Morris, Robert Lyle (1942-)

Parapsychologist at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. He was born July 9, 1942, in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, and studied at the University of Pittsburgh (B.S., 1963) and Duke University, North Carolina (from which he received a doctorate in biological psychology). After two years of postdoctoral work at the Duke Medical Center and with J. B. Rhine, he became the research coordinator for the Psychical Research Foundation, Durham, North Carolina. Over the years he taught parapsychology and psychology courses as a visiting lecturer at the University of California—Santa Barbara; the University of California—Irvine; the University of Southern California; John F. Kennedy University (Orinda, California); and Syracuse University (New York). He was named Koestler Professor of Parapsychology at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1985.

He served on the Council of the American Society for the Advancement of Science (1971-73), the board of the American Society for Psychical Research (1979-83; secretary, 1980-82), the board of the Gardner Murphy Research Institute (1971-83; secretary, 1971-74), and the board of the Society for Scientific Exploration (1985-86; vice president, 1985). He was on the board of the Parapsychological Association for many years, serving additionally as its AAAS representative (1971-77), president (1974 and 1985), vice president (1976 and 1984), secretary (1977), and treasurer (1975). He joined the Society for Psychical Research, London, in 1985, and joined its council in 1986. He has written over a hundred professional conference presentations and publications in the area of parapsychology, and he edited the Arno Press reprint program "Perspectives in Psychical Research." His main research interests have included biological aspects of psi and anpsi, anomalous interactions between people and equipment, psychic development techniques, the psychology of conjuring, mentalism, and deception.

Sources:

Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York: Paragon House, 1991.

Morris, Robert L. "Biology and Psychical Research." Edited by Gertrude R. Schmeidler. In Parapsychology: Its Relation to Physics, Biology Psychology, and Psychiatry. N.p., 1976.

——. "Obtaining Non-Random Entry Points: A Complex Psi Process." In Parapsychology Today. Edited by J. B. Rhine and R. Brier. New York: Citadel Press, 1968.

——. "PK on a Bio-Electrical System." In Parapsychology Today. Edited by J. B. Rhine and R. Brier. New York: Citadel Press, 1968.

——. "The Psychobiology of Psi." In Psychic Exploration. Edited by E. D. Mitchell. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1974.

——. "Some New Techniques in Animal Psi Research." Journal of Parapsychology 31 (December 1967).

Roll, W. G., R. L. Morris, and J. D. Morris, eds. Research in Parapsychology 1972. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1973.

——. Research in Parapsychology 1973. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1974.

——. Research in Parapyschology 1974. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1975.

——. Research in Parapsychology 1975. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1976.

Pleasants, Helene, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology. New York: Helix Press, 1964.

Wiseman, Richard and Robert L. Morris. Guidelines for Testing Psychic Claimants. Amherst, N.Y.: Prometheus Books, 1995.