Ray Hyman

Infobox Scientist
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name = Ray Hyman

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birth_date = birth date and age|1928|6|23
birth_place = Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA
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nationality = USA
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fields = Psychology
workplaces = University of Oregon
Harvard
alma_mater = Boston University
Johns Hopkins University
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known_for = Critic of parapsychology
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awards = Robert P. Balles Prize (2005)
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Ray Hyman (born June 23, 1928, Chelsea, Massachusetts) is a Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, and a noted critic of parapsychology. While attending Boston University as a young man, he also worked as a magician and mentalist, impressing the head of his department (among others) with his palm reading. He obtained a doctorate in psychology from Johns Hopkins University in 1953, and then taught at Harvard for several years. He also became an expert in statistical methods. Along with other notable skeptics like Paul Kurtz, he was a founding member of the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal (CSICOP), which publishes the Skeptical Inquirer.

Aside from his scholarly publications and consultation with the U.S. Department of Defense in scrutinizing psychic research, one of his most popular articles is thirteen points to help you "amaze your friends with your new found "psychic powers"!", a guide to cold reading. The guide exploits what fascinated him in his academic research in cognitive psychology, that much deception is self-deception.

Dr. Hyman's prestidigitational skills (which he calls "manipulating perception") have earned him the cover of "The Linking Ring", the magazine of the International Brotherhood of Magicians.

Hyman was a co-recipient of the 2005 Robert P. Balles Prize in Critical Thinking, awarded by CSICOP.

Books

*Harvard reference
Surname1=Hyman|Given1=Ray|Authorlink1=Ray Hyman
Year=1989
Title=The Elusive Quarry: A Scientific Appraisal of Psychical Research
Publisher=Prometheus Books
ID=ISBN 0-87975-504-0

External links

* [http://web.archive.org/web/20050828185528/http://www.skeptic.com/archives03.html Interview with Ray Hyman]
* [http://www.csicop.org/si/2004-03/ray-hyman.html In Praise of Reason Award]
* [http://vvi.onstreammedia.com/cgi-bin/visearch?user=pbs-saf&template=template.html&squery=Beyond+Science "Beyond Science" video] PBS show "Scientific American Frontiers" on dowsing, Nov. 19, 1997
* [http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ideomotor.html How People Are Fooled by Ideomotor Action] by Ray Hyman, Ph.D.

Persondata
NAME= Hyman, Ray
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=
SHORT DESCRIPTION=American professor of psychology
DATE OF BIRTH= 1928-6-23
PLACE OF BIRTH= Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=