Anderson, Margaret (19201986)
Parasychologist fellow and professor of education at the
University of Pittsburgh. She became interested in parapsychology
in the 1950s when she began working with Rhea White
on testing ESP in children. They predicted that good relations
between teachers and pupils would produce ESP, and bad relations
would inhibit it, then conducted tests of clairvoyance and
precognition to test their theory.
Anderson moved on and began to create situations that
would yield ESP results. Her work led to a series of important
papers, and in 1961 she was joint winner (with R. A. McConnell)
of the McDougall Award for the article Fantasy Testing
for ESP in a Fourth and Fifth Grade Class. She was treasurer
of the Parapsychological Association in 1961, president in
1962. That year she received her Ph.D. in education and began
a career teaching at the University of Pittsburgh. She gradually
withdrew from parapsychological circles. She retired from the
university in 1985 and died the following year of lung cancer.
Sources
Anderson, Margaret L. The Use of Fantasy in Testing for
Extrasensory Perception. Journal of the ASPR Vol. 60 (1966)
150.
Anderson, Margaret L., and R. A. McConnell. Fantasy
Testing for ESP in a Fourth and Fifth Grade Class. Journal of
Psychology Vol. 52 (1961) 491.
Berger, Arthur S., and Joyce Berger. The Encyclopedia of
Parapsychology and Psychical Research. New York Paragon
House, 1991.
Pleasants, Helene, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Parapsychology.
New York Helix Press, 1964.
