This course introduces you to the exciting interdisciplinary field of cognitive science devoted to the study of human intelligence and intelligent systems. Researchers in philosophy, neuroscience, psychology, artificial intelligence, and linguistics realized that they were asking many of the same questions about the nature of the human mind/brain, that they had developed complementary and synergistic methods of investigation, and that the evidence led them to compatible answers to their questions. This course introduces cognitive science through a representative sample of such questions, methods, and answers.

It is not a special-topic course for students who seek detailed knowledge in a specific area of cognitive science, but as a broad survey of different approaches within the field of cognitive science. We will try not to lose sight of the forest for the trees but we will take a closer look at a few trees too because science is in the details. Along the way, we will introduce the constituent disciplines and their respective contributions to the study of cognition. We will discuss the foundational concepts of computation and information processing from multiple points of view. Two unifying themes are emphasized throughout: (1) Information processing: The mind/brain is viewed as a complex system that receives, stores, retrieves, transforms, and transmits information. (2) Neuroscience grounding: Explicit effort is made to show how mental phenomena emerge from the interactions of networks of neurons in the brain.

Prereq: A total of 12 cr hrs from any of the following areas: CSE, Ling, Philos, or Psych, or Grad standing, or permission of instructor. Not open to students with credit for CSE 5531, Ling 5612 or Philos 5830. Cross-listed in CSE 5531, Ling 5612, and Philos 5830.