Graham F. Reed (1923–1989) was a Canadian psychologist. He is best known for his major work on

anomalistic psychology In psychology, anomalistic psychology is the study of human behaviour and experience connected with what is often called the paranormal, with few assumptions made about the validity (or otherwise) of the reported phenomena. Early history Accordin ...

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 country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, and earned a PhD in psychology from

Manchester University , mottoeng = Knowledge, Wisdom, Humanity , established = 2004 – University of Manchester Predecessor institutions: 1956 – UMIST (as university college; university 1994) 1904 – Victoria University of Manchester 1880 – Victoria Univer ...

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 ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

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

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

. 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 empirical evidence. In practice, the term most commonly refe ...

and became a

fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

''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 qualities of a real perception. Hallucinations are vivid, substantial, and are perceived to be located in external objective space. Hallucination is a combinati ...

s, pseudologia phantastica,

fugue state Dissociative fugue (), formerly called a fugue state or psychogenic fugue, is a mental and behavioral disorderDrs; that is classified variously as a dissociative disorder,Dissociative Fugue (formerly Psychogenic Fugue) 'DSM-IV 300.13, Diagnost ...

s and

koro Koro may refer to: Geography *Koro Island, a Fijian island * Koro Sea, in the Pacific Ocean * Koro, Ivory Coast *Koro, Mali * Koro, Wisconsin, United States, an unincorporated community Languages *Koro language (India), an endangered language spo ...

. 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 Canadian psychologists York University faculty 20th-century psychologists British emigrants to Canada Glendon College faculty