Cognitive Science

2012-13 General Catalog

273 Social Sciences 2
(831) 459-2002
http://psychology.ucsc.edu

Program Description

Cognitive science has emerged in the last few decades as a major discipline that promises to be increasingly important in the 21st century. Focused on achieving a scientific understanding of how human cognition works and how cognition is possible, its subject matter encompasses cognitive functions (such as memory and perception), the structure and use of human language, the evolution of the mind, animal cognition, artificial intelligence, and more.

The cognitive science degree provides a strong grounding in the principles of cognition through courses in cognitive psychology, and, in addition, provides breadth in the interdisciplinary aspects of cognitive science such as anthropology, linguistics, biology, philosophy, and computer science. Graduates will be well prepared for advanced training in research fields of cognitive psychology and cognitive neuroscience, technology industries such as human-computer interface, and health fields in the treatment of brain disorders.

The cognitive science major is intended for students wishing to enter doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) programs in cognitive psychology, cognitive science, or cognitive neuroscience to pursue careers in research; enter the field of public health to work with individuals with neurological disorders and learning disabilities; or to enter the field of human-computer interface design; or pursue other related careers.

The Department of Psychology administers the program and student major advising.

Preparation for the Major

Students who are not prepared to begin the calculus requirement should take preparatory courses offered by the mathematics and applied mathematics departments, including pre-calculus.

Requirements for the Cognitive Science Major

The undergraduate degree program in cognitive science is a program offering a course of study leading to the bachelor of science (B.S.) degree. Fifteen courses (75 credits) are required. Because some courses have additional prerequisites, students should read the descriptions of courses carefully, noting the prerequisites for courses of interest to them.

Lower-Division Requirements:

Psychology 2, Introduction to Psychological Statistics (or equivalent, including Applied Mathematics and Statistics 5 or 7/L)

Psychology 20, Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

Calculus (one of AMS 11A, MATH 11A, 19A or 20A)

Computer Programming (one of CMPE 13/L, CMPS 5C, 5J, 5P, 12A)

Upper-Division Requirements:

Students must complete 10 courses toward the major after completing the lower-division requirements. At least eight of these must be upper-division courses (a minimum of 40 credits). These must include Psychology 100, three upper-division core courses and three upper-division cognitive psychology electives, as described below. Students must also complete four interdisciplinary electives in other departments, which may or may not be upper-division. Students must ensure that one of the interdisciplinary electives is an upper-division course.

Psychology 100, Research Methods in Psychology (7 credits)

Core Courses

 Students must complete three of the following:

Psychology 121, Perception

Psychology 123, Behavioral Neuroscience

Psychology 125, Psychology of Language

Psychology 129, Human Learning and Memory

Cognitive Psychology Electives

Students must complete three additional upper-division Psychology courses from the following list. One of the core courses that is not used to satisfy the core courses requirement may be used to satisfy this requirement. One of these cognitive electives must be a Cognitive Senior Seminar as designated by the asterisks below.

Any of Psychology 120-138 (i.e., the Cognitive Series)

Psychology 104, Development in Infancy

Psychology 105, Children’s Thinking

Psychology 119F, Language Development *

Psychology 139B, Consciousness *

Psychology 139C, The Psychology of Lying and Deception *

Psychology 139D, Modeling Human Performance *

Psychology 139F, Psychology and Evolutionary Theory *

Psychology 139G, Conversations *

Psychology 139H, Weird Science *

Psychology 181, Psychological Data Analysis

Psychology 194B, Advanced Cognitive Research

Psychology 195A, Senior Thesis

Psychology 204-252, graduate cognitive courses, by petition*denotes Cognitive Senior Seminar

Interdisciplinary Electives

Students must complete four interdisciplinary electives from lists of courses pre-approved by the Psychology Department, one of which must be upper-division. The electives fall into four groups: Evolution; Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction; Linguistics; Philosophy. Three of the four electives must be selected from the same group. Students are responsible for planning their course of study to complete any necessary prerequisites for electives they wish to take. Possible sequences of interdisciplinary courses, including prerequisites, are given below.

Group 1: Evolution

Anthropology 1, 101, 106, 194B, Biology: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology 20C, 129, 140

Group 2: Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction

Computer Engineering 8, 80A, 131, Computer Science 20, 80B, 80K, 80V

Group 3: Linguistics

Linguistics 50, 53, 80D, 101, 102, 105, 111 (formerly Linguistics 55), 112 (formerly Linguistics 52), 113, 116, 117, 125

Group 4: Philosophy

Philosophy 100B (formerly Philosophy 93), 100C (formerly Philosophy 94), 121, 123, 133, 135, 138, 141

Major Admission Requirements

Students may petition to declare the cognitive science major once they have completed the lower-division requirements. Students admitted to the major must have a 3.00 grade-point average (GPA) in the lower-division requirements, with no single grade lower than C and no course taken P/NP. Transfer students may substitute equivalent courses from other institutions. Students receiving a C or lower in one of the lower-division courses may contact the department for possible substitutions.

Comprehensive Requirement

UCSC requires that every student satisfy a senior exit/comprehensive requirement prior to graduation. Cognitive Science students will satisfy this requirement by receiving a passing grade in either a cognitive seminar (PSYC 139A-G), or research experience (PSYC 194B, Advanced Cognitive Research, or PSYC 195, Senior Thesis).

Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement

Students of every major must satisfy that majors upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement in cognitive science is satisfied by completing Psychology 100, Research Methods in Psychology, and the Senior Seminar requirement.

Honors

Honors in the cognitive science major are awarded to graduating seniors whose academic performance is judged to be consistently excellent by a committee of psychology faculty. Highest honors in the major are reserved for students with consistently excellent academic performance and an honors-level senior thesis.

Cognitive Science Course Planners

Following are two recommended academic plans for students to complete the Cognitive Science major. Plan 1 assumes typical curriculum selections. Plan 2 assumes the maximum number of prerequisites.

Plan One
Year	Fall	Winter	Spring
1st (frsh)	MATH 2	MATH 3	Calculus
	PSYC 20	Programming
	college core
2nd (soph)	Interdisciplinary prerequisite	PSYC 2	PSYC 100
		Interdisciplinary prerequisite
3rd (jr)	core	core	core
	Interdisciplinary prerequisite	Interdisciplinary prerequisite	Interdisciplinary prerequisite
	Cognitive elective	Cognitive elective	Cognitive elective
4th (sr)	Interdisciplinary prerequisite	Cognitive upper-division	Cognitive upper-division

Plan Two
Year	Fall	Winter	Spring
1st (frsh)	MATH 2	MATH 3	Calculus
	PSYC 20	Programming
	college core
2nd (soph)	Interdisciplinary prerequisite	PSYC 2	PSYC 100
		Interdisciplinary prerequisite	Interdisciplinary prerequisite
3rd (jr)	core	core	core
	Interdisciplinary prerequisite	Cognitive elective
4th (sr)	Cognitive elective	Cognitive upper-division	Cognitive upper-division
	Cognitive elective	Interdisciplinary elective	Interdisciplinary elective
	Interdisciplinary elective	Interdisciplinary elective

Revised: 8/31/12