PNP200: Introduction to Cognitive Science» » • U i * ^

Course:Instructor:E-mail:Course website:Office:Telephone:Office hours:Teaching Asst:E-mail:Office:Office hours:

WF 2:30-4:00, in Eliot 216Cory D. Wrightcwright@artsci.wustl.eduhttp://mechanism.ucsd.edu/~cory/PNP200Philosophy Department, Wilson Hall 101314_935_9531Wednesdays 4pm-6pm, and by appointmentArnon Cahenacahen@artsci.wusd.eduPhilosophy Department, Wilson Hall 116Fridays 1pm—2:30pm, and by appointment "'V/t/y # A*0\°

Course DescriptionCognitive science is the contemporary, multidisciplinary, scientific study of thought and thinking. Thepurpose of this course is to introduce the central questions and topics upon which it is focused, theconceptual and empirical tools used to investigate those questions, and some of the answers that havebeen formulated thus far. After an initial overview of the foundations of the cognitive-scientific enterpriseas a whole, we will survey what has been learned about mental capacities and abilities (e.g., objectperception, construal, categorization, emotion, and memory) via some of the particular disciplinescomprising it—including psychology, neuroscience, computer science, linguistics, anthropology, andphilosophy.

Prerequisite:The prerequisite for PNP200 is completion of at least one of the following courses: PsychlOOB, Phill20F,Phill25C, Biol296A, or Lingl70D. Also, note that PNP200 is required for PNP majors enteringWashington University in Fall 2001 or later, and is best taken in fall of the sophomore year. Alternatively,this requirement can be satisfied by taking the first two courses in the Mind, Brain, and Behavior program(formerly known as 'Hewlett Program in Study of the Mind-Brain').

Required ReadingCourse Reader [CS\: Kolak, D., W. Hirstein, P. Mandik, J. Waskan. (2006). Cognitive Science: An Introduction to

the Mind and Brain. New York: Routledge.Electronic Course Reserves [ECR]: Required and suggested articles complementing CS will be available

electronic course reserves, located at the Washington University Library website at:http://eres.wustl.edu. References for the articles and readings are listed below.

GradingMidterm and Final Exams (30% each): Midterm and final exams will cover reading and lecture material from

the first and second halves of the course, respectively. Note that the final exam is scheduled forThurs., Dec. 20th from 3:30pm-5:30pm.

Group Presentation and Foster, Individual Report (30%): Over the course of the semester, students will worktogether in small groups to jointly carry out a research project on a topic of your choice inconsultation with the instructor. During week twelve, each group will orally present a prospectusto the instructor and TA that outlines their preliminary arguments and poster content. Eachindividual group member will also return a ~ 1,500 word report on the topic of their group'sresearch. Finally, a simulated conference poster session is scheduled for Fri, Dec 7th.

Quizes (10%): Quizzes designed to query your knowledge of the course readings and lecture material willbe given periodically. Quizzes will not necessarily be announced ahead of time.

Course ScheduleWeek One:Wed, Aug 29thFri, Aug 31stWeek Two:Wed, Sept 5thFri, Sept 7thWeek Three:Wed, Sept 12*Fri, Sept 14*Week Four:Wed, Sept 19*Fri, Sept 21«Week Five:Wed, Sept 26*Fri, Sept 28*Week Six:Wed, Oct 3rdFri, Oct 5*Week Seven:Wed, Oct 10*Fri, Oct 12*Week Eight:Wed, Oct 17*Fri, Oct 19*Week Nine:Wed, Oct 24*Fri, Oct 26*Week Ten:Wed, Oct 31 *Fri, Nov 2ndWeek Eleven:Wed, Nov 7*Fri, Nov 9*Week Twelve:Wed, Nov 14*Fri, Nov 16*Week Thirteen:Wed, Nov 21«Fri, Nov 23rdWeek Fourteen:Wed, Nov 28*Fri, Nov 30*Week Fifteen:Wed, Dec 5*Fri, Dec 7*Week Sixteen:Wed, Dec 12*Fri, Dec 14*Thurs, Dec 20*

(subject to revision)

Course introduction; History of cognitive scienceHistory of cognitive science con't. [CS, pp. 1—53; ECR, 1]

Windows on the brain and mind; Investigative techniques [CS, pp. 55—80]Mental mechanisms; Decomposition and localization [ECR, 2]

Memory: types, consolidation, amnesia, confabulation [CS, pp. 125—136]Knowledge: propositional, procedural, acquaintance [CS, pp. 146-154]

Mental representation; language of thought [CS", pp. 43-53; ECR, 3; recommended, 4]Language: truth, reference, sense, interpretation [CS, pp. 187—195]

Reasoning and inference [CS, pp. 136—146]Coherence; neurocomputational models of constraint satisfaction [ECR, 5]

Image-schemas; mental imagery [ECR, 6 & 7; recommended, 8]Concepts and categorization [ECR, 9; recommended, 10]

Generative linguistics; cognitive linguistics [ECR, 11]Psycholinguistics; neural basis of language [CS, pp. 196-207]

Midterm examNo class (University is closed for Fall Break)

Perception: vision, audition, object recognition, color [CS, pp. 81-95, 110-112]Perceptual symbol systems [ECR, 12]

Theories of perception: in/direct realism; idealism [CS, pp. 81-95,100-109]Filling-in; theory-ladenness; folk psychology; plasticity, disorders [CS, pp. 112-124]

