Keith Rayner (June 20, 1943 – January 21, 2015) was a

cognitive psychologist Cognitive psychology is the scientific study of mental processes such as attention, language use, memory, perception, problem solving, creativity, and reasoning. Cognitive psychology originated in the 1960s in a break from behaviorism, which he ...

best known for pioneering modern

eye-tracking Eye tracking is the process of measuring either the point of gaze (physiology), gaze (where one is looking) or the motion of an eye relative to the head. An eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and Eye movement (sensory), eye mo ...

methodology in reading and visual perception.

Career

Rayner obtained his B.S. and M.S. in Psychology at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

and subsequently obtained his Ph.D. from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

with thesis titled ''The Perceptual Span and Peripheral Cues in Reading''. In 1973, he was appointed as an Assistant Professor of Education, Psychology, and Visual Science at

University of Rochester The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The University of Roc ...

. From there, he moved to the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

in 1978. In 2008, Rayner moved to

University of California, San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

, where he held the position of Atkinson Family Professor of Psychology. Rayner was the editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition from 1990 to 1995 and editor of

Psychological Review ''Psychological Review'' is a bimonthly peer-reviewed academic journal that covers psychological theory. It was established by James Mark Baldwin (Princeton University) and James McKeen Cattell (Columbia University) in 1894 as a publication vehi ...

from 2004 to 2010.

Honors and awards

Rayner has received numerous awards for his achievements. In particular, he received the

Chancellor’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006, the Bartlett Lecture Lifetime Achievement Award from the Experimental Psychology Society in 2007, an Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Research Award in 2009, and a UC San Diego Chancellor’s Associates Research Award in 2010. Rayner was named Carnegie Centenary Professor for 2011 by the

Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland The Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland is a charitable trust established by Andrew Carnegie in 1901 for the benefit of the universities of Scotland, their students and their staff. The incorporation of the Trust was by royal cha ...

Teaching

Rayner taught at the following universities: *

(Assistant Professor of Education, Psychology, and Visual Science) *

(Emeritus Distinguished Professor) *

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

(Visiting Professor) * Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study (Invited Visiting Fellow) *

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

(Honorary Professor) * Tianjin Normal University (Honorary Professor) *

University of Southampton , mottoeng = The Heights Yield to Endeavour , type = Public research university , established = 1862 – Hartley Institution1902 – Hartley University College1913 – Southampton University Coll ...

(Honorary Professor) * University of Potsdam (Visiting Humboldt Professor) *

(Atkinson Family Professor of Psychology)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rayner, Keith 1943 births 2015 deaths 20th-century American psychologists American cognitive psychologists University of Utah alumni Cornell University alumni