Introduction to Cognitive Science

Cognitive science is a multidisciplinary exploration of the nature of mind and intelligence in whatever forms they may take, from animal (including especially humans) to machine. This course explores the modern history of our efforts to understand the nature of mind, asking such questions as how a purely physical entity could have a mind, whether a computer or robot could have genuine mental states, and what it really means to be intelligent or to have a mind. In the process of seeking answers to these questions, the course explores such phenomena as perception, memory, prediction, decision-making, action, language, and consciousness by integrating methods and concepts from a number of disciplines, including philosophy, psychology, computer science, neuroscience, biology, linguistics, and anthropology. Material from economics, education, mathematics, engineering, and the arts is increasingly integrated into the field as well. No background in any of these disciplines is assumed, and this course is intended to serve as an introduction, for both majors and non-majors, to the unique multidisciplinary approach to studying problems of mind that Cognitive Science represents.