CGSC 270 Introduction to Cognitive Science
MW 3:45-5:00
GO TO
Texts
Green, D. et al. Cognitive Science: An Introduction. Oxford: Blackwell, 1996. (G)
All other readings are on reserve in the library:
Reserve Packet
L. Gleitman and M. Liberman, eds. An Invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol. 1: Language. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1995. (GL)
D. Scarborough and S. Sternberg, eds. An Invitation to Cognitive Science, Vol. 4: Methods, Models, and Conceptual Issues. Cambridge: MIT Press, 1998. (SS)
Sterelny, K. The Representational Theory of Mind. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990. (ST)
Requirements
all students must use email and the web
Examinations
All examinations are take-home and must be submitted on the stated due date. Late examinations will not be accepted. Examinations must be submitted in word-processed form. Since these are take-home examinations, you can use your notes and books, but the answers are to be your own work (no group answers, no copying, etc.) and thoroughly edited and proofed.
Course Outline
A. Fundamentals
1. Science and Cognitive Science
The convergence of linguistics, psychology, neuroscience, computer science, philosophy, and biology on a unified account of the representation- machine. Cognitive science and scientific metatheory.
READING:G, Chs. 1 & 2
2. Six Principles of Cognitive Science
Levels of explanation. Relations across levels. Inside/outside. Representation. Computation. Architecture.
READING: ST, 1,2,3 & 8
B. Details of the Device
3. Computation
Physical devices and virtual machines. Learnability and computability.
READING: von Eckhardt, The Computational Assumption (reserve); G, Ch. 3; Optional: Lehman et al. A Gentle Introduction to Soar (SS, 6), Anderson, Learning Arithmetic with a Neural Network (SS, 7).
4. Brain as Wetware
Brain and neuron structure and function. How we crash at our joints. Loss of representation vs. loss of access to representations.
5. Cognition
Limits of the information processor. Input devices. Kinds of memory. Kinds of mental content. Activities of the processor.
READING:Review G, Ch. 3
6. Genes, Subwetware, and Evolution
How come we turned out like this? The nature and pitfalls of accounts via inheritance. What children already know. What animals already know.
READING: Lewontin The Evolution of Cognition (SS, 3); Gallistel, Symbolic Processes in the Brain (SS, 1); Spelke: Initial Knowledge (reserve).
EXAMINATION #1
C. Domains of Representation
7. Objects, Space, and Faces
Low-level vs. high-level. Edges, surfaces, color, motion, generalized cones, etc. What and where. A priori spatial knowledge? Faces vs. objects. Complexes. Verticality. Kinds of loss of spatial and face knowledge
READING: G, Ch. 4
8. Language
The abstract modular structure of mental grammar. Phonology, syntax, and semantics. Universal grammar, learnability, and acquisition. Aphasias.
READING: G, Chs. 5,7,8 &9; Optional: Liberman, The Sound Structure of Mawu Words (GL, 3); Lasnik, The Forms of Sentences (GL, 10); Gleitman and Newport, The Invention of Language by Children (GL, 1); Pinker, Language Acquisition (GL, 6)
EXAMINATION #2
9. Music
Formal structure of music. Grouping, meter, reduction. Similarities to and differences from language. Innate musical knowledge? Amusia.
READING: Gelman and Brenneman, First Principles... (reserve); Jackendoff, Musical Parsing and Musical Affect (reserve)
10. Mathematics
Counting and cardinality. Incrementation and decrementation. Sets and grouping. Acalculia.
READING Wynn, Evidence Against Empiricist Accounts... (reserve)
11. Other Minds
Responses to minds, not behavior. Metarepresentation. A social knowledge module? Autism and TOM loss.
READING: Gopnik and Wellman, The Theory Theory (reserve); Baron-Cohen et al., Does the Autistic Child Have a Theory of Mind?
E. Applications and Frontiers
12. Applied Cognitive Science
Learning and teaching: mathematics, reading, and second languages.
READING: Nesher, Learning Mathematics (reserve); G, Ch. 6; Optional: Massaro, Models for Reading Letters and Words (SS, 8)
13. Consciousness
Awareness, self-knowledge, what it is like to be you
READING: Flanagan and Dryden, Consciousness and the Mind... (SS, 4);
14. Challenges
Other theories: no computation, no representation.
READING: van Gelder and Port, It's About Time (reserve)
EXAMINATION #3
Rough Chronology
Feb
10 Science and Cogsci
15 Science and CogSci/Six Principles
17 Six Principles
22 Computation
24 Computation
Mar
1 Brain
3 Brain
8 Cognition
10 Cognition
15 Evolution
17 Evolution
22 EXAM 1 Due/Space & Face
24 Space & Face
Apr
5 Space & Face
7 Space & Face
12 Language
14 Language
19 Language
21 Language
26 Exam 2 Due/Music
28 Music/Math
May
3 Math/Other Minds
5 Other Minds
10 Reading
12 Math Learning
17 Consciousness
19 Challenges
Exam 3 Due Day of Scheduled Final