Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit Invited Speaker Series

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Previous lectures

* = Event jointly hosted with Goldsmiths’ Forensic Psychology Unit

Autumn Term (2017)

3 Oct Professor Abby Day

Goldsmiths, University of London

The ordinary, extraordinary experience of other-world relationality

NB The venue for this talk is the Ian Gulland Lecture Theatre, Whitehead Building

31 Oct Dr James Davies

University of Roehampton

The making of mental disorder: the disturbing truth about the construction of the psychiatrist’s bible, the DSM

NB The venue is LG02, not LG01, in Professor Stuart Hall Building

21 Nov Professor Erlendur Haraldsson

University of Iceland in Reykjavik

Reincarnation: Any evidence for it?

28 Nov Dr Josh P Davis*

University of Greenwich

Recent developments in the study of super-recognisers

5 Dec Dr Caspar Addyman

Goldsmiths, University of London

Open Science: A skeptical scientific renaissance?

12 Dec Dr Jonathan Lanman

Queens University Belfast

Why social cognition is key for understanding who’s religious and who’s not

Spring Term (2018)

9 Jan Leslie Cuthbert*

Solicitor

Lacunae in the law: Profound gaps psychology might patch

11 Jan Aron Ra

Science Communicator and Secular Activist

Why do believers hate reality so much?

23 Jan Jennifer Rees*

West Herts College

Exploring the mind of a psychopath

30 Jan ***Postponed*** Dr Jackie Craissati, MBE*

Psychological Approaches

Ten myths about sex offenders

Note: “We host academic events where our students hear from experts with a wide range of views so that they can learn to examine the evidence behind arguments and think critically. Due to ongoing legal issues the Forensic Psychology Unit and the speaker have decided to postpone this event until later this year.”

6 Feb ***Postponed*** Andy Lewis

Blogger and Developer of the Quackometer website

The meaning of quackery

27 Feb Deborah Hyde

Editor, Skeptic magazine

The restless Ghost of Wroclow

20 Mar Professor Alejandro Parra

Universidad Abierta Interamericana, Buenos Aires

Humanistic group therapy, mental health and anomalous/paranormal experiences

12 Jun Professor Carolyn Hildebrandt

University of Northern Iowa, USA

The Power of Belief: The Psychology of Superstition

Spring term 2016

12 Jan	Ian Ridpath Science writer and broadcaster "UFOs: Fact or fantasy?"
19 Jan	Professor Fiona Gabbert Goldsmiths, University of London "Your memory or mine? The effects of discussion on memory"
26 Jan	Dr Sarah Beck University of Birmingham "The development of counterfactual thinking: How children use imagination to think about reality"
9 Feb	Dr Raphael Underwood Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London "Cognitive and neural processes in the pathway to psychosis"
23 Feb	*CANCELLED* Glen Carrigan *CANCELLED* University of Central Lancashire "Brains, bats, Star Trek and psychopaths: The neuropsychology of morality"
1 Mar	Professor Daniel Freeman University of Oxford "Paranoia: Advances in understanding and treatment"
8 Mar	Professor Erlendur Haraldson University of Iceland "Arguments and evidence for and against an afterlife"
15 Mar	Dr Dan Jolley Staffordshire University "The social psychological consequences of conspiracy theories"
22 Mar	Dr Roger Newport University of Nottingham "Things that make you go weird"

Autumn term 2015

29 Sept	Professor David Hand Imperial College London “The Improbability Principle: Why coincidence, miracles, and rare events happen every day.”
20 Oct	Dr Nick Medford Sussex University "Who am I? The brain and the self in health and disease."
27 Oct	Deborah Hyde Editor of The Skeptic magazine "What can we learn about people from fairies?"
10 Nov	Michael Heap University of Sheffield "What's wrong with hypnosis?"
17 Nov	Dr Jason Braithwaite (Speaker cancelled) University of Birmingham "This dissociated brain: What do dissociative experiences and out-of-body experience (OBE) tell us about self-consciousness?"
1 Mar	Dr Julia Shaw London South Bank University "But it feels so real! Creating detailed memories of crimes that never happened"

