Cognitive Science Concentration (CGSC)

Director: Professor Kathleen M. Galotti

Cognitive Science examines different approaches to questions concerning the nature of mind, the representation of knowledge, the acquisition, comprehension, and production of language, the development of learning and intelligence, the use of information to draw inferences and make decisions, and the assessment of "goodness of fit" between purportedly similar systems (e.g., the computer and the mind).

Exploration of some or all of these questions has been and is being undertaken in such disciplines as cognitive psychology, linguistics, philosophy, intelligence, neuroscience, social cognition and others. The concentration in Cognitive Science therefore represents a formal means of bringing together students and faculty in different disciplines who share common interests. We seek to enrich the view provided by any one discipline through an exploration or the methodologies of others.

The concentration is designed for students majoring in psychology, philosophy, computer science, or linguistics (as a special major), although all students are welcome.

Requirements for the Concentration:

To encourage breadth within the concentration, normally no more than four courses taken from a single department may be counted toward the minimum eight required.

Core Courses: (24 credits-four six-credit courses)

• CGSC 130 Introduction to Cognitive Science: How to Build a Mind

One other alternative entry point into the concentration is enrollment in the TRIAD--three linked sections of Psych 110, Bio 125, and Philo 110. TRIAD students may count successful completion as the equivalent of CGSC 130 (or 230) plus ONE elective course.

A second alternative entry point into the concentration is enrollment in the DYAD--three linked sections of Biology 125 and Philosophy 110. DYAD students may count successful completion as the equivalent of Cognitive Science 130 plus ONE elective course.

Plus any two of the following courses:

• LING 115 Introduction to Theory of Syntax
• CGSC/PSYC 232/233 Cognitive Processes and Laboratory
• PHIL 210 Logic or CS 111 (formerly CS 117) Introduction to Computer Science

Elective Courses: (24 credits) from the following list. At least one must be a 300-level course. No more than four courses from any one department (or cross-listed with any one department) may be counted toward the concentration.

• BIO 365 Topics in Neuroscience
• BIO 368 Developmental Neurobiology
• BIO 379 Seminar: Behavioral Genetics
• BIOL 386 Neurobiology
• CGSC 236 Thinking, Reasoning, and Decision-Making (Not offered in 2009-10)
• CGSC 380 Seminar in Developmental Psychology: Cognitive Development During the Preschool Years (Not offered in 2009-2010)
• CGSC 385 Adolescent Cognitive Development: Developing an Identity and Life Plans
• CS 254 Automata and Computability
• CS 321 Artificial Intelligence
• CS 322 Natural Language Processing
• EDUC 234 Educational Psychology
• LING 216 Morpho-Syntax
• LING 217 Phonetics and Phonology
• LING 230 Language and Aspect
• LING 265 Language and Brain
• LING 270 Language, Speech and Evolution
• LING 275 First Language Acquisition
• LING 315 Topics in Syntax
• LING 317 Topics in Phonology (Not offered in 2009-10)
• LING 325 Syntax of Unfamiliar Language
• LING 340 Topics in Semantics
• MUSC 235 Music Perception and Cognition
• PHIL 110 Evolution and Mind
• PHIL 110 Mind and Knowledge
• PHIL 110 Cartesian Meditations
• PHIL 212 Epistemology
• PHIL 220 Philosophy of Mind (Not offered in 2009-10)
• PHIL 220 Topics: Induction and Scientific Reasoning
• PHIL 253 Philosophy of Cognitive Studies (Not offered in 2009-10)
• PSYC 216 Behavioral Neuroscience
• PSYC 220 Sensation and Perception
• PSYC 234 Psychology of Language (Not offered in 2009-10)
• PSYC 250 Developmental Psychology (Not offered in 2009-10)
• PSYC 258 Social Cognition (Not offered in 2009-10)
• PSYC 370 Topics in Cognition: Attention and Consciousness
• PSYC 374 Eyewitness Testimony in Children: Reconstructive Memory (Not offered in 2009-10)
• PSYC 375 Language and Deception
• SOAN 260 Myth, Ritual, and Symbolism (Not offered in 2009-10)
• SOAN 274 Language, Culture and Society