Twin Cities campus

This is archival data. This system was retired as of August 21, 2023 and the information on this page has not been updated since then. For current information, visit catalogs.umn.edu.

 
Twin Cities Campus

Cognitive Science Ph.D.

CLA Dean's Office
College of Liberal Arts
Link to a list of faculty for this program.
Contact Information
Center for Cognitive Sciences, University of Minnesota, N108 Elliott Hall, 75 East River Road, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (612-626-3570; fax: 612-626-7253)
Email: cogsci@umn.edu
Website: http://www.cogsciphd.umn.edu/index.shtml
  • Program Type: Doctorate
  • Requirements for this program are current for Fall 2023
  • Length of program in credits: 60
  • This program does not require summer semesters for timely completion.
  • Degree: Doctor of Philosophy
Along with the program-specific requirements listed below, please read the General Information section of this website for requirements that apply to all major fields.
Cognitive science is broadly concerned with integrating contemporary approaches to the study of the mind/brain, and with the systems and processes underlying the acquisition and use of knowledge. The coherence of the program lies in its intellectual focus on cognition. This program spans cellular, behavioral, and psychological levels of scientific analysis in the study of cognition in a single unified graduate program. It integrates the diverse content, methods, and perspectives of a number of different disciplines (e.g., anthropology, biology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology), which are concerned with, or in some sense inform, our understanding of cognition. The PhD program trains cognitive scientists to conduct research integration methodologies and content knowledge from a variety of approaches. In order to ensure an interdisciplinary approach, each student has two co-advisors from the cognitive science graduate faculty, each representing a different discipline from within the cognitive sciences.
Program Delivery
  • via classroom (the majority of instruction is face-to-face)
Prerequisites for Admission
Special Application Requirements:
Applications should be received no later than December 1 of the preceding academic year. Entry is usually in fall semester but may be permitted in other semesters in exceptional cases.
International applicants must submit score(s) from one of the following tests:
  • TOEFL
    • Internet Based - Total Score: 79
    • Internet Based - Writing Score: 21
    • Internet Based - Reading Score: 19
    • Paper Based - Total Score: 550
  • IELTS
    • Total Score: 6.5
  • MELAB
    • Final score: 80
Key to test abbreviations (TOEFL, IELTS, MELAB).
For an online application or for more information about graduate education admissions, see the General Information section of this website.
Program Requirements
24 credits are required in the major.
12 credits are required outside the major.
24 thesis credits are required.
This program may be completed with a minor.
Use of 4xxx courses toward program requirements is permitted under certain conditions with adviser approval.
A minimum GPA of 2.80 is required for students to remain in good standing.
Coursework offered on both the A-F and S/N grade basis must be taken A-F to be applied to major-field and elective requirements. Required coursework is described below.
Introduction Course (3 credits)
Select one of the following courses in consultation with the advisor. A substitute course can be applied to this requirement with approval of the director of graduate studies.
PSY 8042 - Proseminar in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior (3.0 cr)
or CGSC 5051 - Overview of Cognitive Psychology (3.0 cr)
Electives (30 credits)
