Kenneth James William Craik (1914 - 1945)

By Lisa.annh

  • Cambridge

    Cambridge
    In 1940, Dr. Craik earned his doctorate from Cambridge University. In 1941, he had a fellowship to St. Joh's College, Cambridge, and was appointed a the first Director of the Medical Research Council's Applied Psychology unit in 1944. He was one of the first practitioners of cognitive science (BSY Study Group). Reference: BSY Group Study. "Dr. K J W Craik & Forty Years on: Kenneth Craik's The Nature of Explanation 02.09.2017." Psychology Home Study Course 2017/18. 2017.

  • Dr. Kenneth Clark writes the The Nature of Explanation

    Dr. Kenneth Clark writes the The Nature of Explanation
    In 1943, Dr. Kenneth Clark wrote The Nature of Explanation which laid the foundation for the concept of mental models which is he most notably known for. His book introduced the notion of cognitive brain function in terms of internal models. The concept of mental models is that the mind forms models of reality to predict similar future events (Psychology Wiki). Reference: Psychology Wiki. "Kenneth Craik." Psychology Wiki. Fandom, Inc. 2019. https://psychology.wikia.org/wiki/Kenneth_Craik

  • Theory of Human Operators in Control Systems

    Theory of Human Operators in Control Systems
    In 1947, his two part paper, "Theory of Human Operators in Control Systems" was published posthumously by the British Journal of Psychology. Dr. Craik believed that man resembled a chain of sensory devices, a computing system, an amplifying system, and mechanical linkages (People Pill). His paper gained popularity for being a promising model for studying human performance in complex tasks. Reference: People Pill. "Kenneth Craik." People Pill. https://peoplepill.com/people/kenneth-craik/

  • Real World Application

    Real World Application
    Link text In 2016, Charles Duhigg, a Pulitzer-prize and author of Smarter Faster Better and other books, published a YouTube video on "Build Mental Models to Enhance Your Focus," modeled after Dr. Craik's concept of mental models. In his YouTube video, Duhigg provides examples of how creating a mental model can help us be alert and prepare our brains to predict future problems and have answers to those problems through envisioning what they can expect to occur.