Undergraduate Minor in Cognitive Science

under the semester system.

Introduction

Cognitive Science is concerned with understanding intelligence, both natural and artificial, and developing tools that enhance intelligence. It is a multidisciplinary field with many loci of interdisciplinary interaction. It has conceptual and methodological roots in several disciplines and fields: artificial intelligence, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, intelligent systems, robotics, human-machine systems, anthropology, sociology, and neuroscience. At Georgia Tech, cognitive science faculty, students and researchers reside in Computing; Psychology; Industrial and Systems Engineering; Literature, Communications, and Culture; Public Policy; Architecture; Civil and Environmental Engineering; and Economics. One distinctive aspect of our program is the presence of several research programs that study cognitive science in the context of real-world problems. Our program provides students the diversity of methods and approaches necessary to study the range of phenomena involved in cognition and to apply their understanding of these phenomena in their area of study.

The minor in Cognitive Science will meet the intellectual and pragmatic needs of students from a broad spectrum of disciplines for a systematic, multidisciplinary curriculum focussing on cognitive processes involved in acquiring, representing, and using knowledge in real-world tasks. In pursuing the minor, students will take cognitive science courses in several units. By taking a systematic course of study that crosses several disciplinary units, students will be exposed to multiple perspectives on issues in cognition and will develop a variety of tools and methods for attacking problems in their home disciplines and in the workplace.

Cognitive Science Faculty

• Program Coordinator: Nancy Nersessian.
• Education Coordinator: Alex Kirlik.
• Professors: Ronald Arkin, Al Badre, Randy Engle, Chris Hertzog, Kenneth Knoespel, Janet Kolodner, Chris Mitchell, Nancy Nersessian, Christine Ries, Tim Salthouse, Andy Smith.
• Associate Professors: Nelson Baker, Dorrit Billman, Ann Bostrom, Richard Catrambone, Ashok Goel, T. Govindaraj, Alex Kirlik, Colin Potts, Ashwin Ram, Andrew Ward, Craig Zimring.
• Assistant Professors: Amy Bruckman, Irfan Essa, Mark Guzdial, Sven Koenig, Jeffrey Toth.
• Research Faculty: David Crismond, Kurt Eiselt, Ute Fischer, Mike McCracken, Hari Narayanan, Wendy Newstetter.

Requirements

To earn a minor in Cognitive Science, students must fulfill undergraduate degree requirements in some unit on campus and, in addition, must take Introduction to Cognitive Science (3 semester hours), specialized courses in constituent disciplines (12 semester hours), and a 4000-level integrative experience in Cognitive Science (3 semester hours), for a total of 18 semester hours, of which at least 12 semester hours must be at the 3000-level or higher, as follows:

1. CS/Psych/PST/ISyE 3790: Introduction to Cognitive Science. This is a basic introduction to Cognitive Science of broad intellectual interest to students in all areas.
2. At least 4 courses chosen from the following list:

	Unit	Specialty Area	Courses
[A]	Psych	Cognitive Psychology	Psych 1101: Introductory Psychology Psych 2103: Life Span Development Psych 3010: Cognitive Psychology (*) Psych 3040: Sensation and Perception Psych 4060: Principles of Memory and Attention Psych 4070: Psychology of Language Psych 4080: Thinking Psych 4760: Models of Human Information Processing
[B]	CS	Artificial Intelligence	CS 2600: Knowledge Representation and Processing CS 4600: Introduction to Intelligent Systems (*) CS 4630: Intelligent Robotics and Computer Vision CS 4640: Machine Learning CS 4650: Natural Language Understanding CS 4610: Knowledge Systems
[C]	PST	Philosophy	PST/CS 4752: Philosophical Issues in Computation (*) PST 3115: Philosophy of Science PST 4174: Perspectives on Science and Technology
[D]	ISyE	Cognitive Systems Engineering	ISyE 4009: Design of Human-Integrated Systems (*)
[E]		Applications and Other	CS 4460: Human-Computer Interface Design and Evaluation CS 4660: Introduction to Educational Technology CS 4670: Computer Supported Collaborative Learning CS 1803: Design and Product Innovation I CS 1813: Design and Product Innovation II Psych 4030: Applied Experimental Psychology

2 of the 4 courses must be chosen from 2 different specialty areas labeled A-D above, not including the unit of the student's major area. Courses marked (*) in these areas, although not required, provide a particularly good foundation for Cognitive Science. The other 2 courses may be chosen from any of the areas A-E. Special topics courses may be included with prior approval of the education coordinator.
3. 4000-level integrative experience in Cognitive Science. The student may choose any one of the following options:
• CS/Psych/PST/ISyE 4790: Seminar in Cognitive Science, a seminar-style course in Cognitive Science focussing on integrating and deepening students' cognitive science knowledge and skills.
• CS/Psych/PST/ISyE 4791: Integrative Project in Cognitive Science, in which students work together in interdisciplinary groups on a project or set of projects focussing on the integration and use of concepts and skills from cognitive science.
• CS/Psych/PST/ISyE 4792: Design Project in Cognitive Science, taken with a Cognitive Science faculty member and designed as a supplement to the student's senior design project or thesis in their major area.

As per the institute requirements for minors, the student must complete these courses with a minimum GPA of 2.0 across these courses. At least 12 semester hours must be completed at the 3000-level or higher, and no courses required by name and number for the student's major degree program may be included.

Additional information

Click here to retrieve the form used to petition for the minor.

Additional guidance can be obtained from the Cognitive Science education coordinator and the Cognitive Science faculty. Check with the offering departments and/or the education coordinator and/or the faculty for information about when courses are offered. Information on the Cognitive Science program is also available electronically from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/cogsci/.