COGNITIVE SCIENCE

FACULTY ADVISORY COMMITTEE:

CURTIS BROWN, Ph.D., Professor, Philosophy; Chair

PAULA T. HERTEL, Ph.D., Professor, Psychology

JANE B. CHILDERS, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Psychology

J. PAUL MYERS, JR., Ph.D., Professor, Computer Science

YU ZHANG, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Computer Science

The minor in Cognitive Science gives students the opportunity to study the nature of cognition from the point of view of several related disciplines. Psychology, philosophy, and computer science share a common interest in the nature of knowledge, the means by which it is stored, acquired, and retrieved, the commonalities shared by biological and electronic information processing entities, and the ways knowledge is used in thinking and problem solving. The minor allows students to bring the theories and methods of these various disciplines to bear on a common set of problems. The minor requires 18 hours, with 12 additional hours of prerequisites in Computer Science.

I.      Core Courses (9 hours):

CSCI 3344       Artificial Intelligence

PHIL 3331        Philosophy of Mind

PSYC 2330      Fundamentals of Cognition

II.     Elective Courses (9 hours):

At least two courses must be chosen from the following:

PSYC 3311      Sensation and Perception

PSYC 3331      Memory and Cognition

PSYC 3333      Simulation of Neural and Cognitive Processes

The remaining course, if any, may be chosen from the following:

CSCI 3-90        Directed Study*

CSCI 3291       Current Topics in Computer Science*

NEUR 2310      Introduction to Neuroscience

PHIL 3-90         Directed Studies*

PSYC 3-61      Reading and Research*

PSYC 3321      Cognitive Development

PSYC 3368      Supervised Research*

* with approval of the topic by the Chair of the Cognitive Science Committee

III.    Computer Science Courses Required as Prerequisites:

CSCI 1320       Principles of Algorithm Design I

CSCI 1321       Principles of Algorithm Design II

CSCI 1323       Discrete Structures

CSCI 2320       Principles of Data Abstraction (may be waived by permission of CSCI 3344 instructor)