Keith was born June 20th in Dover, England to William Thomas and Olive Stock Rayner.  His family emigrated to the United States in 1949 and settled in Salt Lake City, Utah.  He served an LDS mission to England from 1962-1964.  Married Susan Rae Knight , December 16, 1966 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple.  He attended the University of Utah and earned his Doctorate  from Cornell University.  Keith and his family lived in Massachusetts for 35 years before moving to San Diego.  He was a professor at the University of Rochester, University of Massachusetts Amherst and the UC San Diego Atkinson Family Distinguished Professor at the time of his death.  He excelled in the field of Experimental Psychology, receiving numerous honors and awards.  He was an avid sports fan and particularly fond of the Boston Red Sox, Boston Celtics and the New England Patriots.  He coached numerous Amherst youth baseball teams his son participated in.  He was an active member of the LDS church and served in various capacities throughout his life.  In addition to his loving wife, he is survived by his children, Ashley (Jason) and Jonathan (Becky), his two beautiful granddaughters, Isabel and Samantha, his mother Olive, siblings Pete (Kathy), Sue (Brent) and Julie.  Preceded in death by his father (Bill), sister (Nancy), in-laws Clifford and Rae Knight), brother in-law (Dave) and nephew (Hunter).

CAREER:

B.S. & M.S. in Psychology, University of Utah

Ph.D. Cornell University, Thesis:  The Perceptual span and Peripheral Cues in Reading

1973 – Appointed Assistant Professor of Education Psychology, and Visual Science the University of Rochester. He moved to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 1981.  Moved to the University of California San Diego in 2008 where he held the position of Atkinson Family Professor of Psychology at the time of his passing.  He was the editor of the Journal of Experimental Psychology:  Learning, Memory, and Cognition from 1990-1995 and editor of Psychology Review from 2004-2010.