Cyril Burt (1883–1971), one of Britain’s most influential psychologists, took a serious interest in parapsychology, arguing that claims of extra-sensory perception and other psychic phenomena merited scientific attention. His writings on psi, produced mainly after retirement, approached these disputed phenomena with caution, curiosity and rational scrutiny.
- After retiring from academic psychology, Burt wrote and lectured on ESP, survival, out-of-body experiences and the implications of parapsychology for general psychology.
- Burt regarded telepathy and precognition as well-attested phenomena and thought psychical research deserved the same seriousness as other empirical inquiries.
- Although Burt was exposed as having fabricated his research findings on intelligence, there were no parallel allegations concerning fraud in his parapsychological writings.
Contents
Background
Cyril Burt (1883–1971) was an English educational psychologist and geneticist who also made contributions to statistics and to psychical research. After his death, evidence emerged suggesting that he had falsified data supporting his theories about the inheritability of intelligence, but there do not appear to have been equivalent allegations regarding his parapsychological writings.1Heywood (1972), 70-79; Hearnshaw (1979).
Life and Career
Cyril Lodowic Burt was born on 3 March 1883 in London. His family later settled in Snitterfield, Warwickshire, where his father ran a medical practice. He studied classics at Jesus College, Oxford. Influenced by William McDougall, he turned to psychology, assisting McDougall in 1907 with a nationwide study of mental characteristics. He lectured in psychology and physiology at Liverpool University and, in 1913, accepted a part-time post as educational psychologist for the London County Council. He resigned in 1931 to take up a professorship in psychology at University College London. He was elected president of the British Psychological Society, and in 1946 was knighted for his work in psychology. After retiring, he pursued a growing interest in parapsychology.2Hearnshaw (1979); Britannica (2026).
Parapsychology
In 1934, Burt was appointed to the management committee of the University of London’s Council for Psychical Investigation, founded by the paranormal investigator Harry Price. Burt’s wife became involved in Price’s card-guessing experiments, and the couple visited Borley Rectory, a supposedly haunted location that Price was investigating. The committee was wound up in 1938.3Valentine (2013), 378-79.
Burt gave a lecture on parapsychology at Gresham College in 1935, later brought to light by Anita Gregory and included in her edited collection of Burt’s writings on extra-sensory perception, published after his death.4Burt (1975b), 15-25. For most of his career, he appears to have held his parapsychological interests in abeyance, but they resurfaced with a review of Gertrude Schmeidler’s monograph ESP in Relation to Rorschach Test Evaluation,5Burt (1959). after which he began to contribute more regularly.
Burt displayed a notably flexible cast of mind in ‘Psychology and Psychical Research’, his Frederic WH Myers Memorial Lecture of 1968.6Burt (1968). In it, he discussed such issues as the psychic factor, the limitations of the senses, the views of physicists and parapsychologists, and the out-of-body experience.
Burt’s conclusions suggest an effort to understand the nature of so-called paranormal manifestations rather than simply to accept or reject them. Concerning ESP, he wrote that the process resembled the obscure intuitive insights of ordinary life and what Michael Polanyi called ‘tacit knowledge’.7Burt (1968), 76. He also wrote that uncertainty left the question of survival open in both directions, although he thought an important result of psychological and parapsychological investigations was to suggest the possibility of survival in some form or other, albeit not necessarily in the form depicted by traditional piety or fourth-century metaphysics.8Burt (1967), 140-41.
Burt further wrote that there appeared to be ‘well-attested phenomena’ such as telepathy and precognition.9Burt (1967), 63. He compared the positive evidence for parapsychology to the kinds of statistical, observational and experimental support accepted for other, more familiar scientific theories.
Controversy
The ‘Burt Affair’, as it has often been called, concerned the dispute, uncovered after his death, over whether Burt had manipulated or falsified IQ-test results that supported his theories about the transmission of intelligence.10Joynson (1989). Burt had argued that intelligence was mainly hereditary in origin and that social and environmental factors played only a secondary role in intellectual development.11Britannica (2026). A biography by Leslie Hearnshaw, published in 1979, seemed to provide evidence for deception.12Hearnshaw (1979). Other commentators13e.g., Fletcher (1991). disagreed, leaving the matter unsettled.