Spring term 2015

13 Jan	Professor Edzard Ernst University of Exeter “Homeopathy ... and the ‘4th law of thermodynamics’”
27 Jan	Professor Richard Wiseman University of Hertfordshire “Weird stuff: A personal perspective”
10 Feb	Jonny Scaramanga Institute of Education “Designed for programming the mind: Lessons from a method of indoctrination”
24 Feb	Dr Kevin Felstead British False Memory Society “Carol Felstead and the creation of a Satanic Myth in the United Kingdom”
10 Mar	Professor Konrad Talmont-Kaminski Masaryk University in Brno & University of Finance and Management in Warsaw "Magical thinking and religion"
24 Mar	Dr David Luke University of Greenwich “Artificial paradises? Anomalistic psychology and the psychedelic experience”

Autumn term 2014

7 Oct	Dr Karen Majors East London Consortium of Educational Psychologists and Institute of Education "The phenomenon of children’s imaginary companions: An exploration of their characteristics and purposes they serve"
14 Oct	Cal Cooper University of Northampton “Ghost therapy"
11 Nov	Professor Karen Douglas School of Psychology,University of Kent "The psychology of belief in conspiracy theories: Correlates, causes and consequences"
25 Nov	Professor Chris Roe University of Northampton “What have we learned from experimental tests of dream ESP?”
2 Dec	John Sweeney Journalist and author “Brainwashing people is wrong”

Spring term 2014

14 Jan	Dr Sophie Page University College London “Magic and belief in the Middle Ages”
21 Jan	Professor Charles Fernyhough Writer and Professor of Psychology, Durham University “Hearing the voice”
28 Jan	Robert Brotherton Goldsmiths, University of London “The psychology of conspiracy theories”
11 Feb	Dr Paul Broks Neuropsychologist and writer “Has science done away with the soul?”
25 Feb	Richard Firth-Godbehere Queen Mary, University of London "Do you really know how you feel?"
11 Mar	Robert Teszka Goldsmiths, University of London “The misdirected mind”
25 Mar	Dr David V Barrett Writer “British Israelism: how an ancient historical puzzle fuels conspiracists and terrorists today”

Autumn term 2013

8 Oct	Martin S Taylor Hypnotist and magician "More lives than one?"
15 Oct	Professor Erlendur Haraldsson Department of Psychology, University of Iceland “Modern miracles and Sathya Sai Baba"
22 Oct	Jessica Monteith Reading University "The history of vampirism from revenants to the Cullens (or why I want to date a dead guy)"
29 Oct	Rosie Waterhouse Journalist and lecturer, City University London “Satanic ritual abuse, false memories and multiple personalities: Anatomy of a 20-year investigation”
12 Nov	Meirion Jones Investigations producer, BBC “How to make millions with a bogus bomb detector”
3 Dec	Dr Niall McCrae Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kings College London “Spiritual experiences in temporal lobe epilepsy: ”Neuropsychiatric symptom or portal to the divine?”
10 Dec	Professor Martin Conway Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Associate Dean of Research, City University “What adults can remember from childhood and what they believe they can remember”

Spring term 2012

10 Jan	David Allen Green Lawyer and writer “Two Types of Evidence – Scientific vs. Legal Proof”
17 Jan	Alisdair Hopwood Artist and creator of The WITH Collective [Supported by the Wellcome Trust] “(False) Memories are Made of This: The current preoccupations of The WITH Collective”
24 Jan	Dr Jason J. Braithwaite Behavioural Brain Sciences Centre, University of Birmingham “Neurocognitive Correlates of the Out-of-Body Experience in the Non-Clinical Populations”
31 Jan	Dr Krissy Wilson Charles Sturt University, New South Wales “Beyond Belief Down Under"
7 Feb	Dr Rupert Sheldrake Biologist and author “The Science Delusion: Freeing the Spirit of Enquiry”
21 Feb	Andy Lewis Blogger and Developer of the Quackometer website “The Persistence of Delusion: Why do Some Alternative Medicines Thrive and Others Die?”
28 Feb	Prof Erlendur Haraldsson Department of Psychology, University of Iceland “Kant as a psychical researcher: Swedenborg´s and Indridason´s descriptions of remote fires in Stockholm and Copenhagen”
6 Mar	Dr Miguel Farias University of Oxford “Faith in Science? The Psychological Functions of Believing in Science”
13 Mar	Massimo Polidoro Journalist and writer “Magic or Miracle? Putting Psychic Powers to the Test”
20 Mar	Prof Richard Wiseman Department of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire “Adventures in Wonderland: A personal perspective"

