Two students look at a computer monitor in the perception lab.

Cognitive Science examines different approaches to questions concerning:

  • The nature of mind
  • The representation of knowledge
  • The acquisition, comprehension, and production of language
  • The development of learning and intelligence
  • The use of information to draw inferences and make decisions
  • The assessment of “goodness of fit” between purportedly similar systems (e.g., the computer and the mind).

Two students look at a computer monitor in the perception lab.

About Cognitive Science

Cognitive Science examines different approaches to questions concerning the nature of mind, the representation of knowledge, the acquisition, comprehension, and production of language, the development of learning and intelligence, the use of information to draw inferences and make decisions, and the assessment of “goodness of fit” between purportedly similar systems (e.g., the computer and the mind). Exploration of some or all of these questions has been and is being undertaken in such disciplines as cognitive psychology, linguistics, philosophy, artificial intelligence, neuroscience, robotics, social cognition, behavioral economics, anthropology, education, and others.

The major and minor in Cognitive Science therefore represent a formal means of bringing together students and faculty in different disciplines who share common interests. We seek to enrich the view provided by any one discipline through an exploration of the methodologies of others. The minor is designed for students majoring in psychology, philosophy, computer science, or linguistics, although all students are welcome.

Requirements for the Cognitive Science Major

Total credits required for the major: 70

Required courses: 46 credits

  • Note: Prior to beginning the comps sequence, majors must have completed CGSC 130: What Minds Are What They Do, CGSC/PSYC 232: Cognitive Processes/233 and PSYC 200: Measurement and Data Analysis in Psychology/201

Elective Courses: 24 credits from the following list. At least two must be a 300-level course. To ensure sufficient interdisciplinarity, no more than four courses may be taken from any one department or program.

  • BIOL 365: Seminar: Topics in Neuroscience
  • BIOL 368: Seminar: Developmental Neurobiology (not offered 2024-25)
  • BIOL 386: Neurobiology (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 100.00: Living with Artificial Intelligence (24/FA)
  • CGSC 236: Thinking, Reasoning, and Decision Making (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 253: Philosophy of Cognitive Science (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 330: Embodied Cognition
  • CGSC 336: Moral Thinking, Reasoning, and Decision Making (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 340: Phenomenology and Cognitive Science (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 382: Cognitive Development in Children and Adolescents (not offered 2024-25)
  • CS 254: Computability and Complexity
  • CS 314: Data Visualization
  • CS 314*: Data Visualization (*=Junior Seminar) (not offered 2024-25)
  • CS 320: Machine Learning
  • CS 321: Making Decisions with Artificial Intelligence
  • CS 322: Natural Language Processing
  • CS 344: Human-Computer Interaction
  • CS 361: Artificial Life and Digital Evolution
  • ECON 265: Game Theory and Economic Applications
  • ECON 267: Behavioral Economics
  • EDUC 234: Educational Psychology
  • IDSC 250: Color!
  • LING 117: Sociophonetics (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 216: Generative Approaches to Syntax
  • LING 217: Phonetics and Phonology
  • LING 219: Sociophonetic Analysis
  • LING 275: First Language Acquisition (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 276: Bilingualism & Code-Switching (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 280: Field Methods in Linguistics (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 315: Topics in Syntax
  • LING 316: Topics in Morphology (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 317: Topics in Phonology (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 325: Syntax of an Unfamiliar Language (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 340: Topics in Semantics (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 350: Invented Languages: From Toki Pona to Na’vi (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 375: Second Language Acquisition: Speech (not offered 2024-25)
  • MUSC 227: Perception and Cognition of Music
  • NEUR 127: Foundations in Neuroscience and Lab
  • PHIL 112: Intelligence, Agency and Autonomous Machines (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 116: Sensation, Induction, Abduction, Deduction, Seduction
  • PHIL 203: Bias, Belief, Community, Emotion (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 217: Reason in Context: Limitations and Possibilities (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 223: Philosophy of Language (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 225: Philosophy of Mind (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 257: Contemporary Issues in Feminist Philosophy
  • PHIL 297: Kant’s Philosophy of Mind (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 319: Self-Knowledge (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 373: Reptiles and Demons (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 214: Neuropsychology of Aging (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 216: Behavioral Neuroscience
  • PSYC 220: Sensation and Perception
  • PSYC 234: Psychology of Language
  • PSYC 238: Memory Processes (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 250: Developmental Psychology (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 258: Social Cognition (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 267: Clinical Neuroscience (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 366: Cognitive Neuroscience (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 367: Neuropsychology of Aging
  • PSYC 371: Evolutionary and Developmental Trends in Cognition (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 375: Language and Deception (not offered 2024-25)
  • RELG 270: Philosophy of Religion (not offered 2024-25)

