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Birth
Kenneth Craik was a young scientist who made great strides in his time. In the world where philosophy and science intersect, there is a large gray zone where not many affiliated with the world of science wander. Born in Scotland on March 29, 1914, Craik had an early love of learning. Although young, Craik was ahead of his time in many aspects. Sadly, Craik tragically lost his life 31 years later to a bicycle accident. -
Graduation from University of Cambridge
Education played a large role in the life and work of Kenneth Craik. He studied Philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and then went on to achieve a PhD in Psychology at Cambridge University in 1940. The start of World War 2 led him to work in applied research with the armed forces. He assisted in studying the effects of fatigue on pilots, something that had never before been considered at that time. -
Publishing of 'The Nature of Explanation'
The Nature of Explanation was published by Kenneth Craik in 1943. Essentially, he laid the groundwork for mental models in this book. This later became more widely known as cognitive science. In his book, Craik cited five main attitudes to the problems of knowledge and explanation as “a priorism, skepticism, descriptive theories, relational theories, and casual theories” (Collison, 2000, Page 60). -
Craik was elected to be the Director of the Medical Research Council’s Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge
In 1944, Craik was elected to be the first Director of the Medical Research Council’s Applied Psychology Unit at Cambridge. Craik was a mere 30 years old at the time. Craik was focused on the nature of the human thought and the possibility that its “characteristics may be evident in non-human mechanisms” (Collinson, 2000, Page 60). In other words, the beginning ideas of artificial intelligence were beginning to emerge at an infant level by Craik. -
Death
On May 7, 1945, Kenneth Craik tragically lost his life while on a bicycle accident on Cambridge. He was only 31 years old.