Richard Wiseman

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Richard John Wiseman (born 16 September 1966) is a British psychologist, author, and former professional magician, holding Britain's only Professorship in the Public Understanding of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire. Within parapsychology specifically, he is best known for his 1999 replication study of the Ganzfeld Experiment, conducted with Julie Milton.

Early life and magic

Wiseman began his working life as a professional magician while still a teenager, performing street magic in London's Covent Garden and becoming one of the youngest members ever accepted into The Magic Circle. He studied psychology at University College London, and his background in magic and deception went on to shape much of his later academic career.

Doctoral research at the Koestler Parapsychology Unit

Wiseman completed a psychology doctorate at the Koestler Parapsychology Unit at the University of Edinburgh, supervised by Robert Morris, the unit's founding Koestler Professor of Parapsychology. His 1992 doctoral thesis examined the assessment of psychic claimants using schema theory. He later co-authored Guidelines for Testing Psychic Claimants with Morris, and co-wrote the textbook Parapsychology with Caroline Watt, Morris's successor as Koestler Professor and Wiseman's long-term partner.

Ganzfeld replication

In 1999, Wiseman and psychologist Julie Milton published a meta-analysis of ganzfeld studies conducted since Charles Honorton and Daryl Bem's influential 1994 "Does Psi Exist?" paper, finding no significant effect across the studies reviewed — directly disputing the Bem-Honorton conclusion and reigniting the wider ganzfeld debate. Alongside this, Wiseman has conducted a range of further sceptical investigations into paranormal claims, including co-authoring a widely cited study on the environmental correlates of alleged hauntings with Ciarán O'Keeffe and others.

Public psychology career

Beyond parapsychology, Wiseman has built a prominent public career researching the psychology of luck, deception, humour, and self-improvement. He is the author of several popular psychology books, including The Luck Factor, Quirkology, and 59 Seconds, and ran the "LaughLab" project searching for the world's funniest joke. He is a Member of the Inner Magic Circle, an Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association, and one of the most-followed psychologists on social media, with his Quirkology YouTube channel amassing tens of millions of views.

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