James E Alcock

Professor emeritus (Psychology)

Psychology

   York Hall 125
   416-736-2100 x 88358
   jalcock@glendon.yorku.ca

Psychotherapy
Psychology of Belief

Doctorate:
McMaster University

B.Sc.   McGill University

Books
  • Alcock, J.E. (April, 2018) Belief. What it means to believe and why our convictions are so compelling. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books..
  • Alcock, J.E.,  & Sadava, S. (2014). An introduction to social psychology. Global perspectives. London: Sage. 
  • Alcock, J.E., Carment, D.W. & Sadava, S. (2005). A textbook of social psychology. (6th. ed.)Toronto: Pearson.   
  • Alcock, J.E., Burns, J. & Freeman, A. (Eds.) (2003). Psi wars. London: Imprint Academic.
  •   Alcock, J.E. (1990). Science and supernature. Buffalo,NY: Prometheus Books
  • Alcock, J.E. (1981). Parapsychology: Science or magic? Oxford: Pergamon Press. <> [French edition (1989): Parapsychologie: Science ou magie?.Paris: Flammarion; Bulgarian edition (1986)]

Journal Articles

 

Selected Peer Reviewed Articles
 
  Ladowsky-Brooks, R. & Alcock, J.E. (2007). Semantic-episodic interactions in the neuropsychology of disbelief. Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, 12, 97-111.    
 
 




Antoniazzi,M., Celinski, M. & Alcock, J.E. (2002).Self-responsibility and coping with pain: Disparate attitudes towards psychosocial issues in recovery from workplace injury. Disability and Rehabilitation, 24(18), 948-953.   


Van der Tempel J. & Alcock J. E. (2015). Relationships between conspiracy mentality, hyperactive agency detection, and schizotypy: supernatural forces at work? Personality and Individual Differences, 82, 136–141. 10.1016/j.paid.2015.03.010 .

 Alcock, J.E. (2018).  Book Review, Kate. Oatley K. Oatley (2018), “Our Minds, Our Selves: A Brief History   of Psychology”. American Journal of Psychology, 132(1), 119-122.

Reber, A.S. & Alcock, J.E. (2020). Searching for the impossible: Parapsychology’s elusive quest. American Psychologist , 75(3),  391–399.

Alcock, J.E. (2020). Parapsychology: The search science left behind .Physics in Canada,  76(1)  


Book Chapters

  

Alcock, J.E. (1981). Psychology and near-death experiences. In K. Frazier (Ed.), Paranormal Borderlands of Science (pp. 153-169). Buffalo: Prometheus Books. [Reprint of Alcock, 1979)]

Alcock, J.E.  (1985) Parapsychology as a "spiritual science".  In P. Kurtz (Ed.), A skeptic's handbook of parapsychology (pp. 537-565) Buffalo, N.Y.: Prometheus Books.

Alcock, J.E. (1986). Parapsychology's past eight years: a lack-of-progress report.  In K. Frazier (Ed.), Science confronts the paranormal. (pp.20-27). Buffalo: Prometheus Books.  [Reprint of Alcock, (1984)]

Alcock, J.E. (1992). Religion and rationality. In J. Schumaker (Ed.), Religion and mental health (pp. 122-131).  Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Alcock, J.E. (1994) An analysis of psychic sleuths' claims. In J. Nickell (Ed.), The psychic sleuths (pp. 172-190).  Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.

Alcock, J.E. (1996). The propensity to believe. In N. Levitt. et al (Eds.), The flight from reason. New York: New York Academy of Sciences.

Alcock, J.E. (1997). Social psychology and mental health. In Sadava, S. et al (Eds.) Applied social      psychology. New York: Prentice-Hall.

Alcock, J.E. (1998).The belief engine. In K. Frazier (Ed.),  (1998). Encounters with the paranormal. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books. [Reprint of Alcock, 1985]

Alcock, J.E. (2000).  Alternative medicine and the psychology of belief.  In W.  Sampson and L.  Vaughn (Eds.), Science meets alternative medicine: What the evidence says about unconventional treatments.  Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.

Alcock, J.E. (2001). Science versus pseudoscience, non-science, and nonsense.  In P.  Kurtz (Ed.)    Skeptical Odysseys.  Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Press.

Alcock, J.E. (2003).  Give the null hypothesis a chance.  Reasons to remain doubtful about the existence of psi.  In Alcock, J.E., Burns, J. & Freeman, A..  (Eds.)  Psi Wars.  London: Imprint Academic. [Translated into Swedish:Alcock, J.E. (2005) Parapsykologins problem. In J. Jeskert & S.O. Hansson (Eds.), Vetenskap eller villfarelse (pp 197-220). Sweden: Leopard Forlag].  

Alcock, J.E. (2006).  The social psychology of sustainability. In E. Laszlo & Peter Siedel (Eds)., Global survival : the challenge and its implications for thinking and acting. New York: Select Books.