Whatever the truth about Burt’s psychological research, his parapsychological pursuits appear to have been rational and open-minded, as Rosalind Heywood observed in her obituary in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.14Heywood (1972), 70-79. Burt did not undertake experimental tests of ESP, so there is no suggestion that he falsified data in parapsychology.
Selected Works
Books
The Study of the Mind (1930). London: BBC.
How the Mind Works (1934). New York: D. Appleton-Century Company.
The Subnormal Mind (1937). London: Oxford University Press.
The Factors of the Mind (1940). London: University of London Press.
Psychology and Psychical Research: The Seventeenth Frederic W.H. Myers Memorial Lecture (1968). London: Society for Psychical Research.
The Gifted Child (1975). London: Hodder & Stoughton.
E.S.P. and Psychology (1975, ed. by A. Gregory). London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Articles
The inheritance of mental ability (1958). American Psychologist 13/3, 1-15.
Experiments on telepathy in children (1959). British Journal of Statistical Psychology 12, 88-89.
Field theories and statistical psychology (1959). British Journal of Statistical Psychology 12, 153-64.
The mentally subnormal (1960). Medical World 93, 297-300.
Structure of the mind (1961). British Journal of Statistical Psychology 14/2, 145-70.
Theories of mind (1961). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 41, 55-60.
Correspondence: The Psychical Research Foundation (1961). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 41, 110.
Jung’s account of his paranormal experiences (1963). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 42, 163-80.
Evolution and parapsychology (1966). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 43, 391-422.
Parapsychology and its implications (1966). International Journal of Neuropsychiatry 2/5, 363-77.
The implications of parapsychology for general psychology (1967). Journal of Parapsychology 31/1, 1-18.
Book Chapters and Introductions
Introduction (1964). In The Infinite Hive: A Personal Record of Extra-Sensory Experiences by R. Heywood. London: Chatto & Windus.
Psychology and parapsychology (1967). In Science and ESP, ed. by J.R. Smythies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Book Reviews
Review of ESP in Relation to Rorschach Test Evaluation by G. Schmeidler (1959). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 40, 422-24.
Review of The Existence of Mind by J. Beloff (1962). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 41, 431-37.
Review of The Divine Flame by A. Hardy (1967). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 44, 189-95.
For Further Information from Primary Sources
Liverpool University Special Collections and Archives holds Burt’s personal papers (Ref: D191), and the papers of his secretary Margarethe Archer (Ref: D432). Liverpool University Special Collections and Archives also provides access to the archival record for the Cyril Burt papers.
The British Psychological Society’s History of Psychology Centre holds Burt’s correspondence and reprints, c. 1920–1971.
Melvyn Willin
Works Cited
Britannica (2026). Sir Cyril Burt. [Web page, last updated 27 February 2026.]
Burt, C.L. (1959). Review of ESP in Relation to Rorschach Test Evaluation by G. Schmeidler. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 40, 422-24.
Burt, C.L. (1967). Psychology and parapsychology. In Science and ESP, ed. by J.R. Smythies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Burt, C.L. (1968). Psychology and Psychical Research: The Seventeenth Frederic W.H. Myers Memorial Lecture. London: Society for Psychical Research.
Burt, C.L. (1975b). Psychical research. In E.S.P. and Psychology, ed. by A. Gregory, 15-25. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
Fletcher, R. (1991). Science, Ideology and the Media: The Cyril Burt Scandal. New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA: Transaction Publishers.
Hearnshaw, L.S. (1979). Cyril Burt: Psychologist. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Heywood, R. (1972). Professor Sir Cyril Burt. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 46, 70-79.
Joynson, R.B. (1989). The Burt Affair. London: Routledge.