Requirements for the Cognitive Science Minor

To encourage breadth within the minor, normally no more than four courses taken from a single department or program may be counted toward the minimum eight courses required.

Core Courses: (26 credits of four six-credit courses plus one two-credit lab course)

  • CGSC 130: What Minds Are What They Do Introduction to Cognitive Science
  • CGSC 232: Cognitive Processes/CGSC 233: Laboratory in Cognitive Processes/PSYC 232: Cognitive Processes/PSYC 233: Laboratory in Cognitive Processes Cognitive Processes and Laboratory in Cognitive Processes (8 credits)

           Plus any two of the following courses:

  • CS 111: Introduction to Computer Science Introduction to Computer Science
  • LING 115: Introduction to the Theory of Syntax Introduction to Theory of Syntax
  • PHIL 210: Logic Logic

Elective Courses: 24 credits from the following list. At least one must be a 300-level course. To ensure sufficient interdisciplinarity, no more than four courses may be taken from any one department or program.

  • BIOL 365: Seminar: Topics in Neuroscience
  • BIOL 368: Seminar: Developmental Neurobiology (not offered 2024-25)
  • BIOL 386: Neurobiology (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 100.00: Living with Artificial Intelligence (24/FA)
  • CGSC 236: Thinking, Reasoning, and Decision Making (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 253: Philosophy of Cognitive Science (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 330: Embodied Cognition
  • CGSC 336: Moral Thinking, Reasoning, and Decision Making (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 340: Phenomenology and Cognitive Science (not offered 2024-25)
  • CGSC 382: Cognitive Development in Children and Adolescents (not offered 2024-25)
  • CS 254: Computability and Complexity
  • CS 314: Data Visualization
  • CS 314*: Data Visualization (*=Junior Seminar) (not offered 2024-25)
  • CS 320: Machine Learning
  • CS 321: Making Decisions with Artificial Intelligence
  • CS 322: Natural Language Processing
  • CS 344: Human-Computer Interaction
  • CS 361: Artificial Life and Digital Evolution
  • ECON 265: Game Theory and Economic Applications
  • ECON 267: Behavioral Economics
  • EDUC 234: Educational Psychology
  • IDSC 250: Color!
  • LING 117: Sociophonetics (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 216: Generative Approaches to Syntax
  • LING 217: Phonetics and Phonology
  • LING 219: Sociophonetic Analysis
  • LING 275: First Language Acquisition (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 276: Bilingualism & Code-Switching (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 280: Field Methods in Linguistics (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 315: Topics in Syntax
  • LING 316: Topics in Morphology (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 317: Topics in Phonology (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 325: Syntax of an Unfamiliar Language (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 340: Topics in Semantics (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 350: Invented Languages: From Toki Pona to Na’vi (not offered 2024-25)
  • LING 375: Second Language Acquisition: Speech (not offered 2024-25)
  • MUSC 227: Perception and Cognition of Music
  • NEUR 127: Foundations in Neuroscience and Lab
  • PHIL 112: Intelligence, Agency and Autonomous Machines (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 116: Sensation, Induction, Abduction, Deduction, Seduction
  • PHIL 203: Bias, Belief, Community, Emotion (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 217: Reason in Context: Limitations and Possibilities (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 223: Philosophy of Language (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 225: Philosophy of Mind (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 257: Contemporary Issues in Feminist Philosophy
  • PHIL 297: Kant’s Philosophy of Mind (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 319: Self-Knowledge (not offered 2024-25)
  • PHIL 373: Reptiles and Demons (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 214: Neuropsychology of Aging (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 216: Behavioral Neuroscience
  • PSYC 220: Sensation and Perception
  • PSYC 234: Psychology of Language
  • PSYC 238: Memory Processes (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 250: Developmental Psychology (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 258: Social Cognition (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 267: Clinical Neuroscience (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 366: Cognitive Neuroscience (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 367: Neuropsychology of Aging
  • PSYC 371: Evolutionary and Developmental Trends in Cognition (not offered 2024-25)
  • PSYC 375: Language and Deception (not offered 2024-25)
  • RELG 270: Philosophy of Religion (not offered 2024-25)

