Robert A. Baker

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Robert A. Baker
Lincoln Laboratory
Human Resources Research Office at Fort Knox
University of Kentucky

Robert Allen Baker Jr. (June 27, 1921 – August 8, 2005) was an American psychologist, professor of psychology emeritus of the University of Kentucky,[1] skeptic, author, and investigator of ghosts, UFO abductions, lake monsters and other paranormal phenomena. He is the editor of Psychology in the Wry, a collection of satire, and was formerly the co-editor of Approaches, a quarterly journal of contemporary poetry. His satirical and humorous verses have appeared in Vogue, Saturday Review, The Journal of Irreproducible Results, Worm-Runners' Digest, and other journals.[2] He wrote 15 books[3] and is a past fellow of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry.[4]

Personal life

Baker was born in 1921 in the little community of Blackford, in

cryptographer during World War II, and began reading about human psychology at that time.[6]

Baker died of congestive heart failure on the 52nd anniversary of his marriage to Rose Paalz "Dolly" Baker, with whom he fathered six children.[6]

Academic career

Baker graduated from the University of Kentucky in 1948 and later returned to receive a master's degree in psychology. He received a doctorate in psychology from Stanford University in 1951.[5]

After completing his PhD, he became a staff scientist at MIT's

Lincoln Laboratory, doing military research. In 1953 he joined the Human Resources Research Office at Fort Knox
, where he did human factors research relating to the Army.

He served on the faculty of

Chico State College and Indiana University Southeast and was a staff psychologist for the Kentucky Department of Corrections.[7] In 1969 he joined the faculty of the University of Kentucky in the psychology department. He was chairman of the psychology department for four years.[6]
Baker spent the last 20 years of his career here, until his retirement.

He served as president of the Kentucky Psychological Association and was a fellow of the American Psychological Association.[8]

Baker was a critic of pseudoscience in the practice of psychiatry and psychotherapy, and of the coercive nature of psychiatry. He wrote on this topic and allied himself with Thomas Szasz in his criticism.[9] In a 2002 letter to Szasz, Baker metaphorically referred to psychiatrists as "rapists wearing the mantle of science."[10]

Career as a skeptic

His parents instilled skepticism in him from an early age. He was interested in ghosts as a child, but was disappointed to discover upon investigation that the noises emanating from a nearby "haunted cave" were actually natural in origin.[6]

As a university psychologist, he sometimes encountered cases with a paranormal element. He would do his best to find a non-paranormal explanation or resolution for these cases, and eventually gained a reputation as a "ghost buster".[6]

When Joe Nickell was seeking an advanced degree at the University of Kentucky, the two met. They later worked together on several paranormal investigations and co-wrote a book on the topic. Nickell once said, "No one knew more about alien abductions than Robert Baker."[8]

After retiring from the university in 1989, he devoted much of his time to

alien abductions and false memory syndrome. Baker wrote that many paranormal phenomena can be explained via psychological effects such as hallucinations, sleep paralysis and hidden memories, a phenomenon in which experiences that originally make little conscious impression are filed away in the brain to be suddenly remembered later in an altered form.[11]

He was an organizer with and served as president of the

Kentucky Association of Science Educators and Skeptics.[8] He wrote numerous articles and book reviews for Skeptical Inquirer magazine[12][13][14] and CSI's Skeptical Briefs newsletter.[15][16][17]

In 2000, he was acknowledged when a panel of experts chose the outstanding skeptics of the 20th Century.[18]

At a meeting of the executive council of the Committee for Skeptical Inquiry (CSI) in Denver, Colorado in April 2011, Baker was selected for inclusion in CSI's Pantheon of Skeptics. The Pantheon of Skeptics was created by CSI to remember the legacy of deceased fellows of CSI and their contributions to the cause of scientific skepticism.[19]

Plagiarism allegations

Readers of

Pseudoscience and the Paranormal.[21] Baker responded in Skeptical Inquirer. stating that he used Melvin Harris' book Investigating the Unexplained as a source, rather than the article or Hines' book, and that he gave Harris credit but forgot the quotation marks.[22]

Bibliography

Scholia has a profile for Robert A. Baker (Q7341189).

  • Baker, Robert A. (1963), A Stress Analysis of a Strapless Evening Gown, and Other Essays for a Scientific Age, New York: Prentice Hall,
    OCLC 338410
  • Baker, Robert A. (1963), Psychology In The Wry, Princeton, New Jersey: Van Nostrand Company,
    OCLC 656894
  • Baker, Robert Allen; Nietzel, Michael T. (1985), Private Eyes: 101 Knights : a Survey of American Detective Fiction, 1922-1984, Bowling Green, Ohio: Popular Press,
    ISBN 0-87972-330-0
  • Baker, Robert A. (1990), They Call It Hypnosis, Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books,
    ISBN 0-87975-576-8
  • Baker, Robert A.;
    ISBN 0-87975-729-9
  • Baker, Robert A. (1996), Hidden Memories: Voices and Visions from Within, Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books,
    ISBN 0-87975-576-8
  • Baker, Robert A. (1996), Mind Games: Are We Obsessed With Therapy?, Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books,
    ISBN 1-57392-071-1
  • Baker, Robert A. (1998), Baker, Robert A. (ed.), Child Sexual Abuse and False Memory Syndrome, Amherst, New York: Prometheus Books,
    ISBN 1-57392-182-3

References

  1. ISSN 0161-7370
    . Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  2. ^ "Robert A. Baker".
  3. ^ "CSICOP Laments Passing of Two World Class Paranormal Experts Philip Klass and Robert Baker" (Press release). CSICOP. 12 August 2005. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  4. ^ "CSICOP / Fellows". The Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 15 June 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  5. ^
    OCLC 5010152
    , retrieved 8 December 2008
  6. ^ a b c d e Bernstein, Adam (12 August 2005). "Obituary: Psychology Expert Robert Baker; Unmasked Ghostly Apparitions". The Washington Post. pp. B05. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  7. S2CID 145148977
    .
  8. ^ a b c "Robert Baker 1921 - 2005". Kentucky Association of Science Educators and Skeptics. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 4 December 2008.
  9. ISSN 1086-1653
    , retrieved 2008-12-28
  10. ^ "Letter to Thomas Szasz from Psychologist Robert A. Baker | PDF | Psychiatry | Psychology".
  11. ISBN 978-1573920940
  12. ISSN 0194-6730
  13. ISSN 0194-6730
  14. ISSN 0194-6730, archived from the original
    on January 19, 2009, retrieved 2008-12-29
  15. ISSN 1060-216X, archived from the original
    on January 25, 2009, retrieved 2008-12-29
  16. ISSN 1060-216X, archived from the original
    on December 10, 2008, retrieved 2008-12-29
  17. ISSN 1060-216X, archived from the original
    on October 7, 2008, retrieved 2008-12-29
  18. ^ "The Ten Outstanding Skeptics of the 20th Century". csicop.org. Skeptical Inquirer. January–February 2000. Retrieved 6 October 2018.
  19. ^ "The Pantheon of Skeptics". CSI. Committee for Skeptical Inquiry. Archived from the original on 31 January 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
  20. ^ Grey, William (Summer 1994). "For the Record". Skeptical Inquirer. 18 (4): 111.
  21. ^ Hines, Terence (July–August 1995). "A Failed Look At Memory and Perceptions". Skeptical Inquirer. 19 (4): 44–45.
  22. ^ Baker, Robert A., "Robert A. Baker Responds" [to Hines 1995], Skeptical Inquirer, 19 (4), 45-46.

External links

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