Chris French
Chris French
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Chris French

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Chris French

Christopher (Chris) Charles French is a British psychologist who is prominent in the field of anomalistic psychology, with a focus on the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. In addition to his academic activities, French frequently appears on radio and television to provide a skeptical perspective on paranormal claims.

He is currently a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and the head of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit, which he founded in 2000. French emphasizes the importance of understanding why people believe in the paranormal and advocates for taking these claims seriously to explore the underlying psychological factors involved. He has conducted research on various paranormal phenomena, including psychic abilities, ghosts, UFO abductions, and astrology. French is also involved in academia, teaching courses on psychology, parapsychology, and pseudoscience. He has published numerous articles and chapters in reputable psychology journals and has presented his work at conferences and symposia.

French is also active in science communication, having served as the Editor-in-Chief of The Skeptic magazine and written columns for The Guardian newspaper. He has made numerous appearances on science programs, documentaries, and discussion panels to discuss skeptical perspectives on paranormal phenomena.

After French completed his PhD he taught adult education classes in which he also addressed astrology and extrasensory perception.

French is currently Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Goldsmiths College, University of London, and is head of their Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit which he founded in 2000.

On the importance of anomalistic psychology he said in an interview on The Skeptic Zone,

Opinion poll after opinion poll tell us that the majority of population, in one way or another, do express belief in the paranormal. Most people, in any survey, will endorse at least one paranormal claim. Now, either that means that paranormal forces really do exist, or it's telling us something really interesting about human psychology. So, either way, we should definitely take these types of claims seriously and try to understand what is going on.

The focus of his current research is the psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. In addition to academic activities, such as conference presentations and invited talks in other departments, he frequently appears on radio and television presenting a sceptical view of paranormal claims. He has been consulted as an expert on a wide range of such claims including psychic abilities, recovered memory, telepathy, faith healing, past life regression, ghosts, UFO abductions, out-of-body experiences, astrology and so on.

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