UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO - STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
The Department of Computer Science & Engineering

CSE/LIN/PHI/PSY 575 & APY 526: INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE SCIENCE Fall 2007

SYLLABUS

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Cognitive science is the interdisciplinary study of cognition. Its fundamental question is: How is cognition possible? Cognition includes mental states and processes such as thinking, reasoning, remembering, language understanding and generation, visual perception, learning, consciousness, emotions, etc. Some cognitive scientists limit their study to human cognition; others consider cognition independently of its implementation in humans or computers. Some consider it to be the study of "mind as machine" (see the Crankshaft cartoon, above).

Some cognitive scientists study cognition independently of the cognitive agent's environment; others study it within the context of the agent, the society, the culture.

Cognitive science can also be defined as, roughly, the (hopefully non-empty) intersection of the disciplines of cognitive anthropology, cognitive neuroscience, artificial intelligence, (certain aspects of) education, linguistics, philosophy (especially philosophy of mind and philosophy of language), and psychology (especially cognitive psychology). (Cognitive anthropology deals in part with the societal and cultural context mentioned above. Cognitive neuroscience is concerned with the "implementation" of mind in human physiology. [AI can be thought of as concerned with the "implementation" of mind in computers.])

We will review the history, nature, major findings, and philosophical implications of cognitive science. We will also discuss interdisciplinary cognitive-science research projects conducted by members of the UB Center for Cognitive Science.

Professor:
Dr. William J. Rapaport, 214 Bell Hall, 645-3180 x 112, rapaport@cse.buffalo.edu
Office Hours: TTh 10:30-11:30 a.m.; W 11-11:50 a.m.; and by appointment.

1. Cummins, Robert; & Cummins, Denise Dellarosa (eds.) (2000), Minds, Brains, and Computers: The Foundations of Cognitive Science, an Anthology (Malden, MA: Blackwell); ISBN 978-1557868770.
   • An excellent anthology of classic papers.

2. Gardner, Howard (1987), The Mind's New Science, new edition (New York: Basic Books); ISBN 978-0465046355.
   • An excellent history and description of cognitive science.

3. Thagard, Paul (2005), Mind: Introduction to Cognitive Science, 2nd edition (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press); ISBN 0-262-70109-X.
   • A good textbook with lots of useful references.
   • Sample chapters online
   • Thagard's version of this course

4. Wilson, Robert A.; & Keil, Frank C. (eds.) (2001), The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).
   • The best reference work on cognitive science.
   • Available on-line from buffalo.edu computer accounts;
     just click on the title above.
   • Available in hard copy at:
     1. SEL BF311 .M556 1999
     2. Lockwood BF311 .M556 1999
     3. Lockwood Reference BF311 .M556 1999

IMPORTANT DATES & TENTATIVE SCHEDULE:

Notes:

1. I have adjusted some of the dates and assignments below to reflect what we actually did in class, rather than on what I had planned or hoped to do :-)

2. There will be guest lectures by faculty members of the UB Center for Cognitive Science (CCS). As these are arranged, they will be added to the schedule below.

3. You should make every effort to attend the colloquia sponsored by CCS. These are held on Wednesdays, 2:00-4:00 p.m., in Park 280. (If you need to leave for a 3:00 or 3:30 class, that's OK; the lectures usually end around 3:00 and the rest of the time is used for discussion.) The CCS colloquium schedule will be announced over the class Listserv and is posted online at: CCS Fall 2007 Colloquia.

1. There are a lot of topics to cover, and not nearly as many lectures as there are topics. Consequently, in lectures, I will only be able to skim the surface of the issues. But I will assign a lot of reading, which I will expect you all to do. (Which is different from expecting you to do all of it :-)

   No matter how far we stray from the tentative schedule, if you do the readings at the assigned times, you will be able to finish everything by the end of the semester. (I recognize, however, that you may not have time to do anything else :-)

2. Reading Journal:

   To help you keep track of your reading and the ideas you have while reading, it will be useful for you to keep a "Reading Journal": For each item you read, copy interesting quotes (or at least full references to them) and—most importantly—include your comments on them and on the issues raised in each item you read. (For suggestions on how to do this, see the "Keep a Notebook" section of my "How to Study" guide on the Web.) An alternative is to write a 1-paragraph commentary on each reading: some insight or idea that struck you from the reading, an extension or application of the ideas, a question that the reading inspired (perhaps informed by some further reading on your part), or any other commentary inspired by the reading. The commentaries should not be summaries of the reading.(*)

   I reserve the right to collect these Journals at any time during, or at the end of, the semester and to include them in the grade calculation.

3. How much do you really have to read?

   "The more you read, the more intelligent you are. It's really that simple." — Ethan Hawke

   Thagard is a textbook. Gardner is a history. Cummins is an anthology of classic papers. "Other" are other classic or useful papers. So, do you prefer to read a textbook? Or do you prefer history—finding out how cognitive science got to where the textbook says it is? Or do you prefer reading original research papers by the people who made cognitive science what the textbook says it is and who are talked about in the history? It's pretty much up to you.

   But here's a guide: There are 3 levels at which you can keep up with the reading assignments:

   1. Minimal: Just read Thagard. Or just read Gardner. Or just read some of the papers listed under Cummins and "other".

   2. Medium: Read Thagard and Gardner. Or read Thagard and some of the papers listed under Cummins and "other". Or read Gardner and some of those papers.