Autumn term 2011

4 Oct	Dr Simon Singh & Alan Henness Science writer & Sceptical activist "Battling Bogus Medical Claims”
18 Oct	Dr David Barrett Writer “The Church of Scientology – a Scientific or an Esoteric Religion?"
22 Nov	Dr Susan Blackmore Psychologist, lecturer and writer “A 21st Century Séance”
29 Nov	Prof Amina Memon (NB: This talk was originally scheduled for 1 Nov) Department of Psychology, Royal Holloway, University of London “Making the best use of video identification parades and meeting the needs of vulnerable witnesses”
6 Dec	Carl Miller & Jamie Bartlett Demos think-tank Demos think-tank “Truth and the Net”

Spring term 2011

18 Jan	Dr Nathalia Gjersoe Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol “Totems, Temples and Teddies: The Cognitive Science of Why we Revere Special Objects”
1 Feb	Dr Paul Rogers School of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire “Paranormal Belief and the Misperception of Coincidental Events”
15 Feb	Dr David Colquhoun, FRS Honarary Fellow, University College London “How Quackery Corrupts Real Science”
22 Feb	Dr Melvyn Willin Paramusicologist and psychical researcher “Music and the Paranormal”
1 Mar	Prof Erlendur Haraldsson Department of Psychology, University of Iceland "Hallucinations, Grief Reactions and Alleged Glimpses of the Departed"
15 Mar	Dr David Clarke Sheffield Hallam University “The Angel of Mons and Other Wartime Legends “

Autumn term 2010

12 Oct	Jon Ronson Writer and documentary filmmaker "The Men Who Stare at Goats and Other True Tales of Craziness at the Heart of Power"
26 Oct	Deborah Hyde Writer and blogger “Demons and nightmares: Why do People Believe in the Malign Supernatural?"
9 Nov	Gustav Kuhn Department of Psychology, Brunel University “The Science of Magic: How Magic changes our Expectations About Autism"
16 Nov	Dr Simon Dein Senior Lecturer in Anthropology and Medicine, UCL “A Messiah from the Dead: What Really Happens When Prophecy Fails”
23 Nov	Daniela Rudloff Department of Psychology, University of Leicester “Mental 'Short-Cuts'- The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”
7 Dec	Andy Lewis * CANCELLED * Blogger and Developer of the Quackometer website “The Persistence of Delusion: Why do Some Alternative Medicines Thrive and Others Die?"

Autumn term 2009

6 Oct	Dr Cara Laney Department of Psychology, University of Leicester “True vs. False Memories: Is There a Definitive Difference?”
27 Oct	Anonymous Writer “The Good Daughter: When an Adult Recovers “Memories” of Parental Child Sexual Abuse, How can the Rest of the Family Assess the Charge?”
10 Nov	Professor Chris French Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, Goldsmiths “Something Wicked This Way Comes: Causes and Interpretations of Sleep Paralysis”
24 Nov	Dr Mark Vernon Writer, broadcaster and journalist “Happiness: The Failure of a New Science”
8 Dec	Professor Bruce Hood Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol “Supernatural Belief: Me or Memes?”

Summer term 2010

18 May	Peter Brookesmith* CANCELLED * Writer and Publisher “The Unextraordinary Oddity of Alan Godfrey’s ‘Alien Abduction’”
15 June	Professor Erlendur Haraldsson University of Iceland in Reykjavik “Empirical Enquiry into Cases of Children who Claim to Remember a Past Life “

Spring term 2010

2 Feb	Dr Emmanuelle Peters Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London “Understanding Delusional Thinking: A Scientist-Practitioner Perspective”
9 Feb	Nick Campion Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture, University of Wales, Lampeter “How Many People Really Believe in Astrology?”
23 Feb	Dr Stephen Law Department of Philosophy, Heythrop College, University of London "Intellectual Black Holes"
2 Mar	Dr Miguel Farias Goldsmiths, Oxford and Cambridge Universities “Believing in the Da Vinci Code: Social-Cognitive Predictors and Correlates”
9 Mar	Dr Gustav Kuhn * CANCELLED * Department of Psychology, Brunel University “The Science of Magic: How Magic Changes our Expectations About Autism”
16 Mar	Professor Richard Wiseman Department of Psychology, University of Hertfordshire ““Heads I Win, Tails You Lose”: How Parapsychologists Nullify Null Results”
23 Mar	Dr Sam Parnia University of Cornell and University of Southampton “Near Death Experiences During Cardiac Arrest”