Cognitive Science Courses

  • CGSC 100.00 Living with Artificial Intelligence

    This A&I course is about artificial intelligence (AI) and its place in our lives. We will spend time wondering about how AI systems work and about how we use them. This will involve asking big questions, identifying puzzles and misinformation, and spending a lot of time thinking about robots. Doing so will involve engaging with scientific research, news articles, comics, and other forms of popular media. The primary skills this class focuses on are critical news literacy, cooperative problem solving, writing, editing, and re-writing.

  • CGSC 130.00 What Minds Are What They Do

    An interdisciplinary examination of issues concerning the mind and mental phenomena. The course will draw on work from diverse fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, and neuroscience. Topics to be discussed include: the mind-body problem, embodied cognition, perception, representation, reasoning, and learning.

  • CGSC 130.00 Revolutions in Mind

    An interdisciplinary study of the history and current practice of the cognitive sciences. The course will draw on relevant work from diverse fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, philosophy, biology, and neuroscience. Topics to be discussed include: scientific revolutions, the mind-body problem, embodied cognition, perception, representation, and the extended mind.

  • CGSC 130.00 Revolutions in Mind

    An interdisciplinary study of the history and current practice of the cognitive sciences. The course will draw on relevant work from diverse fields such as artificial intelligence, cognitive psychology, philosophy, biology, and neuroscience. Topics to be discussed include: scientific revolutions, the mind-body problem, embodied cognition, perception, representation, and the extended mind.

  • CGSC 232 Cognitive Processes

    Cross-listed courses CGSC 232/PSYC 232. An introduction to the study of mental activity. Topics include attention, pattern recognition and perception, memory, concept formation, categorization, and cognitive development. Some attention to gender and individual differences in cognition, as well as cultural settings for cognitive activities. A grade of C- or better must be earned in both Psychology/Cognitive Science 232 and 233 to satisfy the LS requirement.

  • CGSC 233 Laboratory in Cognitive Processes

    Cross-listed courses CGSC 233/PSYC 233. Students will participate in the replication and planning of empirical studies, collecting and analyzing data relevant to major cognitive phenomena. A grade of C- or better must be earned in both Psychology/Cognitive Science 232 and 233 to satisfy the LS requirement.