Select at least 3 credits from each of the disciplines below, in consultation with the advisor and subject to the approval of the Cognitive Science director of graduate studies, for a total of 18 credits. The remaining 12 credits can be from the following list or other coursework as appropriate for the research focus. Advisor and DGS approval is required.
Cognitive Psychology (3 credits)
CPSY 8301 - Developmental Psychology: Cognitive Processes (4.0 cr)
EPSY 5114 - Psychology of Student Learning (3.0 cr)
EPSY 8112 - Mathematical Cognition (3.0 cr)
EPSY 8116 - Reading for Meaning: Cognitive Processes in the Comprehension of Texts (3.0 cr)
EPSY 8118 - Advanced Cognitive Psychology (3.0 cr)
PSY 5014 - Psychology of Human Learning and Memory (3.0 cr)
PSY 5015 - Cognition, Computation, and Brain (3.0 cr)
PSY 5031W - Perception [WI] (3.0 cr)
PSY 5054 - Psychology of Language (3.0 cr)
PSY 5062 - Cognitive Neuropsychology (3.0 cr)
PSY 5064 - Brain and Emotion (3.0 cr)
PSY 8010 - Advanced Topics in Learning (3.0 cr)
PSY 8036 - Topics in Computational Vision (3.0 cr)
PSY 8041 - Proseminar in Perception (3.0 cr)
PSY 8055 - Seminar: Cognitive Neuroscience (3.0 cr)
PSY 8201 - Social Cognition (3.0 cr)
Computer Science (3 credits)
CSCI 5115 - User Interface Design, Implementation and Evaluation (3.0 cr)
CSCI 5127W - Embodied Computing: Design & Prototyping [WI] (3.0 cr)
CSCI 5421 - Advanced Algorithms and Data Structures (3.0 cr)
CSCI 5511 - Artificial Intelligence I (3.0 cr)
CSCI 5521 - Machine Learning Fundamentals (3.0 cr)
CSCI 5525 - Machine Learning: Analysis and Methods (3.0 cr)
CSCI 5561 - Computer Vision (3.0 cr)
CSCI 5609 - Visualization (3.0 cr)
CSCI 5619 - Virtual Reality and 3D Interaction (3.0 cr)
CSCI 8115 - Human-Computer Interaction and User Interface Technology (3.0 cr)
CSCI 8551 - Intelligent Agents (3.0 cr)
Linguistics (3 credits)
Please note LING 8900 may be used depending on the specific topic taken.
LING 5001 - Introduction to Linguistics (4.0 cr)
LING 5201 - Syntactic Theory I (3.0 cr)
LING 5202 - Syntactic Theory II (3.0 cr)
LING 5205 - Semantics (3.0 cr)
LING 5206 - Linguistic Pragmatics (3.0 cr)
LING 5207 - Advanced Semantics (3.0 cr)
LING 5801 - Introduction to Computational Linguistics (3.0 cr)
LING 8200 - Topics in Syntax and Semantics (3.0 cr)
LING 8210 - Seminar in Syntax (3.0 cr)
LING 8900 - Seminar: Topics in Linguistics (3.0 cr)
LING 8921 - Seminar in Language and Cognition (3.0 cr)
Neuroscience (3 credits)
NSC 5461 - Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience (3.0 cr)
NSC 5561 - Systems Neuroscience (4.0 cr)
NSC 5661 - Behavioral Neuroscience (2.0 cr)
NSC 8217 - Systems and Computational Neuroscience (2.0 cr)
NSCI 5505 - Mind and Brain (4.0 cr)
NSCI 5551 - Statistical Foundations of Systems Neuroscience (3.0 cr)
Philosophy (3 credits)
CGSC 8000 - Seminar: Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences (3.0 cr)
PHIL 5085 {Inactive} (3.0 cr)
PHIL 5331 - Contemporary Moral Theories (3.0 cr)
PHIL 5615 - Mind, Bodies and Machines (3.0 cr)
PHIL 8131 - Epistemology Survey (3.0 cr)
PHIL 8180 - Seminar: Philosophy of Language (3.0 cr)
PHIL 8602 - Scientific Representation and Explanation (3.0 cr)
PHIL 8620 - Seminar: Philosophy of the Biological Sciences (3.0 cr)
PHIL 8670 - Seminar: Philosophy of Science (3.0 cr)
Thesis Credits
Take 24 doctoral thesis credits.
CGSC 8888 - Thesis Credit: Doctoral (1.0-24.0 cr)
Research Breadth (3 Credits)
Select at least 3 credits in consultation with the advisor and subject to the approval of the Cognitive Science director of graduate studies.
CGSC 8410 - Perspectives in Learning, Perception, and Cognition (2.0 cr)
CGSC 8991 - Independent Study (1.0-4.0 cr)
 
More program views..
View college catalog(s):
· College of Liberal Arts

View PDF Version:
Search.
Search Programs

Search University Catalogs
Related links.

