What is Cognitive Science?
CSA:WEEK 1
Sign-In Form
Cognitive Science
Cognitive science is a multidisciplinary study of the human mind, attempting to understand how it functions. It studies visual perception, memory, thinking, and reasoning, language, social cognition, and decision making. It aims to glean a deeper and more effective understanding of the human mind, which could be used to develop intelligent machines.
What is Cognitive Science built upon?
Cognitive science builds on insights from a range of disciplines, including psychology, philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, sociology, biology, neuroscience, and artificial intelligence. It’s essentially a study of the manner in which the mind works and behaves.
Psychology
Understanding mental representations & processes
Computer Science and AI
Building computer models of human cognition
Linguistics
Understanding the strsucture of language
Neuroscience
Understanding how the brain works
Philosophy
Understanding the limits of theories
Anthropology
Understanding humanity as a whole
Cognitive Science
Subfields
The concept of psychology only really started developing in the 1800s and the focus was on experimental psychology. Scientists had adopted the theory of behaviorism around this time. This theory revolved around the idea that specific behaviors were programmed and would take place as a biological reaction to stimuli.
In the 1950s, the Cognitive Revolution was kicked off when some researchers from across a range of fields began developing mind-based theories that were created based on computational procedures and complex representations. Cognitive psychology started gaining traction and by the 1960s it was very widely accepted.
Cognitive Science History
Perception
Problem-solving
Learning
Decision making
Language use
Emotional experience
Several types of thinking within Cognitive Science!
1:
2:
3:
4:
5:
6:
Disclaimer!
The courses presented are not directly affiliated with the Cognitive Science Department
Psychology
Psychology is the study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans ,both conscious and unconscious phenomena.
Psych 122C Clinical Psychology
Psych 130A Perception & Sens Proc
Psych 140J Judge & Dec Making
Neuroscience
Neuroscience is the scientific study of the nervous system, its functions and disorders
Psych 130N Neuroscience Perception
Psych 160A Cognitive Neuroscience
Psych 119 Psychophysics Research
Building computer models to produce human behavior and learn how to problem solve at a higher level.
Computer Science and AI
PSYCH 14M Matlab Programming
Cogs 112R Cognitive Robotics
Cogs 108 Neural Analytics
Careers in Cognitive science
Software development
Data Analyst
Occupational Therapist
Professor
Computational Linguist
Lets Chat
Take a few seconds to think of which subfield most interests you!
Introduce yourself to your group (name and major) and share why you’re interested in that particular subfield
3. Questions!!!!
2. Lets Chat