Graham F. Reed (1923–1989) was a Canadian

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

. He is best known for his major work on anomalistic psychology entitled ''The Psychology of Anomalous Experience'' (1972), which seeks to better understand the psychology behind seemingly bizarre experiences. He was also a CSI Fellow.

Background

Reed was born and educated in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, and earned a

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in psychology from

Manchester University The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

in 1966. He briefly taught in England and Scotland (University of Aberdeen) before he moved to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

in 1969 and joined the psychology department as a chairman at Atkinson College,

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

. He also served as dean of graduate studies from 1973 to 1981, then chair of the department of psychology at

Glendon College Glendon College is a public liberal arts college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Formally the federated bilingual campus of York University, it is one of the school's nine colleges and 11 faculties with 100 full-time faculty members and a student po ...

from 1982 to 1988, and became a university professor in 1984. He was later recognized for his work in

scientific skepticism Scientific skepticism or rational skepticism (also spelled scepticism), sometimes referred to as skeptical inquiry, is a position in which one questions the veracity of claims lacking scientific evidence. In practice, the term most commonly ref ...

and became a

fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the

Committee for Skeptical Inquiry The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), formerly known as the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), is a program within the U.S. non-profit organization Center for Inquiry (CFI), which seeks to " ...

''The Psychology of Anomalous Experience''

In ''The Psychology of Anomalous Experience'', Reed strives to make distinctions in the various types of anomalous experiences and covers experiences such as

hallucination A hallucination is a perception in the absence of an external stimulus that has the compelling sense of reality. They are distinguishable from several related phenomena, such as dreaming ( REM sleep), which does not involve wakefulness; pse ...

s, pseudologia phantastica,

fugue state Dissociative fugue ( ), previously referred to as a fugue state or psychogenic fugue,Dissociative Fugue (formerly Psychogenic Fugue) 'DSM-IV 300.13, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition'' is a rare psychiatric con ...

s and koro. John Cohen reviewed this work positively in 1973, describing it as "witty", "light", and "gay", while also noting that it is instructive and could be useful and interesting to lay people and students alike. He wrote that the book describes what an anomalous experience is actually like for the person who experiences it. In an excerpt, Reed describes what he sees to be a problem with diagnosing pseudologia phantastica: Noel W. Smith offered mixed reviews in 1989. She argued that Reed "begins with a historical constructs that he imposes on the events rather than deriving his constructs from the events". She said that it is inconsistent of Reed to both concede that no one can really be certain about what consciousness is, and also describe anomalies of consciousness. Smith also said that, in some instances, Reed goes deep enough in depth into topics such as deja vu that his analysis is valuable.

Publications

Psychology *''The Psychology of Anomalous Experience'' (1972) *''Obsessional Experience and Compulsive Behaviour'' (1985) *''The Psychology of Channeling'' (1989) Fiction *''Fisher's Creek'' (1963) *''Walks in Waziristan'' (2010)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Graham 1923 births 1989 deaths Alumni of the University of Manchester Anomalistic psychology Critics of parapsychology Academic staff of York University 20th-century Canadian psychologists 20th-century British psychologists British emigrants to Canada Academic staff of Glendon College