Dr. Frank Keil

Biography

Frank Keil is the Charles C. Dorathea S. Dilley Professor of Psychology and Linguistics at Yale University. His research primarily focuses on cognition and development, exploring how children and adults construct causal interpretations of the world. His work investigates the complexities of causal understanding and the cognitive processes that lead to perceptions of these complexities. He studies how humans simplify and interpret vast amounts of causal information, constructing mental models or gists that represent complex realities. His interests extend to the recognition of knowledge gaps and how individuals interpret their own limitations in knowledge. Keil employs a developmental perspective, examining how young children understand different levels of causal structures and how these early competencies lay the groundwork for more sophisticated causal reasoning. He also delves into the interplay between domain-specific and domain-general processes and the ways individuals naturally construct explanatory accounts in various domains, especially in folk science contexts.

Research Interests