Summer term 2009

12 May

Dr Simon Singh
Writer, lecturer and broadcaster
“Trick or Treatment? Alternative Medicine (and the Media) on Trial”

Spring term 2009

20 Jan	Dr Rupert Sheldrake Perrott-Warrick Scholar and Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Studies “Morphic Resonance, Collective Memory and the Habits of Nature”
3 Mar	Abstract and biography Writer, broadcaster and founder of “The Philosopher’s Magazine” “Do Psychology and Philosophy Need Each Other?”
10 Mar	Nick Pope Writer, lecturer and broadcaster “The Real X Files” (NB: This event was postponed from 3 Feb)
24 Mar	Professor Bernard Carr Professor of Mathematics and Astronomy, Queen Mary, University of London “Can Science Accommodate Psychic Experience?”

Autumn term 2008

7 Oct	Dr Susan Blackmore Writer, lecturer and broadcaster “Is God a Dangerous Meme?”
21 Oct	Dr Karen Douglas Department of Psychology, University of Kent “Conspiracy Beliefs: A Social Psychological Perspective”
11 Nov	Dr Kimberley A. Wade Department of Psychology, University of Warwick “Time to Rewrite Your Autobiography?”
18 Nov	Dr David Luke Writer, lecturer and researcher “Psychoactive Plants and Psychic People: Does Psilocybin Really Cause Psi? “
9 Dec	Dr Christine Mohr Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol “Magical Beliefs and the Two Cerebral Hemispheres”

Spring Term 2008

18 Mar	Dr Dorothy Rowe Clinical Psychologist and Writer “Why is that Important to You?“
11 Mar	Dr Ciarán O’Keeffe Research Associate, Université de Paris 8, Laboratoire de Psychologie Sociale “The Truth About Mediums”
26 Feb	Joe Banks Goldsmiths, University of London “Rorschach Audio: Implications for the Electronic Voice Phenomenon and Art”
19 Feb	Dr Matthew Smith Department of Psychology, Liverpool Hope University “Chance, Luck and Destiny: A Psychological Perspective”
29 Jan	Dr Christine Mohr * CANCELLED * Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Bristol “Magical Beliefs and the Two Cerebral Hemispheres”
22 Jan	Dr Mark Blagrove Department of Psychology, University of Swansea “Personality and Lucid Dreaming”

Autumn Term 2007

4 Dec	Gordon Smith Psychic and Writer. “The View from the Other Side.”
27 Nov	Dr Peter Fenwick Honorary Senior Lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College. “Deathbed visions, coincidences, and intriguing tales of Grandfather’s Clock.”
13 Nov	Dr Michael Heap Clinical and Forensic Psychologist, and Chairman of the Association for Skeptical Enquiry (ASKE). “The Need to be Authentic and its Influence on Behaviour, Attitudes and Beliefs.”
23 Oct	Professor Richard Wiseman Psychology Department, University of Hertfordshire “Parapsychology: Predicting the Future.”
16 Oct	Dr Brian Hughes School of Psychology, National University of Ireland, Galway “Making Sense of Miracle Cures: How Psychology Makes Alternative Medicine 'Work'“

Summer Term 2007

19 July

Dr Francesca Collins
Monash University, Australia
"Very superstitious: Dissociation, control and paranormal beliefs."

Autumn Term 2006

5 Dec	Dr James Ost Department of Psychology, University of Portsmouth "The Recovered Memory Debate: A Collective False Memory?"
21 Nov	Dr Rupert Sheldrake Perrott-Warrick Scholar and Fellow of the Institute of Noetic Studies "What if Telepathy Really Happens?"
24 Oct	Dr Caroline Watt Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh "What Parapsychology can Contribute to Psychology"
10 Oct	Professor Richard Wiseman Psychology Department, University of Hertfordshire "Things that go Bump in the Mind"

Spring Term 2006

6 Mar	Dr Ornella Corazza Department of Study of Religions, School of Oriental and African Studies "Experiencing near-death states through the use of chemicals"
20 Feb	Dr Jason Braithwaite Department of Psychology, University of Birmingham "Are we the Haunters of Houses? Towards a Cognitive Neuroscience of Haunt-Type Experiences"
30 Jan	Dr Peter Naish Department of Psychology, Open University "Hypnosis and Psychosis: The Temporal Connection"
16 Jan	Professor Irving Kirsch Department of Psychology, University of Plymouth "Placebos and the Power of Belief""