Action; gesture; sensorimotor knowledge [CS, pp. 165-171; ECR, 13]Robotics; feedback; control; autonomy [CS, pp. 118-119,171-174; ECR, 14 & 15]

Group meetingsGroup meetings

No class (University is closed for Thanksgiving Break)No class (University is closed for Thanksgiving Break)

Emotion: neurophysiology, psychopathology, rationality [CS, pp. 177-185; ECR, 16]Motivation, reward, addiction [ECR, 17]; individual reports due

Consciousness: typology, qualia, physicalism, blindsight [CS, pp. 209-223]Poster session

No class (Reading period)No class (Final Exam Period)Final exam

References and additional reading[1] Chomsky, N. (1959). Review of B. F. Skinner's Verbal Behavior. Language, 35, 26-58.[2] Bechtel, W. (in press). 'From mental phenomena to operations: delineating and decomposing

memory' (ch. 2). In his Mental Mechanisms: Philosophical Perspectives on the Sciences ofCognition and the Brain. London: Roudedge.

[3] Fodor,J. A. (2001). Language, thought, and compositionality. Mind and Language, 16, 1-15.[4] Clark, A. (1988). Thoughts, sentences, and cognitive science. Philosophical Psychology, 1, 263-278.[5] Thagard, P. & Verbeurgt, K. (1998). Coherence as constraint satisfaction. Cognitive Science, 22,

1-24.[6] Pylyshyn, Z. (2003). Return of the mental image: Are there really pictures in the brain?

TRENDS in Cognitive Sciences, 7,113—118.[7] Waskan, J. A. (2003). Intrinsic cognitive models. Cognitive Science, 27, 259-283.[8] Johnson, M. (1987). The emergence of meaning through schematic structure. In his The Body in

the Mind (18—40). Chicago: Chicago University Press.[9] Rosch, E. (1978/1999). Principles of categorization. In E. Margolis & S. Laurence (Eds.),

Concepts: Core Readings (189-206) Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.[10] Jackendoff, R. (1989). What is a concept, that a person may grasp it? Mind and Language, 4, 68-

102.[11] Langacker, R. W. (1988). A view of linguistic semantics. In B. Rudzka-Ostyn (Ed.), Topics in

Cognitive Linguistics (pp. 49-90). Amsterdam: John Benjamins.[12] Barsalou, L. W. (1999). Perceptual symbol systems. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 22, 577-609.[13] Borghi, A (2005). Object concepts and action. In D. Pecher & R. Zwaan (Eds.), Grounding

Cognition: The Role of Perception and Action in Memory, Language, and Thinking (8—34). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

[14] Dennett, D. (1998). Cognitive wheels: the frame problem of AL In his Brainchildren: Essays onDesigning Minds (181-205). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

[15] Brooks, R. A. (1991). Intelligence without representation. Artificial Intelligence, 47,139-159.[16] Berridge, K.C. & Winkielman, P. (2003). What is an unconscious emotion? Cognition and

Emotion, 17,181-211.[17] Berridge, K.C. (2004). Motivation concepts in behavioral neuroscience. Physiology and Behavior

81.179-209.

Potentially Helpful Research Sources and On-line Material on Cognitive ScienceCogSci bibliography T. http://www.cognitivecircle.org/ct&lit/CogLitBiblio/CogLit_biblio.htmlCogSci bibliography II: http://cogsci.uwaterloo.ca/Bibliographies/cogsci.bib.htmlCogSci entry, SEP: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/cognitive-science/CogSci biographies: http://mechanism.ucsd.edu/%7Ebill/research/ANAUT.htmlEmotions: http://emotion.nsma.arizona.edu/emotion.htmlIntroduction to Logic. http://people.hofstra.edu/Stefan_Waner/RealWorld/logic/logicintro.htmlThinkMap Visual Thesaurus: http://www.visualthesaurus.com/Diagrammatic Reasoning. http://zeus.cs.hartford.edu/%7Eanderson/

MiscellaneousWriting CenterThe University's Writing Center provides individual conferences on any kind of writing project or task.Please feel free to take advantage of this free service in order to receive help or feedback with yourindividual reports. The Writing Center is located in Eads Hall Room 111; it may be necessary to make anappointment in advance; their webpage is: http://artsci.wustl.edu/~writing/home.html.

PostersA variety of outlets are available for your group to produce its poster. A very good option is theFedEx/Kinko's station on the top floor of Mallinckrodt Center (314—935-8481) will assist you, as can the

FedEx/Kinko's Clayton office (314-725-8704); you can also submit your request on their website:http://docstore.kinkos.com/clayton. Alternatively, you might consider soliciting help from WashingtonUniversity's publication office; their webpage is: http://publications.wusd.edu/index.htm. The Earth &Planetary Sciences Library (314-935-5406) has a scanner and printer (plotter) that can print largerdocuments such as maps or artwork (check with the E & PS Library staff for availability and costs, or visittheir website: http://library.wustl.edu/units/epsc).

Intellectual IntegrityAny act by a student A that either misrepresents another's academic work as that of A or compromisesthe academic work of another is intolerable. Penalties for academic misconduct, possibly including failureof the course, are determined by the instructor. I will lobby for the harshest punishment available. If youhave questions about the University's policy on academic integrity, you should consult the followingwebsite: http://www.wusti.edu/policies/undergraduate-academic-integrity.html.

Other Course PoliciesAll cell phones and pagers must be turned off during the duration of class—receiving and answering callsand/or pages during class is an obnoxious disturbance and inappropriate. Failing to comply with this rulemay result in a non-trivial decay in one's course grade.