Margaret L Anderson (1920–86) belongs to the generation that tried to bring controlled experimentation into educational settings, asking whether psi might be shaped by ordinary human relationships. Her work with children, classrooms and teacher-pupil attitudes reflects a period when parapsychology expected laboratory questions to illuminate everyday life.
- The Anderson-White school experiments suggested that children’s ESP scores varied with the emotional tone of the teacher-pupil relationship.
- She went to Duke in 1954 to investigate whether psi might play a direct role in education.
- Anderson later served the Parapsychological Association as treasurer and president, and shared the 1961 McDougall Award with RA McConnell.
Life and Career
Margaret L Anderson was born in Mt Vernon, Illinois. After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1940 she became a teacher and high school principal. She joined the American Red Cross and served in France and Germany during World War II. She then returned to teaching, obtaining a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh.
Parapsychology
Anderson became interested in the possibility that ‘psi may play a direct role in the educational process as mediated by the teacher-pupil relationship’.1White (1987), 111. To investigate this, she obtained a position at the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory in 1954; there sheworked with Rhea White in what became known as the ‘Anderson-White’ school experiments. The pair discovered that the extent of ESP displayed was affected by the positive or negative emotional relationship with the teacher administering the test.2Anderson & White (1957), 81-97. However, other researchers failed to confirm the effect.3Rhine (1977), 43.
In 1961 Anderson was the joint-winner with RA McConnell of the prestigious McDougall Award for their ESP research, which was published in the Journal of Psychology in the same year.4Anderson & McConnell (1961), 491-503.
Anderson was a member of the Parapsychological Association, serving as its treasurer and as president in 1962.
Selected Articles
Teacher-pupil attitudes and clairvoyance test results (1956, with R. White). Journal of Parapsychology 20, 141-57.
Clairvoyance and teacher-pupil attitudes in fifth and sixth grades (1957). Journal of Parapsychology 21, 1-12.
A further investigation of teacher-pupil attitudes and clairvoyance tests results (1957, with R. White). Journal of Parapsychology 21/2, 81-97.
The relationship between changes in student attitude and ESP scoring (1958, with R. White). Journal of Parapsychology 23, 149-77.
A survey of work on ESP and teacher-pupil attitudes (1958, with R. White). Journal of Parapsychology 22/4, 246-68.
A precognition experiment comparing time intervals of a few days and one year (1959). Journal of Parapsychology 23, 81-89.
A two-year programme of tests for clairvoyance and precognition with a class of public school pupils (1959, with E. Gregory). Journal of Parapsychology 23, 149-77.
Fantasy testing for ESP in a fourth and fifth grade class (1961, with R.A. McConnell). Journal of Psychology 52, 491-503.
The use of fantasy in testing for extrasensory perception (1966). Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 60, 150.
Melvyn Willin
Works Cited
Anderson, M.L., & McConnell, R.A. (1961). Fantasy testing for ESP in a fourth and fifth grade class. Journal of Psychology 52, 491-503.
Anderson, M.L., & White, R. (1957). A further investigation of teacher-pupil attitudes and clairvoyance tests results. Journal of Parapsychology 21/2, 81-97.
Osis, K. (1987). A tribute to Margaret L. Anderson 1920–1985 [sic]. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research 81, 257-60.
Rhine, J.B. (1977). History of experimental studies in Handbook of Parapsychology, ed. by B.B. Wolman. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company.
White, R. (1987). Tribute to an experimenter: Margaret L. Anderson. Journal of Parapsychology 51/2, 111-16.