Valentine, E. (2013). Looking back: Spook hunting and ghost busting. The Psychologist (May). [Web page.]
edited orginal
Cyril Burt (1883–1971) was an English educational psychologist and geneticist who also made contributions to statistics and to psychical research. After his death, evidence emerged that he had falsified data supporting his theories about the inheritability of intelligence, but there have never been questions about his work in parapsychology.
Life and Career
Cyril Lodowic Burt was born on 3 March 1883 in London. His family later settled in Snitterfield, Warwickshire, where his father ran a medical practice. He studied classics at Jesus College, Oxford. Influenced by William McDougall, he began to study psychology, assisting McDougal in 1907 carry out a nationwide test of psychological profiles. He lectured in psychology and physiology at Liverpool University and in 1913 was offered a part-time post as an educational psychologist for the London County Council. He resigned in 1931 to accept a professorship in psychology at University College, London. He was elected president of the British Psychological Society and in 1946 was knighted for his work in psychology. Following his retirement he pursued a growing interest in parapsychology.
Parapsychology
In 1934, Burt was appointed a member of the management committee of the University of London’s Council for Psychical Investigation, founded by the paranormal investigator Harry Price. Burt’s wife became involved in Price’s card-guessing experiments and the couple visited Borley Rectory, a seemingly haunted location which Price was investigating. The committee was wound up in 1938.[i]
Burt gave a lecture on parapsychology to Gresham College in 1935, unearthed by Anita Gregory and included in her edited collection of Burt’s writings on extra-sensory perception (ESP), published after his death.15Burt (1975b), 15-25. For most of his career, he appears to have held his parapsychological interests in abeyance, but they resurfaced with a review of Gertrude Schmeidler’s monograph ESP in Relation to Rorschach Test Evaluation in 1960,16Burt (1960). after which he made more regular contributions.
Burt displayed a youthful flexibility of mind in Psychology and Psychical Research, his Frederick WH Myers Memorial Lecture of 1968.[iii] He there discussed in thirteen chapters such issues as the properties of the psychic factor; the limitations of the senses; the views of physicists and parapsychologists; and out-of-body experiences (OBEs).
Burt’s own conclusions after considerable study seemed to try and further understand the nature of so-called paranormal manifestations rather than simply accepting them or rejecting them. Concerning ESP, he stated, ‘The process resembles those obscure intuitive insights which all of us have in ordinary life and which Polyanyi calls “tacit knowledge’’.’[iv] He further wrote that ‘uncertainty leaves the question [of survival] open in both directions’, although he considered that an important result of psychological and parapsychological investigations was to suggest the possibility of survival in some form or other, albeit not necessarily in the form depicted by traditional piety or fourth-century metaphysics.[v]
Burt wrote that there appeared to be ‘well-attested phenomena [such] as telepathy and precognition’.[vi] He equated the amount of positive evidence for parapsychology with similar statistical, observational and experimental verification in other more familiar scientific theories.
Controversy
The ‘Burt Affair’, as it has often been referred to,[vii] concerned a dispute, discovered after his death, as to whether he had manipulated or even falsified results obtained from IQ tests that supported his theories on the transmission of intelligence. Burt had sought to prove that intelligence was mainly hereditary in origin and that social and environmental factors played a secondary role in intellectual development.[viii] A biography of Burt by Leslie Hearnshaw,[ix] published in 1979, seemed to provide evidence for his deception. Other commentators disagreed,[x] thus leaving the matter unsettled.
Whatever, the truth is about Burt’s psychological research, his parapsychological pursuits always appeared to be rational and open-minded, as Rosalind Heywood observed in her obituary in the Journal of the Society for Psychical Research.[xi] Burt did not undertake experimental tests of ESP, so there is no suggestion that he falsified data in parapsychology.
Selected Works
Books
The Study of the Mind (1930). London: BBC.
How the Mind Works (1934). New York: D. Appleton-Century Company.
The Subnormal Mind (1937). London: Oxford University Press.
