After French completed his PhD he taught adult education classes in which he also addressed
astrology and
extrasensory perception. which he founded in 2000. On the importance of
anomalistic psychology he said in an interview on
The Skeptic Zone, The focus of his current research is the
psychology of paranormal beliefs and anomalous experiences. In addition to academic activities, such as conference presentations and invited talks in other departments, he frequently appears on radio and television presenting a sceptical view of paranormal claims.
recovered memory,
telepathy,
faith healing,
past life regression,
ghosts,
UFO abductions,
out-of-body experiences,
astrology and so on.
Academia French teaches a course entitled
Psychology, Parapsychology and Pseudoscience as part of the
BSc (Hons) Psychology programmes at both Goldsmiths College and
Birkbeck College. He is a Chartered Psychologist and a Fellow of the British Psychological Society. In August 1996, he organised and chaired an integrated paper session on the topic of The Psychology of Paranormal and Pseudoscientific Beliefs at the XXVI International Congress of Psychology in
Montreal. He also contributed to a symposium on The Psychology of Anomalous Experience at the
British Science Association annual
British Science Festival at the
University of Birmingham in September 1996. In July 1997, he chaired a symposium on The Psychology of Paranormal Belief at the Fifth European Congress of Psychology in
Dublin. He presented a paper at a conference on Paranormal and Superstitious Beliefs: A Skeptical Examination at
Manchester Metropolitan University on Friday 13, November, 1998. In February 1999, he contributed to a symposium of the
Royal Statistical Society (which he co-organised). In July 1999, he co-organised and presented a paper at a half-day conference on Parapsychology: Current Status and Future Prospects at Goldsmiths College and gave a paper at the Sixth European Congress of Psychology in Rome. Later they were given what they were told was a genuine crystal, and asked to meditate for 10 minutes and then report the sensations they experienced. Half of the subjects had actually been given fake plastic crystals instead. French found no difference between the feelings reported between the two groups. In 2004, French and colleagues conducted an experiment involving
electromagnetic fields (EMF) and extremely low frequency sound waves (
infrasound) phenomena that have been associated with allegedly haunted locations, the experiment did not establish a causal relationship between these phenomena and experiences of the subjects. A study, led by French and published in 2008, explored the psychology of people who believed they had been abducted by aliens. In January 2010, French was elected as a Fellow of the
Committee for Skeptical Inquiry Science communication French is a former Editor-in-Chief of
The Skeptic (UK) magazine. He presided over a relaunch, in 2009, in which the magazine expanded to 40 pages and assembled an editorial advisory board, including many big names (e.g.
Tim Minchin,
Stephen Fry, Richard Wiseman,
Simon Singh). In 1998, he took part in an investigation of
reincarnation claims amongst the
Druze people of
Lebanon, broadcast as part of the
To the Ends of the Earth series. This involved spending around three weeks in Lebanon with a film crew. He made regular appearances on
ITV's programme
Haunted Homes. He also makes appearances in the
Channel 4 documentary series
Tony Robinson and the Paranormal. In 2017, French attended the 17th
European Skeptics Congress (ESC) in Old Town Wrocław, Poland. This was organised by the
Klub Sceptyków Polskich (Polish Skeptics Club) and
Český klub skeptiků Sisyfos (Czech Skeptic's Club). Here he appeared on a panel to discuss exorcisms. The panel was chaired by
Amardeo Sarma and included Mariusz Błochowiak,
Konrad Szołajski and
Jakub Kroulík. ==Works==