Keith J. Holyoak conducts research in human reasoning, learning, decision making, and problem solving. Much of his work is concerned with the role of analogy in thinking. One of the major themes is the way in which analogy serves as a psychological mechanism for learning and transfer of knowledge. More broadly, Dr. Holyoak conducts research on the nature of the relational knowledge that underlies analogy, causal learning, and deduction. He investigates how relational knowledge is used to reason in domains ranging from law and politics to science. Dr. Holyoak's research combines studies of thinking in normal adults with computational modeling, and with neuropsychological studies of how thinking is impaired in brain-damaged individuals. This work, in collaboration with Barbara Knowlton and others, focuses on the role of the prefrontal cortex in complex human reasoning.