Alcock, J.E. (2009). The psychology of chronic pain.  In  R. Oatley & J. McLeish (Eds.), Oatley McLeish Guide to Anatomy and Impairment, Toronto: LexisNexis Canada

Alcock, J.E. (2009).   The parapsychologist’s lament.  In S. Krippner & H.  Friedman (Eds), Mysterious Minds: The Neurobiology of Psychics, Mediums and other Extraordinary People, Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood (Pp. 35-44)

Alcock, J.E. (2010).   Attributions about impossible things. In In S. Krippner & H.  Friedman(Eds), Debating Psychic Experiences. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger (Pp. 29-42).

Alcock, J. E. (2016). Forward. In T. Witkowski, Psychology led astray. (PP. ix-x). Boca Raton, FL: Brown Walker Press

Alcock, J. E. (2017). Afterward-Bear in mind. In K. Stollznow (Ed.), Would you believe it? (Pp.239-246).

Alcock, J. E. (2017). Afterword-  “Bear in mind.”  In K. Stollznow (Ed.), Would you believe it? (Pp.239-246).

Alcock, J.E. (2021). Belief and the cognitive unconscious. In A.S. Reber & R. Allen (Eds.),  The cognitive unconscious: The first half-century. (pp. ??-??). Oxford: Oxford University Press

Alcock, J.E. (In Pres). ESP and PK. In S. Hupp & R. Wiseman (Eds.), Investigating Pop Psychology Pseudoscience.  Routledge


 


    


Other Publications

 



Member, Joint Designation Committee, Association of State and Provincial Psychology Boards/ National Register. 1991- 1997. Chairperson, 1993-95

Member of Council, Canadian Register of Health Service Providers in Psychology. 1986-1988

Member, Ontario Board of Examiners in Psychology, 1985-1990. Secretary-Treasurer, 1986-87. Chairperson, 1987-88

Member, Task Force on Legislation, Ontario Board of Examiners in Psychology  1990-91

Member, Search Committee for Registrar, Ontario Board of Examiners in Psychology, 1991.

Examiner, Oral Examination Committee, Ontario Board of Examiners in Psychology, 1982, 1983

Chair of Examination Team, Oral Examination Committee, Ontario Board of Examiners in Psychology, 1990-99


Co-Editor, Special Issue, Journal of Consciousness Studies, 2002

Programme Evaluator, Psychology Programme, University of Ottawa, 1996

Chair, Section on Social Psychology, Canadian Psychological Association, 1984-86.

Member, Editorial Board, Canadian Psychology, 1984-1987.

Member, Mental Health Management Review Committee, National Health Research and Development Program, Health and Welfare Canada, Ottawa, 1989.

Member, Working Group (Evaluation of parapsychology). Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States. Washington D.C., September 29-30, 1988.

Member, Selection Committee for Leave and Postdoctoral Fellowships, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Ottawa, 1981.

BBS Associate - (Behavioral and Brain Sciences)

Member, Editorial Board, The Skeptical Inquirer.

Member, Executive Council, Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.

Series Editor, Psychology Series. Prometheus Books. 1986-89.

Consulting Editor, Zetetic Scholar.

Consulting Editor, The Journal of Near-death Studies.

Psychological Consultant, International Primate Protection League,

Secretary-treasurer, Ontario Congress of Academic Psychologists, 1975-77.

Member, Board of Directors, Interest Group for the Teaching of Psychology, 1973-74.

Scientific Advisor, Forces Beyond Productions 1994

Consulting Editor, The Dictionary of Psychology (R.J. Corsini). Philadelphia, PA: Brunner/Mazel. 1999

Member, Council for Scientific Medicine

Member, Editorial Board, The Scientific Review of Alternative Medicine

Member, Commission  for Scientific Medicine and Mental Health           

Member, Advisory Board, American Council on Science and Health

Occasional Reviewer:

                  Journal   of   Personality   and   Social Psychology

                  Journal of Conflict Resolution

                  Canadian Psychology

                  Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science

                  Journal of Educational Psychology

                  American Psychologist

                  Psychological Reports

                  Perceptual and Motor Skills

                  Merrill-Palmer Quarterly

                  Journal of Parapsychology

                  Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of  Canada                                                                                  

                  Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute

                  National Health and Welfare Research Development                                                                                 

                 Alberta Mental Health Research Fund

                Parapsychology Association (1994 conference)

               Animal Behavior

               Imagination, Cognition and Personality

              Perspectives on Psychological Science

             Psychology of Consciousness: Theory, Research, and Practice

            Columbia University Press

            Palgrave Press

Member, Board of Directors, North American Chronic Pain Association of Canada, 1987-90. Honorary Member, 1990 - present.

Psychological Consultant, Department of Psychology, Workers' Compensation Board Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre, Downsview, Ontario, 1974-1987.

Member, Definition of Blindness Committee, Canadian National  Institute for the Blind, 1983.

 Member, Child Sexual Abuse Collaborative Treatment Protocol Development Committee. Region of  Peel, 1985.

 


English
Français