COG, Module 1: Introduction to Cognitive Science

The aim of the course is to familiarize the student with different paradigms and discussions in the cognitive sciences. The course aims at introducing students to the science of the mind mainly from the perspectives of philosophy and psychology. In the course of the module, students will be introduced to the following aspects of cognitive science:

• The interdisciplinary nature of cognitive science and its different frameworks - from the classical computational models to connectionism

• How key concepts are introduced and used by different frameworks

• How cognitive processes and human behaviour can be described and explained at various levels of explanation (ranging from descriptions of cognitive tasks to neurobiological implementation)

• Standard theories of core cognitive operations like perception, memory, problem-solving, and speech processing, and how these various operations are involved in communication.

• How applications of cognitive science may have relevance for communication (in particular linguistics and pragmatics)

• Accounting for basic issues in philosophy of mind and theory of psychology such as differences within theories of mind (functionalism, eliminativism, etc.), the status of common sense psychology and the nativism debate.

   

  Teaching methods and examination:

  The course is taught as a mixture between lectures and seminars and includes class discussion, group work, group presentations, and writing exercises. Examination consists of active class participation and a take-home assignment with an optional subject. Active class participation is defined as (i) the student participates in 75% of the classes, incl. discussions and individual and group exercises (ii) the student produces 3 written exercises during the course, each consisting of 2-4 standard pages, which must be approved by the examiner, and (iii) the student gives feedback on one other exercise written in the same course by another student.