College of Liberal Arts

Graduate Admissions

Graduate School Fellowships

Graduate Assistantships

Colleges and Schools

One Stop
for tuition, course registration, financial aid, academic calendars, and more
 
PSY 8042 - Proseminar in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Fall Even Year
Advanced topics in cognition, brain, and behavior. Lecture, discussion, and student-led presentations of research papers on core topics of attention, memory, emotion, categorization, thinking, and language, and intersections between these areas. prereq: Psy grad student or instr consent
CGSC 5051 - Overview of Cognitive Psychology
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: Psy 3051 / CGSC 5051
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Fall
This course provides a comprehensive introduction to the major tools, assumptions, and theories of cognitive psychology, exploring the nature of thought processes such as attention, memory, concept, reasoning, perception, emotion, and language. This course lays a foundation for understanding how the mind works and how the brain produces such a mind.
CPSY 8301 - Developmental Psychology: Cognitive Processes
Credits: 4.0 [max 4.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
Perceptual, motor, cognitive, and language development, and biological bases of each. Conceptual framework of research issues. prereq: Doctoral student, instr consent
EPSY 5114 - Psychology of Student Learning
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: EPsy 3301/EPsy 5114
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Fall
This course is an introduction to the theories, data, and methods of Educational Psychology most relevant to understanding student thinking and learning. The first third of the course reviews those aspects of cognitive development that are foundational for education. The second third considers how cognitive psychology informs questions of learning, memory, knowledge, and transfer. With this background in place, the final third of the course will focus on the classroom: on instruction, motivation, individual differences, and group differences. The course concludes by considering the neural correlates of classroom learning.
EPSY 8112 - Mathematical Cognition
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Spring
Cognitive science research. Papers investigating how adults/children understand fundamental mathematical concepts. Papers drawn from psychology, neuroscience, education literatures. prereq: 5114 or equiv
EPSY 8116 - Reading for Meaning: Cognitive Processes in the Comprehension of Texts
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Spring
Cognitive processes that take place during reading comprehension/implications of these processes for instruction/assessment.
EPSY 8118 - Advanced Cognitive Psychology
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
This course is a graduate introduction to cognitive psychology. It is "advanced" in the sense that it focuses on higher-level cognition, and also in its emphasis on theories and models in addition to empirical results. Graduate students interested in cognitive psychology are invited to register for the course, regardless of disciplinary background.
PSY 5014 - Psychology of Human Learning and Memory
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Spring Odd Year
Human memory encoding/retrieval. How we adaptively use memory. Brain systems that support memory. Episodic/semantic memory. Working/short-term memory. Procedural memory. Repetition priming. Prospective remembering. Autobiographical memory. prereq: 3011 or 3051 or honors or grad student
PSY 5015 - Cognition, Computation, and Brain
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Spring Even Year
Human cognitive abilities (perception, memory, attention) from different perspectives (e.g., cognitive psychological approach, cognitive neuroscience approach). prereq: [Honors or grad] or [[jr or sr], [3011 or 3031 or 3051 or 3061]] or instr consent
PSY 5031W - Perception (WI)
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: NSc/Psy 5031
Typically offered: Fall Odd Year
Cognitive, computational, and neuroscience perspectives on visual perception. Topics include color vision, pattern vision, image formation in the eye, object recognition, reading, and impaired vision. prereq: 3031 or 3051 or instr consent
PSY 5054 - Psychology of Language
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
Theories/experimental evidence in past/present conceptions of psychology of language. prereq: Grad or [[jr or sr], [3011 or 3031 or 3051 or 3061]] or instr consent
PSY 5062 - Cognitive Neuropsychology
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
Consequences of different types of brain damage on human perception/cognition. Neural mechanisms of normal perceptual/cognitive functions. Vision/attention disorders, split brain, language deficits, memory disorders, central planning deficits. Emphasizes function/phenomenology. Minimal amount of brain anatomy. prereq: Grad or [[jr or sr], [3011 or 3031 or 3051 or 3061]] or instr consent