  • CGSC 236 Thinking, Reasoning, and Decision Making

    An examination of the way people think and reason, both when given formal laboratory tasks and when facing problems and decisions in everyday life. Students consider their own reasoning and decision making through course exercises. Topics include models of formal reasoning, decision making, heuristics and biases in thinking and problem-solving, moral reasoning, improving skills of higher order cognition.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • CGSC 253 Philosophy of Cognitive Science

    A study of the central theories, methodological and philosophical issues and major competing paradigms regarding the nature of human cognition. Topics to be treated include: the history of cognitive science as a science, and the context through which we think about mental representations, intentionality, consciousness, the use and importance of language, nativism and externalism in the cognitive sciences, embodied cognition and the constitutive roles of culture and evolution in shaping cognitive processes.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • CGSC 289 The Cognitive Dimensions of Artificial Intelligence

    This course will investigate the cognitive dimensions of cutting edge research in artificial intelligence and machine learning. We will apply qualitative research methods to create an annotated library of cognitive terms in “AI” research. Doing so will help put “AI” research in context. By the end of the term we will have co-created resources that can be used by others to help understand the complexities of cognition and its relationship to technology and the world.

  • CGSC 294 Directed Research in Cognitive Science

    Students work on a research project related to a faculty member's research interests, and directed by that faculty member. Student activities vary according to the field and stage of the project. The long-run goal of these projects normally includes dissemination to a scholarly community beyond Carleton. The faculty member will meet regularly with the student and actively direct the work of the student, who will submit an end-of-term product, typically a paper or presentation.

  • CGSC 330 Embodied Cognition

    This seminar will consider recent work in philosophy, cognitive science and linguistics critical of views of human cognition as “disembodied” and Cartesian. Philosophical sources of the early critiques of symbolic AI and “cartesianism” will be considered (Merleau-Ponty, Dewey), as will the enactive (Cuffari, Di Paolo, and De Jaegher) and ecological (Chemero, Cowley, Steffensen) critiques of language, and current work on embodied cognition by Eleanor Rosch, Hubert Dreyfus, John Haugeland, Andy Clark and Evan Thompson. The seminar will include materials relevant to students in philosophy, linguistics, psychology and cognitive science.

  • CGSC 336 Moral Thinking, Reasoning, and Decision Making

    In this seminar course we will examine how children, adolescents, and adults confront moral dilemmas, reason about ethical issues, and decide on a course of action when challenged by confounding questions. Topics include the development of moral reasoning, gender difference in moral reasoning, socio-cultural influences on moral reasoning, and how moral issues intersect with other realms of decision making. We will examine work by Lawrence Kohlberg, Carol Gilligan, Eliot Turiel, and Jonathan Haidt. As a seminar, the emphasis will be on discussion. Course requirements include regular attendance and participation, preparing and leading class discussions, short reaction/reflection papers, and a final paper. 

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • CGSC 340 Phenomenology and Cognitive Science

    This course will provide an in-depth study of phenomenology, covering both its history and contemporary debates, and phenomenology-inspired research in cognitive science, psychology and neuroscience. Roughly half the course will be devoted to the history of phenomenology, setting the main views within their historical context and explaining how these views respond to the difficulties of their predecessors. The other half will discuss contemporary philosophical debates and scientific research involving phenomenological approaches. In addition to the CGSC 130 prerequisite, a 200-level Cognitive Science, Psychology or Philosophy course is recommended.

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • CGSC 382 Cognitive Development in Children and Adolescents

    This seminar will focus on the cognitive changes experienced by children in the preschool, elementary, and middle school years, in such realms as perception, attention, memory, thinking, decision-making, knowledge representation, and the acquisition of academic skills. Weekly observation at local day care centers or schools will be a required course component. The seminar will be discussion-based and participants will take turns making presentations and leading discussions. 

    Not offered in 2024-25

  • CGSC 396 Directed Research in Cognitive Studies

    Senior majors in cognitive studies will work with the instructor to develop a thesis proposal for their comps project.

  • CGSC 399 Senior Thesis in Cognitive Science

    The organizing and writing of a senior thesis in cognitive science, overseen by a CGSC faculty member and in cooperation with other seminar members.  Students will present drafts of their theses to the class for feedback and will offer one another constructive criticism on the writing and organization of each paper.  Students will be expected to produce a 25-40 page paper that will eventually serve as a capstone to their CGSC major during CGSC 400.

  • CGSC 400 Integrative Exercise