William G. Roll

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William G. Roll (born July 3, 1926) is a noted psychologist and parapsychologist on the faculty of the Psychology Department of the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia, in the United States. He has held various positions there, including Professor of Psychology and Psychical Research, assistant professor, and instructor. Sometimes credited as William Roll, or informally, Bill Roll, he has been a parapsychologist since the 1950s and has authored or coauthored many investigation research papers, articles, and four books: The Poltergeist (1972), Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research (1975), Psychic Connections (1995, with co-author Lois Duncan), and Unleashed: Of Poltergeists and Murder: The Curious Story of Tina Resch (2004, with co-author Valerie Storey). He was born 1926 in Bremen, Germany where his father was Vice-consul.

Contents

[edit] Career

William enrolled at the University of California, Berkeley in 1947 where he received his BA majoring in philosophy and psychology. A year after graduating he went on to Oxford University where he did parapsychology research as president of the Oxford University Society for Psychical Research. It was there he published his thesis "Theory and Experiment in Psychical Research", which earned him his M. Litt. degree. He was part of the Parapsychology Laboratory of Duke University from 1957-1964 and also in 1964 was president of the Parapsychological Association. In 1958, he coined the term "recurrent spontaneous psychokinesis" (RSPK)[1] in a research paper written with J. G. Pratt that dealt with their investigation of objects moving in a home in Seaford, Long Island, New York USA, that were centered around a young male member of the family.[2] It was Roll's first case.[3]

He received a Ph.D. in psychology from Lund University in 1989 for a thesis entitled "This World or That: An Examination of Parapsychological Findings Suggestive of the Survival of Human Personality After Death". He began teaching in West Georgia in 1986, but moved to Lund in 1990 after he received his Ph.D. there. He subsequently returned to the United States to again teach at the University of West Georgia. He has generally retired from teaching today (but he is scheduled to teach a course in parapsychology at the University of West Georgia in Spring 2007), but continues to write, speak at conferences, and conduct occasional investigations. He was awarded the Parapsychological Award for a Distinguished Career in Parapsychology in 1996 and the Dinsdale Memorial Award in 2002.

Dr. Roll's most famous case was as the lead investigator on the 1984 "Columbus Poltergeist" case, in which remarkable color photos were taken by a veteran newspaper photographer of spontaneous telekinesis events in action occurring in the home of Columbus, Ohio teenager Tina Resch.

Bill Roll currently resides in Georgia, has several adult children, and his wife is Lydia.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Parapsychological Association - Glossary: "RSPK". Retrieved on November 3, 2006.
  2. ^ Roll, William G.; Pratt, J. G. (1958). The Seaford Disturbances. Journal of Parapsychology, Vol. 2, pp 79-124. 
  3. ^ Roll, William G.; Persinger, Michael A. (2001). Investigations of Poltergeists and Haunts: A Review and Interpretation. An article in the book: Hauntings and Poltergeists: Multidicplinary Perspectives by Houran, James and Lange, Rense, editors; McFarland Press, Jefferson, North Carolina USA, 2001.  "RSPK Cases Investigated by the Psychical Research Foundation. The Seaford Case (1958): My First Investigation. The term RSPK (Pratt & Roll, 1958) was first used for unexplained movements of household objects in a home in Seaford, Long Island."

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../w/i/l/William_G._Roll_1690.html"