PSY 5064 - Brain and Emotion
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Spring Odd Year
Introduction to affective neuroscience. How brain promotes emotional/motivated behavior in animals/humans. Biological theories of emotion in historical/current theoretical contexts. Fundamental brain motivational systems, including fear, pleasure, attachment, stress, and regulation of motivated behavior. Implications for emotional development, vulnerability to psychiatric disorders. prereq: 3061 or 5061 or instr consent
PSY 8010 - Advanced Topics in Learning
Credits: 3.0 [max 12.0]
Grading Basis: S-N or Aud
Typically offered: Periodic Spring
Contemporary topics in learning and behavior theory. prereq: 5012 or instr consent
PSY 8036 - Topics in Computational Vision
Credits: 3.0 [max 12.0]
Typically offered: Every Spring
Recent research in visual psychophysics, visual neuroscience, and computer vision. prereq: 5031 or 5036 or equiv or instr consent
PSY 8041 - Proseminar in Perception
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Fall Odd Year
Seminar. Advanced topics in auditory and visual perception. Lecture, discussion, and student-led presentations of research papers on core topics of the peripheral visual and auditory systems, cortical representations, behavioral and brain-imaging methods, and computational approaches to understanding/simulating perception. prereq: Psy grad student or instr consent
PSY 8055 - Seminar: Cognitive Neuroscience
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Spring Odd Year
Recent advances in analysis of neural bases of cognitive functions. prereq: 5015 or instr consent
PSY 8201 - Social Cognition
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Periodic Fall
Social psychological theory/research on social inference and reasoning processes. Psychology of prejudice/stereotyping. prereq: Psych PhD candidate
CSCI 5115 - User Interface Design, Implementation and Evaluation
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
Theory, design, programming, and evaluation of interactive application interfaces. Human capabilities and limitations, interface design and engineering, prototyping and interface construction, interface evaluation, and topics such as data visualization and World Wide Web. Course is built around a group project. prereq: 4041 or instr consent
CSCI 5127W - Embodied Computing: Design & Prototyping (WI)
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Fall Even Year
In this course, you will learn and apply the principles of embodied computing to human-centered challenges. Through a semester-long team project, you will learn and demonstrate mastery of human-centered embodied computing through two phases: (1) investigating human needs and current embodied practices and (2) rapidly prototyping and iterating embodied computing solutions. One of the ways you will demonstrate this mastery is through the collaborative creation of a written document and project capstone video describing your process and prototype. prereq: CSci 4041, upper division or graduate student, or instructor permission; CSci 5115 or equivalent recommended.
CSCI 5421 - Advanced Algorithms and Data Structures
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Fundamental paradigms of algorithm and data structure design. Divide-and-conquer, dynamic programming, greedy method, graph algorithms, amortization, priority queues and variants, search structures, disjoint-set structures. Theoretical underpinnings. Examples from various problem domains. prereq: 4041 or instr consent
CSCI 5511 - Artificial Intelligence I
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: CSci 4511W/CSci 5511
Prerequisites: [2041 or #], grad student
Typically offered: Every Fall
Introduction to AI. Problem solving, search, inference techniques. Logic/theorem proving. Knowledge representation, rules, frames, semantic networks. Planning/scheduling. Lisp programming language. prereq: [2041 or instr consent], grad student
CSCI 5521 - Machine Learning Fundamentals
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall
Problems of pattern recognition, feature selection, measurement techniques. Statistical decision theory, nonstatistical techniques. Automatic feature selection/data clustering. Syntactic pattern recognition. Mathematical pattern recognition/artificial intelligence. Prereq: [2031 or 2033], STAT 3021, and knowledge of partial derivatives
CSCI 5525 - Machine Learning: Analysis and Methods
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Fall Even Year
Models of learning. Supervised algorithms such as perceptrons, logistic regression, and large margin methods (SVMs, boosting). Hypothesis evaluation. Learning theory. Online algorithms such as winnow and weighted majority. Unsupervised algorithms, dimensionality reduction, spectral methods. Graphical models. prereq: Grad student or instr consent
