GaryJJSpate: Standing correction: PersonInfobox -> InfoboxPerson

2026-08-05T12:24:25Z

Standing correction: PersonInfobox -> InfoboxPerson

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:24, 5 August 2026
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	{{~~PersonInfobox~~		{{InfoboxPerson
	\|name=Matthew Smith		\|name=Matthew Smith
	\|born=Cheshire, England		\|born=Cheshire, England

GaryJJSpate: Created page with "{{PersonInfobox |name=Matthew Smith |born=Cheshire, England |occupation=Psychologist, parapsychologist, academic |known_for=Resident parapsychologist and sceptic on Most Haunted (2002–2006) |status=Living }} '''Matthew Smith''' is a British applied psychologist and parapsychologist, best known as the resident parapsychologist and sceptic on ''Most Haunted'' and ''Most Haunted Live!'' from 2002 to 2006, and as the academic colleague whose ''Most Haunted'' role indi..."

2026-07-29T17:38:24Z

Created page with "{{PersonInfobox |name=Matthew Smith |born=Cheshire, England |occupation=Psychologist, parapsychologist, academic |known_for=Resident parapsychologist and sceptic on Most Haunted (2002–2006) |status=Living }} '''Matthew Smith''' is a British applied psychologist and parapsychologist, best known as the resident parapsychologist and sceptic on ''Most Haunted'' and ''Most Haunted Live!'' from 2002 to 2006, and as the academic colleague whose ''Most Haunted'' role indi..."

New page

{{PersonInfobox
|name=Matthew Smith
|born=Cheshire, England
|occupation=Psychologist, parapsychologist, academic
|known_for=Resident parapsychologist and sceptic on Most Haunted (2002–2006)
|status=Living
}}

'''Matthew Smith''' is a British applied psychologist and parapsychologist, best known as the resident parapsychologist and sceptic on ''[[Most Haunted]]'' and ''Most Haunted Live!'' from 2002 to 2006, and as the academic colleague whose ''Most Haunted'' role indirectly led to [[Ciarán O'Keeffe]] joining the show.<ref name="everybodywiki">{{cite web |title=Matthew Smith (psychologist) |url=https://en.everybodywiki.com/Matthew_Smith_(psychologist) |website=EverybodyWiki}}</ref>

== Academic career ==
Smith earned a degree in Applied Psychology from Liverpool John Moores University in 1992, followed by a PhD in 1998 from the University of Hertfordshire, supervised by [[Richard Wiseman]], researching the psychology and parapsychology of luck. As a postgraduate, he received the Gertrude Schmeidler Award for an Outstanding Contribution to Parapsychology from the Parapsychological Association.<ref name="everybodywiki" /> He held his first lecturing post at Liverpool John Moores University, before moving to Liverpool Hope University the following year, where he became Associate Professor of Psychology and led its Parapsychology Research Group for around a decade.<ref name="bio">{{cite web |title=Dr Matthew Smith |url=https://boragthung.blogspot.com/p/bio.html?m=1 |website=Psychologist. Parapsychologist. Sceptic. Psychic?}}</ref> He later joined Buckinghamshire New University, the same institution as O'Keeffe, teaching on the MSc Applied Positive Psychology and establishing a Centre for Positive Psychology there.<ref name="psi">{{cite web |title=Matthew Smith |url=https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/matthew-smith/ |website=Psi Encyclopedia}}</ref>

== Research ==
Smith's research has covered telepathy, precognition, luck, séances, mirror-gazing, and reported "psychic pets."<ref name="bio" /> His doctoral work linked perceived luck to motivational, implicit-learning, and cognitive biases, alongside testing for genuine psi-mediated effects; a direct random number generator test found no overall scoring advantage for self-described lucky participants, though perceived psi ability did correlate significantly with actual test scores.<ref name="psi" /> In an attempted replication of [[Daryl Bem]]'s implicit precognition experiments, Smith and colleagues found non-significant results overall, but a significant effect specifically among participants who feared spiders, when exposed to spider-related target images.<ref name="psi" /> With researcher Devin Terhune, Smith also tested whether anomalous mirror-gazing experiences stem from suggestion rather than anything paranormal, finding that participants given suggestions designed to encourage anomalous experiences were more likely to report them.<ref name="psi" /> His research has received funding from the Bial Foundation, the Perrott-Warrick Fund, the Parapsychology Foundation, and the [[Society for Psychical Research]].<ref name="everybodywiki" />

== Most Haunted ==
Smith joined ''[[Most Haunted]]'' as its resident parapsychologist and sceptic shortly after arriving at Liverpool Hope University, providing analysis of the investigation team's findings across 55 episodes between 2002 and 2006.<ref name="imdb">{{cite web |title=Matthew Smith |url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1485039/ |website=IMDb}}</ref> When Smith's own research focus shifted further into other areas of parapsychology, he recommended his university colleague [[Ciarán O'Keeffe]], who had been informally covering the role, to take it on full-time.<ref name="oxfordcastle">{{cite web |title=Doctor of Parapsychology Ciaran O'Keeffe Ghoulish Q&A |url=https://www.oxfordcastleprison.co.uk/your-visit/blog/doctor-of-parapsychology-ciaran-o-keeffe-ghoulish-qa/ |website=Oxford Castle Prison |date=28 October 2016}}</ref>

== Later work ==
After leaving Liverpool Hope after ten years — a decision he has jokingly called "operation freefall" — Smith wrote about his experiences for a planned book, ''Million Dollar Psychic''.<ref name="bio" />

== See also ==
* [[Most Haunted]]
* [[Ciarán O'Keeffe]]
* [[Richard Wiseman]]
* [[Daryl Bem]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* [https://psi-encyclopedia.spr.ac.uk/articles/matthew-smith/ Psi Encyclopedia — Matthew Smith]

[[Category:Researchers]]
[[Category:People]]

Matthew Smith - Revision history

GaryJJSpate: Standing correction: PersonInfobox -> InfoboxPerson