Departments & Programs

Cognitive Science

Major in Cognitive Science—B.S.

Students must complete the following Foundations, Intensive Writing, Foreign Language, and Breadth of Inquiry requirements:

  1. Writing, same as B.A. degree (English Composition, Intensive Writing).
  2. Mathematics: three courses to include (a) MATH-M 211; (b) another MATH course at or above the 200 level; (c) another MATH course at or above the 300 level (includes PSY-K 300 and equivalent statistics courses).
  3. Foreign language: three semesters in the same language, or equivalent proficiency.
  4. One Critical Approaches course (COLL-C 103, C104, C105, or approved equivalents).
  5. Arts and Humanities: two courses.
  6. Social and Historical Studies: two courses.
  7. Natural and Mathematical Sciences: two courses. Must include at least one Natural Science course in fulfillment of the General Education curriculum, which can be combined with the math and logic foundation courses required by the major (6–8 cr.).
  8. One Public Oral Communication course.
Major Requirements

1. CORE: The five-course sequence: COGS-Q 240, Q260, Q320, Q350 and Q370. Q260 and Q320 are first- and second-8-week courses respectively and are normally scheduled so that they may be taken consecutively during the same semester. Cognitive science majors who receive a grade of B or higher in CSCI-C 211 or equivalent are exempt from COGS-Q 260.

2. CONCENTRATION: Three courses in one of the following areas: cognition, computation, informatics, language, logic, and neuroscience. Of these three courses, at least two must be at or above the 200 level, and at least one at or above the 300 level.

The following courses are preapproved for the six concentrations:

  • Cognition  HON-H 241 (Approved topic: Animal Thinking), PSY-P 325, P329, P330, P335, P350, P424, P435, P438, P440, P441, P443; SPHS-S 307.
  • Computation  COGS-Q 351, Q360; CSCI-A 321, C211, C212, C241, C311, C335, C343, B351 (or their Honors equivalents).
  • Informatics  INFO-I 210 (or CSCI-A 201), I211 (or CSCI-A 202 or C212), INFO-I 300, I320; CSCI-A 346.
  • Language  LING-L 203, L306, L307, L308, L310, L325, L430, L490; PSY-P 438, P441; SPHS-S 201, S302, S307, S333, S378, S420, S436.
  • Logic  PHIL-P 250, P251, P350, P352; MATH-M 384, M385; CSCI-B 401, P415.
  • Neuroscience  PHYS-P 317; PSY-P 326, P337, P346, P407, P410, P411, P423, P426, P441.

In addition to these preapproved concentrations, other specialized concentrations may be designed by individual students and submitted for approval to the cognitive science undergraduate curriculum committee.

3. COGNITIVE SCIENCE: COGS-Q 301 Brain and Cognition.

4. COMPUTATION: Two courses at the 200-level or above from the approved list of courses in Computer Science. Please see the listing for "Computer Science" in the section of this Bulletin entitled "Courses Related to Cognitive Science."

5. BREADTH: Three ADDITIONAL courses from at least two different departments, outside of the concentration area. For a list of such courses, please see the section of this Bulletin entitled "Courses Related to Cognitive Science." The cognitive science undergraduate curriculum committee must approve on an individual basis courses that are not on the list.

6. SENIOR SEMINAR: Students must complete COGS-Q 400 Senior Seminar in the Cognitive and Information Sciences.

7. RESEARCH: At least 6 credit hours from any combination of COGS-Q 493, Q495, and Q499.

8. At least 18 hours of course work must be completed at the 300–400 level.