CSCI 5561 - Computer Vision
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Spring
Issues in perspective transformations, edge detection, image filtering, image segmentation, and feature tracking. Complex problems in shape recovery, stereo, active vision, autonomous navigation, shadows, and physics-based vision. Applications. prereq: CSci 5511, 5521, or instructor consent.
CSCI 5609 - Visualization
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Fall Even Year
Fundamental theory/practice in data visualization. Programming applications. Perceptual issues in effective data representation, multivariate visualization, information visualization, vector field/volume visualization. prereq: [1913, 4041] or equiv or instr consent
CSCI 5619 - Virtual Reality and 3D Interaction
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Spring Odd Year
Introduction to software, technology/applications in virtual/augmented reality, 3D user interaction. Overview of current research. Hands-on projects. prereq: 4611 or 5607 or 5115 or equiv or instr consent
CSCI 8115 - Human-Computer Interaction and User Interface Technology
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall & Spring
Current research issues in human-computer interaction, user interface toolkits and frameworks, and related areas. Research techniques, model-based development, gesture-based interfaces, constraint-based programming, event processing models, innovative systems, HCI in multimedia systems. prereq: 5115 or instr consent
CSCI 8551 - Intelligent Agents
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall
Theories of intelligent agents. Agent architectures; knowledge representation, communication, cooperation, and negotiation among multiple agents; planning and learning; issues in designing agents with a physical body; dealing with sensors and actuators; world modeling. prereq: 5511 or instr consent
LING 5001 - Introduction to Linguistics
Credits: 4.0 [max 4.0]
Course Equivalencies: Ling 3001/3001H/5001
Typically offered: Every Fall, Spring & Summer
Scientific study of human language. Methods, questions, findings, and perspectives of modern linguistics. Components of the language system (phonetics/phonology, syntax, semantics/pragmatics); language acquisition; language and social variables; language and cognition; language change; language processing; language and public policy; language and cognition.
LING 5201 - Syntactic Theory I
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: Ling 4201/Ling 5201
Typically offered: Every Fall
Concepts/issues in current syntactic theory. Prereq: LING 5001 and graduate student or honors student, or instructor consent
LING 5202 - Syntactic Theory II
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: Ling 4202/Ling 5202
Typically offered: Every Spring
Modern syntactic theory. Syntactic phenomena in various languages. Syntactic argumentation, development of constraints on grammar formalisms. prereq: 5201 or instructor consent. LING 5201 is directed towards honors students and graduate students.
LING 5205 - Semantics
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Analysis of sentence meaning. Semantic properties. Relations such as analyticity, entailment, quantification, and genericity. Philosophical background, formal techniques of semantic analysis, how sentence meaning depends on word meaning, syntax, and context. The role of semantics in grammatical theory. prereq: [4201 or 5201] or instr consent
LING 5206 - Linguistic Pragmatics
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Every Spring
Analysis of linguistic phenomena in relation to beliefs and intentions of language users; speech act theory, conversational implicature, presupposition, information structure, relevance theory, discourse coherence. prereq: [4201 or 5201] or instr consent
LING 5207 - Advanced Semantics
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Fall
In this course, we will explore some semi-advanced to advanced topics in the field of natural language semantics. Broadly construed, natural language semanticists study how human beings process complexity in meaning in language, with the building blocks being how small units of meaning compose together to form larger and larger units, all of which are produced and understood in milliseconds. Building on the fundamental foundations of semantic theory learnt in Semantics, Advanced Semantics is geared towards providing expansive knowledge on several vital topics that current vibrant research in the field is concerned with. The array of topics include quantifier scope, definiteness and indefiniteness, plurals and mass/count nouns, attitude predicates and attitude ascription, event semantics, tense and aspect, modality and conditionals, questions, focus and alternative semantics, and imperatives. As we make our way through the critical last few decades of formal semantics through these vast and diverse topics, we will balance empirical coverage and formalism with development of intuition and methodology. Prerequisites: LING 5205 - Semantics I
