Course Description

This course provides an introduction to cognitive science, the study of mind, from an interdisciplinary perspective that includes cognitive psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and artificial intelligence.

The central metaphor of cognitive science views the brain as a complex biological computing machine, the physical properties of which give rise to the mind's capacity for perceiving the world, controlling actions, generating and understanding language, doing logical reasoning, and even consciousness. But what exactly does it mean to view thought as a complex computation? How far does this metaphor take us in practice, and what insights does it offer?

In this course, we will investigate the nature of computation and its relationship to human, and possibly machine, intelligence. We will do this in a hands-on way by experimenting with models of cognitive processes such as language, perception, memory, and learning, and we will explore the idea of embodied cognition by experimenting with simulated robots.

Typically we will meet in the classroom on Tuesdays (SCI 181) for lecture and in the Computer Science lab on Thursdays (SCI 240) to do hands-on experiments with computational models.

Course Materials

• Required text: Understanding Intelligence by Pfeifer and Scheier
• Excerpts from Cognitive Science, an Introduction by Stillings, Weisler, Chase, Feinstein, Garfield, and Rissland
• Articles:
  • "Decoding the language of the bee", by von Frish, Nobel lecture delivered in 1973
  • "What children learn about language", from The scientist in the crib by Gopnik, Melzoff, and Kuhl
  • "Finding structure in time" by Elman
  • "Language instruction in the laboratory", from Doctor Dolittle's Delusion by Anderson

Grading

Homework Policy

Each student will receive an account on the Computer Science Department's computer system. You will use a program called cogs1handin to turn in your homework. This program allows you to resubmit your homework multiple times up until the deadline.

No late homework will be accepted unless you contact me at least 1 day in advance of the due date to explain why extra time is necessary.

Schedule

I expect you to do the weekly reading prior to the first class meeting of the week.