A Conversation with Ray Hyman, PhD with special guest D.J. Grothe

Ray Hyman is Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Inquiry (formerly CSICOP), and serves as a Fellow the University of Oregon, where he has taught since and Member of its Executive Council. Hyman has 1961. As a psychologist and amateur magician, he served on a variety of governmental committees, has critiqued experiments with prominent including the American Institutes for Research panel and other claimants conducted by private contracted by CIA to evaluate the Department of scientific and government organizations. Despite Defense "Star Gate" program of "" intense controversies, he has managed to maintain (i.e., the ability to describe locations one has not the respect of both parapsychologists and fellow visited) in the 1990s. skeptics. As a well-informed outside critic, he is often credited with helping improve the quality of NCAS will be honoring Professor Hyman with the parapsychological research. He has cautioned 2010 Philip J. Klass Award for outstanding skeptics on the need to become better informed contributions in promoting critical thinking and about the research they criticize. scientific understanding.

Hyman's published research has been in such areas Special guest D.J. Grothe, as pattern recognition, perception, problem solving, president of the creativity, and related areas of cognition. He has Educational Foundation and written and published extensively on the psychology host of its podcast For Good of deception and critiques of and other fringe claims. His books include Mathematics for Reason, will interview Psychologists (1955, coauthored with R. Bush and Professor Hyman following R.P. Abelson); Water Witching U.S.A. (1959 and presentation of the award. 2000, coauthored with E.Z. Vogt); The Nature of Psychological Inquiry (1964); and The Elusive Quarry: A Scientific Appraisal of Psychical Research (1989). He is currently working on two books, Saturday, April 24, 2010 entitled How Smart People Go Wrong: Cognition and Human Error and ’s Achilles’ Heel: 1:30 pm Consistent Inconsistency. National Science Foundation Hyman received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins 4201 Wilson Blvd, Room 110 University and taught at Harvard University from Arlington, VA 22230 1953 to 1958. He has also been a consultant to the (Ballston Metro stop) General Electric Company, a Fulbright-Hays Enter NSF from the corner of 9th N & N Stuart Streets. research scholar (University of Bologna), a National www.nsf.gov/about/visit/ Science Foundation faculty fellow, and a visiting professor of psychology at Stanford University. His FREE admission – Everyone welcome, numerous publications include several books, encyclopedia chapters, and technical articles in such members and non-members journals as Proceedings of the IEEE and the Journal of Parapsychology and articles on topics related to For more information, call the 24-hour NCAS parapsychology that have appeared in both Skeptic Line recording at 301-587-3827. parapsychological and other journals. He was a [email protected] founding member of the Committee for Skeptical www.ncas.org

National Capital Area Skeptics Public Lecture Series 20/20 SINCE 1987

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Torn From Today's (& Yesterday's) Headlines the crime. Instead police convinced his wife to Psychics and Unsolved Crimes commit him to a mental hospital. A hastily convened hearing during predawn hours (by a USA-TV 9 News recently televised a story on commission that included Riesenman) deemed Wthe 35th anniversary of the unsolved March Tarmon insane and had him committed to a mental 25, 1975 disappearance of the Lyon sisters, two hospital for the criminally insane. He remained youngsters who were last seen while walking home there for three weeks while the American Civil from Wheaton Plaza in suburban Maryland. Liberties Union worked to secure his release. (The Unmentioned in the segment was the involvement details of the Tarmon incident are available online of notorious "psychic" Peter Hurkos in the futile in the ACLU's 1959-1960 annual report.) He was search for the missing girls. released as sane a week after the FBI arrested another man (a jazz musician named Melvin Rees The Washington Post reported on May 25, 1975 Jr.) for the crime, identified through conventional that Hurkos had recommended to the Montgomery police work. County Police that the Granby Woods area of Rock Creek Park between Laytonsville and Olney be Drinking Skeptically searched. With no other leads to follow at that On Wednesday, April 14, come to Jackie's point, 12 county policemen joined 135 Maryland new Sidebar at 8081 Georgia Avenue in Silver Army National Guardsmen, along with 2 National Spring, MD, at 7:00 p.m. to join fellow NCASers for Guard helicopters, to search the area for two the next DC-area Drinking Skeptically event. bodies "covered with leaves." The several-hour Drinking Skeptically is an informal social event search ended without success, costing about designed to promote fellowship and networking $3,000. (After summoning the National Guard, the among skeptics, critical-thinkers, and like-minded state's acting governor told reporters that the individuals. There's no cover charge and all are police were acting on what they believed to be "a welcome. solid tip.") Don't drink? Don't let that stop you from joining The Post article uncritically mentioned Hurkos' us! Some of the world's most famous skeptics are previous "effort to help police solve the [early teetotalers, and we are happy to have you! 1960s] 'Boston Strangler' murders" but, to its credit, also briefly mentioned a 1960 fiasco that ncas.org/ds-ncas.html ensued when Hurkos' services were enlisted by www.jackiesrestaurant.com Virginia State Police investigating the murders of www.drinkingskeptically.org the Jackson family in the Spotsylvania area the year before. In that case psychiatrist F. Regis The new Sidebar connects to the restaurant & Riesenman, M.D., assistant chief of the William A. lounge where we previously met, but is a new White Service at St. Elizabeths Hospital in space of its own. It will have its own limited menu, Washington, suggested Hurkos' services to the although you can always dine next door at the police. Based on "emanations" Hurkos received restaurant. (January's Washingtonian magazine during a visit to the site where some of the victims' rated Jackie's #82 of all DC-area restaurants.) bodies had been found, he advised authorities to search for a man whose business was "either junk Remember that drinking skeptically means drinking or garbage." Police then arrested trash collector responsibly. If there's one thing science has taught

John Tarmon, but found no evidence linking him to us, it's the effects of alcohol on the human body.

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