LING 5801 - Introduction to Computational Linguistics
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Spring Odd Year
Methods/issues in computer understanding of natural language. Programming languages, their linguistic applications. Lab projects. prereq: [4201 or 5201] or programming experience or instr consent
LING 8200 - Topics in Syntax and Semantics
Credits: 3.0 [max 9.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall
Syntax and semantics of natural language, with particular emphasis on the interface between the two. prereq: 5202, 5205 or instr consent
LING 8210 - Seminar in Syntax
Credits: 3.0 [max 9.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall
Current issues in syntactic theory. Topics vary. prereq: 5202, 5205 or instr consent
LING 8900 - Seminar: Topics in Linguistics
Credits: 3.0 [max 9.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Topics vary. See Class Schedule. prereq: instr consent
LING 8921 - Seminar in Language and Cognition
Credits: 3.0 [max 6.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
Language-related issues in cognitive science from a linguistic perspective. Serves as elective for cognitive science minor, but only for linguistics nonmajors. prereq: instr consent
NSC 5461 - Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience
Credits: 3.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Every Fall
Lectures by team of faculty, problem sets in important physiological concepts, discussion of original research papers. prereq: NSc grad student or instr consent
NSC 5561 - Systems Neuroscience
Credits: 4.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Every Fall
Principles of organization of neural systems forming the basis for sensation/movement. Sensory-motor/neural-endocrine integration. Relationships between structure and function in nervous system. Team taught. Lecture, laboratory. prereq: NSc grad student or instr consent
NSC 5661 - Behavioral Neuroscience
Credits: 2.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis: A-F or Aud
Typically offered: Every Spring
Neural coding/representation of movement parameters. Neural mechanisms underlying higher order processes such as memorization, memory scanning, and mental rotation. Emphasizes experimental psychological studies in human subjects, single cell recording experiments in subhuman primates, and artificial neural network modeling. prereq: Grad NSc major or grad NSc minor or instr consent
NSC 8217 - Systems and Computational Neuroscience
Credits: 2.0 [max 2.0]
Grading Basis: S-N or Aud
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Advanced seminar. prereq: 5561 or instr consent
NSCI 5505 - Mind and Brain
Credits: 4.0 [max 4.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Every Spring
This course is intended as an introduction to the new views on the relationship between mind and brain. Over the last several decades, a new view of cognition and neural processing has been developed based on the concepts of algorithm, representation, computation, and information processing. Within this theoretical framework, psychological constructs are computational processes occurring across physical neural systems. We will take a neuroscience and psychological perspective in which the physical neuroscience instantiates but does not diminish the psychological constructs. Although our conceptual framework will be computational, this course will not require or expect any mathematical or computer background. At the completion of this class, you will understand the implications of the physical nature of the brain, how mentation is explicable from physical processes, and how decision-making arises from those same physical processes. Importantly, you will also understand the limitations of current knowledge and the methodologies being used to push those limitations. This class is not intended as a final step in this understanding, but as a first step into these issues. At the conclusion of the class, you should have sufficient understanding to continue more in-depth reading and study in these issues. There are no official prerequisites. However, I have found that students who have EITHER a strong computational background (computer science, mathematics, economics, physics) OR have taken an introductory neuroscience course (e.g. NSCI 2100) have done better in the class than students with no background. However, I have seen students come in with very little background and do well in the class if they engage with the class and work hard.
NSCI 5551 - Statistical Foundations of Systems Neuroscience
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Grading Basis: A-F only
Typically offered: Spring Even Year
