Cognitive Science

Cognitive Science is the interdisciplinary study of human thought and behavior. It combines methods, theories and applications from many disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, linguistics, computer science, neuroscience and biology. The Cognitive Science majors, B.A. and B.S., provide a broad knowledge of cognitive science and its philosophical foundations, including speech, language, communication, social interaction and culture; perception and action, vision, audition, memory, and cognitive neuroscience; and neural networks, agent-based modeling, human-computer and human-robot interaction, and artificial intelligence (AI). A degree in Cognitive Science provides training in on-line and real-time data collection regarding human behavior and its neural, embodied, social, and cultural bases; quantitative analyses of neural, behavioral, and linguistic data; and computational modeling of neural and cognitive processes.

Students may complete the major by choosing coursework that satisfies the general Cognitive Science B.A. or B.S. requirements, or students may specialize by earning a degree in one of three different emphasis areas in Cognitive Science: Language and Culture, Cognitive Neuroscience, or Computation and Cognition.

The Cognitive Science major prepares students for graduate school and careers in industry and government. Depending on emphasis area, courses, and research experience, students may go on to pursue Masters or Ph.D. degrees in Cognitive Science or any of the disciplines listed above. Students may also pursue medical school (for example, focusing on practices related to brain function or behavioral disorders) or law school (for example, focusing on policy, regulation or intellectual property issues associated with AI or neurotechnology). In industry and government, students may pursue careers in areas such as research in corporate and national labs, data science and analytics, AI training and conversational design, user experience/human-computer interaction, medical human factors, speech-language pathology, computational linguistics, learning/instructional design, educational technology, and marketing. 

Cognitive Science Program Learning Outcomes

Upon graduation, students majoring in Cognitive Science will be able to:

1. Explain and apply knowledge of landmark findings and theories in cognitive science.
2. Design, interpret, and evaluate simple behavioral and neuroscientific experiments.
3. Understand and apply foundational, formal, and computational principles in cognitive science, including basic statistical and quantitative principles.
4. Argue for or against theoretical positions in cognitive science.
5. Use a Cognitive Science education outside of the undergraduate classroom, particularly in the service of careers.

Programs

• Cognitive Science, B.A.
• Cognitive Science, B.S.
• Cognitive Science, Cognitive Neuroscience Emphasis, B.A.
• Cognitive Science, Cognitive Neuroscience Emphasis, B.S.
• Cognitive Science, Computation and Cognition Emphasis, B.A.
• Cognitive Science, Computation and Cognition Emphasis, B.S.
• Cognitive Science, Language and Culture Emphasis, B.A.
• Cognitive Science, Language and Culture Emphasis, B.S.

• Cognitive Science Minor