   3. Maximal: Read Thagard and Gardner and some of the papers.

   You should include all the "minimal" readings in your Reading Journal; you may include any "medium" or "maximal" readings, too.

4. As if this wasn't enough, from time to time, I will suggest other readings, too :-)

• For advice on how to read writings in any academic discipline, see "How to Read (a Computer Science Text)".

• For general advice on how to study for any course, see my web page, "How to Study".

1. You will be expected to:
   1. attend all lectures (attendance will be taken),
   2. participate in class discussions,
   3. complete all readings and assignments on time, and
   4. do a term project (see below).

2. Any important announcements will be made in lecture. Therefore, be sure to get a classmate's phone number or email address (for instance, 1 or 2 people sitting next to you in class, whoever they are!) so that you will not miss announcements in the unlikely event that you miss a class.

   Announcements may also be posted to the course website or the email Listserv.

3. Email Listserv:

   You will automatically be placed on an email list (a "Listserv") for the course. If you do not normally read email at the email address that UB has as your official address, please either do so for this course, or else have your mail forwarded. I will use this list as my main means of communicating with you out of class. And you can use it to communicate with the rest of us.

   You may send questions and comments that are of general interest to the entire class using the Listserv: Just send them to:

   cse575-fa07-list@listserv.buffalo.edu

   You can also send email just to me, at:

   rapaport@cse.buffalo.edu

   In any case, be sure to fill in the subject line, beginning with "CSE 575: " so that my mailer doesn't think it's spam.

   If you send email just to me that I deem to be of general interest, I will feel free to remail it to the email list along with my reply unless you explicitly tell me that you want to remain anonymous, in which case I may choose to remail it to the email list preserving your anonymity.

   The emails will be archived at the listserv website, and I will also archive them at http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~rapaport/575/F07/EMAIL/.

   For more information, read the Listserv Information webpage.

4. TERM PROJECT

   The term project may be either a research report or a programming project.

   1. A research report must be one of the following:
      1. A critical study of a book or related series of articles on some topic in cognitive science.
         (This may include—but may not be limited to—any of the required or recommended readings for the course.)
         • A "critical study" includes both a summary of the book or articles under discussion and an evaluation of it.

         • The evaluation could consist of a summary of someone else's evaluation of it, or (better) it could consist of your evaluation of it.

         • One way to make evaluating a cognitive science book a bit easier is to choose one from a discipline different from your own.

      2. An inter- or multidisciplinary, mock grant proposal for a cognitive-science research project that would investigate some problem in cognition from the perspectives of 2 or 3 of the cognitive sciences.
         • Such a proposal usually contains a summary of a problem area, a brief review of some the relevant literature, a statement of open questions that you propose to research, and a description of what you will do to try to answer them.

         • In an inter- or multidisciplinary proposal, you'd need to discuss how each discipline will contribute to the research.

      In either case, you must indicate how the topic is related to cognitive science, preferably to the material covered in lectures and readings.

      Moreover, it should not just be a re-hash of either (a) a paper you have done (or are doing) for another course or (b) material that you are already knowledgeable in. In other words, the paper should be a learning experience. So, if you are majoring in cognitive-science-related academic discipline X, and the term paper covers disciplines X and Y, then the amount of material on X should be no more than 50% (if it covers X, Y, and Z, then no more than 33%).

      I may be willing to allow 2-to-3-person collaborative teams to prepare the report. Possibly, each student on the team should concentrate on an academic discipline that is different from their own. E.g, in a 2-person team representing disciplines X and Y, the student majoring in X should read the literature from discipline Y, and vice versa. Then the expert from the other discipline can answer questions and offer guidance. The final report must clearly indicate who wrote what and/or what each person's contribution was.

   2. A programming project could be:
      1. a re-implementation of an existing cognitive-science computer program

      2. a computational implementation of (some part of) a cognitive-science theory

      3. a computational implementation of a feature of human cognition.

      Restrictions analogous to those for the research report apply (e.g., you can't submit a program that you're writing for another course or for your dissertation).

      The final report for a programming project must include:

      1. a technical report, in the style of a paper in a conference proceedings, that describes the theory and your implementation, and

      2. one or more appendices containing annotated sample runs and annotated code (as appropriate).

      For an example of such a report, see Goldfain 2003.

   All reports (whether a research report or a programming project) should be about 10-15 pages, double-spaced (i.e., approximately 2500-4000 words), and printed on only one side of the page.

   All reports must follow the writing guidelines in the document "How to Write", which also contains helpful hints on American English punctuation and usage.

   A proposal for your term project is due no later than Thursday, October 11. No late proposals will be accepted, and no term projects will be accepted without an approved proposal. The project is due no later than Monday, December 10.

5. Students should notify Prof. Rapaport within the first two weeks of class if they have a disability which would make it difficult to carry out course work as outlined (requiring note-takers, readers, extended test time).

For information on my philosophy of grading, see my web document on "How I Grade"

Incompletes:

For more information on Incomplete policies, see the Graduate School web page, "Incomplete Grades".

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY:

For some hints on how to avoid plagiarism when writing essays for courses, see my website "Plagiarism".

CLASSROOM DISRUPTIONS:

(*) The idea and wording for such reading-commentaries are borrowed from the assignments for Stuart M. Shieber's course "Can Machines Think". [Back to text]