The purpose of this course is to provide the student with a familiarity with the mathematical and statistical techniques to practice contemporary systems neuroscience. Topics are chosen with a focus on current areas of active research, as well as problems that have driven the field over the past twenty years. The class will combine lectures with discussions of important systems neuroscience papers, and will move at a fast pace. It is intended for graduate students and ambitious undergraduates. One major difference between this course and other math and statistics courses is the focus on systems neuroscience. Our examples will come from the Systems Neuroscience field. Our research priorities will come from Systems Neuroscience and our Friday paper discussions will draw exclusively from scholarly papers in Systems Neuroscience.
CGSC 8000 - Seminar: Philosophy of the Cognitive Sciences
Credits: 3.0 [max 6.0]
Course Equivalencies: CgSc 8000/Phil 8640
Typically offered: Spring Odd Year
Philosophical framework for analyzing cognitive sciences. Recent developments in metaphysics and epistemology. Nature of scientific theories, methodologies of cognitive sciences, relations among cognitive sciences, relation of cognitive science to epistemology, and various philosophical problems.
PHIL 5331 - Contemporary Moral Theories
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: Phil 4331/Phil 5331
Typically offered: Periodic Fall & Spring
Is morality objective, just a matter of feeling, or something in between? How do we know even the most basic of moral truths? Do I always have a reason to do what is moral? What motivates people to be moral and why do some people behave immorally? This class looks at these and related questions in metaethics, moral psychology, and other areas of contemporary moral theory. prereq: 1003 or instr consent
PHIL 5615 - Mind, Bodies and Machines
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Course Equivalencies: Phil 4615/Phil 5615
Typically offered: Periodic Fall & Spring
Mind-body problem. Philosophical relevance of cybernetics, artificial intelligence, computer simulation. Mental phenomena present the philosopher with a number of deep but inescapable puzzles and challenges. We tend to suppose that we know what it is to have a mind, to have beliefs, desires, etc., and we think that we know how to explain our own behavior and that of others -- and all of this without any formal training in the relevant science. All of this is surely amazing; indeed it verges on the outrageous. We admit to not knowing the makeup of the simplest structures, to not knowing how to explain the behavior of the simplest organisms -- we, OF COURSE, leave such issues to scientific investigation. Yet, at the same time, we think we know how to explain the behavior of this most complex of systems; we know how to do it, and we know what we are talking about when we explain behavior by citing the relevant beliefs, desires, etc. And, to repeat, we know all of this with no formal training. Strange indeed. Not only is this initial confidence puzzling, but attempts to articulate the mental story and to integrate it into the larger scientific picture have all proven problematical. We start our investigation with a very brief glance at a mid-century proposal that initiated a very different way of thinking about mind: the proposal by Turing -- one of the great minds of the 20th Century--that machines of a certain kind could exhibit intelligence. A story told in part in the recent movie, The Imitation Game. We then turn to some more traditional approaches to mind: Cartesianism, Behaviorism and Materialism. prereq: one course in philosophy or instr consent
PHIL 8131 - Epistemology Survey
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall
Survey, against background of traditional issues, of contemporary developments in theory of knowledge.
PHIL 8180 - Seminar: Philosophy of Language
Credits: 3.0 [max 6.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
Topics vary by offering. prereq: 4231 or instr consent
PHIL 8602 - Scientific Representation and Explanation
Credits: 3.0 [max 3.0]
Typically offered: Periodic Fall & Spring
Contemporary issues concerning representation and explanation of scientific facts.
PHIL 8620 - Seminar: Philosophy of the Biological Sciences
Credits: 3.0 [max 6.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall
Topics vary by offering.
PHIL 8670 - Seminar: Philosophy of Science
Credits: 3.0 [max 6.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Topics vary by offering. prereq: instr consent
CGSC 8888 - Thesis Credit: Doctoral
Credits: 1.0 -24.0 [max 100.0]
Grading Basis: No Grade
Typically offered: Every Fall, Spring & Summer
(No description) prereq: Max 18 cr per semester or summer, 24 cr required
CGSC 8410 - Perspectives in Learning, Perception, and Cognition
Credits: 2.0 [max 24.0]
Grading Basis: S-N only
Typically offered: Every Fall & Spring
Lectures/discussions in cognitive sciences by local/visiting faculty.
CGSC 8991 - Independent Study
Credits: 1.0 -4.0 [max 15.0]
Typically offered: Every Fall, Spring & Summer
Independent study. prereq: instr consent