The Factors of the Mind (1940). London: University of London Press.
Psychology and Psychical Research: The Seventeenth Frederic W.H. Myers Memorial Lecture (1968). London: The Society for Psychical Research.
The Gifted Child (1975). London: Hodder and Stoughton.
E.S.P. and Psychology (1975, ed. by A. Gregory). London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson.
Articles
The inheritance of mental ability (1958). American Psychologist. 13/3, 1–15.
Experiments on telepathy in children (1959). British Journal of Statistical Psychology, Vol. 12, 88-89.
Field theories and statistical psychology (1959). British Journal of Statistical Psychology, Vol. 12, 153-64.
The Mentally Subnormal (1960). Medical World. 93, 297–300.
Structure of the mind (1961). British Journal of Statistical Psychology, 12, 145-70.
Theories of mind (1961). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 41, 55-60.
Correspondence: The Psychical Research Foundation (1961). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 41, 110.
Jung’s account of his paranormal experiences (1963). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 42, 163-80.
Evolution and parapsychology (1966). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 43, 391-422.
Parapsychology and its implications (1966). International Journal of Neuropsychiatry 2/5, 363–77.
The implications of parapsychology for general psychology (1967). Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 31/1.
Book Chapters/ Introductions
Introduction (1964). In The Infinite Hive: A Personal Record of Extra-Sensory Experiences by R. Heywood. London: Chatto and Windus.
Psychology and Parapsychology (1967). In Science and ESP, ed. by J.R. Smythies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Book Reviews
ESP in Relation to Rorschach Test Evaluation (Parapsychological Monographs no. 2) by G. Schmeidler (1960). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 40, 422-24.
Challenge of Psychical Research by G. Murphy (1961) .17Burt (1961).
The Existence of Mind by J. Beloff (1961). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 41, 431-37.
The Divine Flame by A. Hardy (1967). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 44, 189-95.
Melvyn Willin
Works Cited
Burt, C.L. (1960).
Burt, C.L. (1967). Psychology and Parapsychology. In Science and ESP, ed. by J.R. Smythies. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
Burt, C.L. (1968). Psychology and Psychical Research. (Seventeenth Frederic W.H. Myers Memorial Lecture) (1968). London: Society for Psychical Research.
Burt, C. L. (1975a). E.S.P. and Psychology (ed. by A. Gregory). London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
Burt, C.L. (1975b). Psychical research. [Lecture delivered at Gresham College, 20 March 1935.] In E.S.P. and Psychology. London: Weidenfeld & Nicholson.
Fletcher, R. (1991). Science, Ideology and the Media: The Cyril Burt Scandal. New Brunswick, US: Transaction Publishers.
Hearnshaw, L.S. (1979). Cyril Burt: Psychologist. New York: Cornell University Press.
Heywood, R. (1972). Obituary: Professor Sir Cyril Burt. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 46, 70-79.
Joynson, R.B. (1989). The Burt Affair. London: Routledge.
Thouless, R.H. (1975). Review of E.S.P. and Psychology by Sir Cyril Burt (ed. by A. Gregory). Journal of the Society for Psychical Research 48, 179-82.
Valentine, E. (2013). Looking back: Spook hunting and ghost busting. https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-26/edition-5/looking-back-spook-hunting-and-ghost-busting
For further information from primary sources
Liverpool University Special Collection and Archives holds Burt’s personal papers (Ref: D191), and the papers of his secretary Margarethe Archer (Ref: D432). The British Psychological Society History of Psychology Centre holds Burt’s correspondence and reprints, c 1920–1971.
[i] Valentine (2013), 378-79.
[ii] Thouless (1975), 179.
[iii] Burt (1968).
[iv] Burt (1968), 76.
[v] Burt (1967), 140-41.
[vi] Burt (1967), 63.
[vii] For instance, Joynson (1989).
[viii] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Cyril-Burt.
[ix] Hearnshaw (1979).
[x] For instance, Fletcher (1991).
[xi] Heywood (1972), 70-79.