo ...

and Sidgwick in the SPR journal exposed the slate writing tricks of the medium William Eglinton. Oppenheim, Janet. (1988). ''The Other World: Spiritualism and Psychical Research in England, 1850–1914''. Cambridge University Press. pp. 139–140. 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 as

resigned from the SPR. In 1891,

Alfred Russel Wallace Alfred Russel Wallace (8 January 1823 – 7 November 1913) was a British natural history, naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist, biologist and illustrator. He is best known for independently conceiving the theory of evolution thro ...

requested for the Society to properly investigate

spirit photography Spirit photography (also called ghost photography) is a type of photography whose primary goal is to capture images of ghosts and other spiritual entities, especially in ghost hunting. It dates back to the late 19th century. The end of the Americ ...

Eleanor Sidgwick Eleanor Mildred Sidgwick (née Balfour; 11 March 1845 – 10 February 1936), known as Nora to her family and friends, was a physics researcher assisting Lord Rayleigh, an activist for the higher education of women, Principal of Newnham College o ...

responded with a critical paper in the SPR which cast doubt on the subject and discussed the fraudulent methods that spirit photographers such as Édouard Isidore Buguet,

Frederic Hudson Frederic Hudson (April 25, 1819 – October 21, 1875) was a leading 19th century American newspaper editor, working from 1838 to 1866 for ''New York Herald'', where he served as managing editor, and was influential in the development of Am ...

and

William H. Mumler William H. Mumler (1832–1884) was an American spirit photographer who worked in New York and Boston. His first spirit photograph was apparently an accident—a self-portrait which, when developed, also revealed the "spirit" of his decease ...

had utilised. Due to the exposure of William Hope and other fraudulent mediums,

Arthur Conan Doyle Sir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle (22 May 1859 – 7 July 1930) was a British writer and physician. He created the character Sherlock Holmes in 1887 for ''A Study in Scarlet'', the first of four novels and fifty-six short stories about Ho ...

led a mass resignation of eighty-four members of the Society for Psychical Research, as they believed the Society was opposed to spiritualism.Nelson, G. K. (2013). ''Spiritualism and Society''. Routledge. p. 159. Science historian

William Hodson Brock William Hodson Brock (born 1936) is a British chemist and science historian. Brock was born in Brighton. He studied chemistry at University College London and the history and philosophy of science at the University of Leicester to become a lectu ...

has noted that "By the 1900s most avowed spiritualists had left the SPR and gone back to the BNAS (the

London Spiritualist Alliance The College of Psychic Studies (founded in 1884 as the London Spiritualist Alliance) is a non-profit organisation based in South Kensington, London. It is dedicated to the study of psychic and spiritualist phenomena. History British National Ass ...

since 1884), having become upset by the sceptical tone of most of the SPR's investigations."

Criticism of the SPR

The Society has been criticized by both spiritualists and skeptics.

Criticism from spiritualists

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. Spiritualist

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 spiritualism Nandor Fodor criticised the SPR for its "strong bias" against physical manifestations of spiritualism.

Criticism from skeptics

Sceptics have criticised members of the SPR for having motives liable to impair scientific objectivity. According to SPR critics John Grant and

Eric Dingwall Eric John Dingwall (1890–1986) was a British anthropologist, psychical researcher and librarian. Biography Born in British Ceylon, Dingwall moved to England where he was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge (M.A., 1912), and the Univer ...

(a member of the SPR), early SPR members such as

, and William Barrett hoped to cling to something spiritual through psychical research. Dingwall, Eric (1985). ''The Need for Responsibility in Parapsychology: My Sixty Years in Psychical Research''. In

Paul Kurtz Paul Kurtz (December 21, 1925 – October 20, 2012) was an American scientific skeptic and secular humanist. He has been called "the father of secular humanism". He was Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the State University of New York at B ...

. ''A Skeptic's Handbook of Parapsychology''. Prometheus Books. pp. 161–174. Author John Grant stated that prominent member F. W. H. Myers held that telepathy, according to some speculative explanations, might, in demonstrating that mind could communicate with mind apart from recognised channels, provide evidence supporting the proposition that human personality could continue after the death of the body. "Thus the supernatural might be proved by science, and psychical research might become, in the words of Sir William Barrett, a handmaid to religion." Myers stated that " e Society for Psychical Research was founded, with the establishment of thought-transference—already rising within measurable distance of proof—as its primary aim." 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 thorough

self-criticism Self-criticism involves how an individual evaluates oneself. Self-criticism in psychology is typically studied and discussed as a negative personality trait in which a person has a disrupted self-identity. The opposite of self-criticism would be ...

, methodological rigour and relentless suspicion of errors." The sceptic and physicist Victor J. Stenger has written:

Ivor Lloyd Tuckett Ivor Lloyd Tuckett (1 February 1873 – 28 November 1942) was a British professor of physiology, physician, and skeptic. Career Tuckett was born at Cleveland Gardens, London. He studied natural science and physiology at Trinity College, Cambridg ...

