COGN1001: Introduction to cognitive science

Semester 1, 2006-07. Meng Wah Complex (S322) Thursday 2:00 - 3:55 pm

Cognitive science is the inter-disciplinary science of the mind. The mind, however, is an extremely complicated system that can be investigated at different levels and from different perspectives. This introductory course looks at the mind from five different approaches - psychology, linguistics, computer Science, neuroscience, and philosophy. This inter-disciplinary methodology shows how all the approaches can combine together to provide a more comprehensive picture of how the mind works.

Announcements

There is a mailing list to post questions and comments. Ask the tutor to add your email to the list.
Teachers: Joanna Kidd (psychology), Steve Matthews (linguistics), L.H. Tan (neuroscience), Qiang Huo (computer science), Joe Lau (course coordinator)

Calendar

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Assessment

60% exam -- 2 hours.
25% problem sets -- 5 problem sets; one for each topic.
10% (compulsory) tutorial participation and attendance
5% lecture participation and Q&A question
Course tutor is Lau Chaak Ming (chaakming gmail * com)

Course material

FILES:

Intro lecture ppt file

READINGS: Each teacher of the course will assign a list of readings. The following references might be useful :

The HKU Cognitive Science eBook: This is an online textbook on cognitive science produced by some professors who have taught cogn1001. A lot of the material should be relevant to this year's course.
Stillings, N. et. al. (1995) Cognitive Science: An Introduction MIT Press.
Wilson, R. & Keil, F. (eds) (1999) The MIT Encyclopedia of the Cognitive Sciences, MIT Press.
Osherson, et. el. (eds) (1990) An Invitation to cognitive science, 4 volumes, MIT Press.
Posner, Michael et. el. (eds) (2000) Foundations of cognitive science MIT Press.
Thagard, Paul (2000) Mind : introduction to cognitive science MIT Press.