Paranormal activity: science or fiction? - with Chris French

Paranormal experiences often appear perplexing, but are they genuinely legitimate phenomena?

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This talk was recorded at the Ri on 22 April 2024.

Join Chris French, psychologist and expert on all things paranormal, as he reveals the cardinal truths behind everything from ghostly encounters and alien abductions, to UFO sightings and near-death experiences. By employing rigorous scientific methods, Chris will embark on a search for the truth behind these mystical occurrences.

Chris' intellectual journey carries us through the debunking of extrasensory perception (ESP), endeavours to communicate with the departed, and even accounts of alien abductions, among other curious occurrences. These phenomena also offer a profound insight into the intricacies of human cognition and consciousness, and should be systematically studied accordingly. By employing an academic, comprehensive, logical, and occasionally mathematical approach, Chris demystifies what once seemed beyond explanation. Allow yourself to discover the overlap between belief, the human mind, and the mysteries that continue to intrigue and perplex us.

00:00 Intro
1:29 What is anomalistic psychology?
3:33 Testing paranormal claims: baby psychic
10:40 Testing paranormal claims: dream detective
21:02 Testing paranormal claims: sensing the future
24:58 The replication problem in psychology
27:59 Why study paranormal psychology?
29:25 Demo: The unreliability of memory
32:20 Inattentional blindness of witnesses
37:44 Spoon bending and memory conformity
42:59 How false memories can be implanted
48:19 Alien experiences, sleep paralysis and hypnosis
54:28 Top down processing and pareidolia


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Chris French is the Head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit in the Psychology Department at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry and a Patron of the British Humanist Association. He has published over 150 articles and chapters covering a wide range of topics. His main current area of research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. He frequently appears on radio and television casting a sceptical eye over paranormal claims.

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