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." 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." Writer Edward Clodd asserted that the SPR members William F. Barrett and

had insufficient competence for the detection of fraud and suggested that their spiritualist beliefs were based on

magical thinking Magical thinking, or superstitious thinking, is the belief that unrelated events are causally connected despite the absence of any plausible causal link between them, particularly as a result of supernatural effects. Examples include the idea that ...

and primitive superstition. 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." A 2004

psychological Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries bet ...

study involving 174 members of the Society for Psychical Research completed a delusional ideation questionnaire and a

deductive reasoning Deductive reasoning is the mental process of drawing deductive inferences. An inference is deductively valid if its conclusion follows logically from its premises, i.e. if it is impossible for the premises to be true and the conclusion to be fal ...

task. As predicted, the study showed that "individuals who reported a strong belief in the paranormal made more errors and displayed more delusional ideation than sceptical individuals". There was also a reasoning bias which was limited to people who reported a belief in, rather than experience of,

phenomena. The results suggested that reasoning abnormalities may have a causal role in the formation of paranormal belief. Some sceptical members have resigned from the SPR.

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)

Presidents

The following is a list of presidents:

Publications

The Society publishes ''Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research'', the ''Journal of the Society for Psychical Research'', and the ''Paranormal Review'', as well as the online ''Psi Encyclopedia''.

''Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research''

First published in 1882 as a public record of the activities of the SPR, the ''Proceedings'' are now reserved for longer pieces of work, such as Presidential Addresses, and are only occasionally published. The current editor is Dr David Vernon.

''Journal of the Society for Psychical Research''

The ''Journal of the Society for Psychical Research'' has been published quarterly since 1884. It was introduced as a private, members-only periodical to supplement the ''Proceedings''. 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 Dr David Vernon.

''Magazine of the Society for Psychical Research''

The ''Magazine of the Society for Psychical Research'', formerly known as the ''Psi Researcher'' and ''Paranormal Review'', has been published since 1996. Previous editors have included Dr Nicola J. Holt. The current editor is Dr

Leo Ruickbie Leo Ruickbie is a British historian and sociologist of religion, specializing in exceptional experiences, paranormal beliefs, magic, witchcraft and Wicca. He is the author of several books, beginning with ''Witchcraft Out of the Shadows'', a ...

''Psi Encyclopedia''

The ''Psi Encyclopedia'' is a collection o
articles and case studies about psi research
involving the scientific investigation of psychic phenomena. A bequest of Nigel Buckmaster enabled the foundation of the encyclopedia.

Other societies

A number of other psychical research organisations use the term 'Society for Psychical Research' in their name. *Australia – In 1977 the ''Australian Institute of Parapsychological Research'' was founded. *Austria – Founded in 1927 as the ''Austrian Society for Psychical Research'', today the Austrian Society for Parapsychology. *Canada – From 1908 to 1916 the ''Canadian Society for Psychical Research'' existed in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. *Denmark – ''Selskabet for Psykisk Forskning'' (The ''Danish Society for Psychical Research'') was founded in 1905. *Finland – ''Sällskapet för Psykisk Forskning'' (The ''Finnish Society for Psychical Research'') was formed in 1907 by

Arvi Grotenfelt Arvid (Arvi) Grotenfelt (10 April 1863, Helsinki – 29 March 1941), was a Finnish philosopher and psychologist. He was one of the founders of the Finnish Science Academy and the chairman of the Finnish Philosophical society 1905–36. He was a ...

as a first chairman, and the society existed until 2002. A splinter group for Finnish speaking people, ''Suomen parapsykologinen tutkimusseura'' (Parapsychological research society of Finland), still exists today. *France – In 1885, a society called the ''Société de Psychologie Physiologique'' (Society for Physiological Psychology) was formed by

Théodule-Armand Ribot Théodule-Armand Ribot (18 December 18399 December 1916) was a French psychologist. He was born at Guingamp, and was educated at the Lycée de St Brieuc. He is known as the founder of scientific psychology in France, and gave his name to Ribot's ...

and Léon Marillier. It existed until 1890 when it was abandoned due to lack of interest. *Iceland – ''Sálarrannsóknarfélag Íslands'' (Icelandic Society for Psychical Research) was formed in 1918. It has a predecessor called the Experimental Society, which was founded in 1905. *Netherlands – The ''Studievereniging voor Psychical Research'' (Dutch for Society for Psychical Research) was founded in 1917 of which the professor in philosophy and psychology

Gerard Heymans Gerardus Heymans (17 April 1857, Ferwert – 18 February 1930, Groningen) was a Dutch philosopher and psychologist.Hubbeling, H. G. (2013). Gerardus Heijmans (1857-1930). In ''Biografisch Woordenboek van Nederland.'' https://resources.huygen ...

was the first president. *Poland – The ''Polish Society for Psychical Research'' was very active before the second world war. *Scotland – The ''Scottish Society for Psychical Research'' is active today. *Spain – ''Sociedad de Investigaciones Psíquicas Iberoamericana'' (founded in Madrid in 1895), ''Instituto de Metapsiquismo'' (Barcelona, founded in 1923), ''Sociedad Española de Estudios Metapsíquicos'' (Madrid, founded in 1924) *Sweden – Sällskapet för Parapsykologisk Forskning (the ''Swedish Society for Parapsychological Research'') was founded in 1948. *US – An American branch of the Society was formed as the ''

American Society for Psychical Research The American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) is the oldest psychical research organization in the United States dedicated to parapsychology. It maintains offices and a library, in New York City, which are open to both members and the gen ...

'' (ASPR) in 1885, which became independent in 1906. A splinter group, the ''Boston Society for Psychical Research'' existed from May 1925 to 1941.Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991. *Spain – S.E.I.P Sociedad Española de Investigaciones Parapsicologicas

References

External links

SPR home page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Society For Psychical Research Paranormal organizations Non-profit organisations based in the United Kingdom Parapsychology Organizations established in 1882 1882 establishments in the United Kingdom