Frank Keil

Frank Keil

Frank Keil is a researcher and co-author of the 2008 neuroscience-explanations paper and of the 2002 paper on the illusion of explanatory depth.

Who they are

Frank Keil is a researcher and co-author of the 2008 neuroscience-explanations paper and of the 2002 paper on the illusion of explanatory depth. On this site the name is tied to Seductive Allure of Neuroscience Explanations, Illusion of Explanatory Depth.

Key papers

Weisberg, D. S., Keil, F. C., Goodstein, J., Rawson, E., & Gray, J. R. (2008). The seductive allure of neuroscience explanations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(3), 470-477.

Rozenblit, L., & Keil, F. (2002). The misunderstood limits of folk science: An illusion of explanatory depth. Cognitive Science, 26(5), 521-562.

Key ideas

Seductive Allure of Neuroscience Explanations: The finding that irrelevant neuroscience detail makes weak explanations seem more satisfying to nonexperts.

Illusion of Explanatory Depth: The tendency to believe we understand how things work in more depth than we do.

Sources

  1. Weisberg, D. S., Keil, F. C., Goodstein, J., Rawson, E., & Gray, J. R. (2008). The seductive allure of neuroscience explanations. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 20(3), 470-477.
  2. Rozenblit, L., & Keil, F. (2002). The misunderstood limits of folk science: An illusion of explanatory depth. Cognitive Science, 26(5), 521-562.