American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR)

Founded in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1885, the American Society for Psychical Research (ASPR) is the oldest organization in the United States to use scientific methodology to investige unexplained phenomena, such as telepathy and other forms of extrasensory perception. The ASPR maintains an extensive collection of books, unpublished manuscripts, reports, and letters related to its work. These materials date from the eighteenth century to the present. The first president of the ASPR was astronomer Simon Newcomb, and for a brief time it was a branch of the British Society for Psychical Research, which was founded in 1882. In the early twentieth century, however, it became an independent organization headquartered in New York City. In 1907 the group began publishing the Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, which is still published today. Its current members include scientists, psychologists, and university scholars from various disciplines; among its most prominent early members were physicist Sir William Barrett, scientist Sir Oliver Lodge, and psychologist William James.

SEE ALSO:

• Barrett, Sir William;
• extrasensory perception;
• James, William;
• Lodge, Sir Oliver

SOURCE:

The Greenhaven Encyclopedia of Paranormal Phenomena – written by Patricia D. Netzley © 2006 Gale, a part of Cengage Learning