2023-2024 College Catalog

Cognitive Science, Minor

Program Coordinator

Stefanie Rocknak (Philosophy)

Faculty:

Stefanie Rocknak (Philosophy)

Major

N/A

Minor

Cognitive Science

About

There has always been a fascination with how the mind works. How is information and knowledge represented in the mind? What is the nature of intelligence? How do we acquire and use language? How do we learn and reason? Can we build robots that perceive, solve problems, and make decisions like humans? How do brain lesions affect cognition? How is the human brain different from the brain of other animals? Questions such as these drive the field of cognitive science. In recent decades, researchers from a variety of disciplines (e.g., neuroscience, cognitive psychology, philosophy, artificial intelligence, linguistics, anthropology, religious studies, etc.) have joined forces to tackle these topics, acknowledging the limitations of each discipline in isolation, and recognizing the value in interdisciplinary contributions.

Students who minor in cognitive science will find this field has unlimited potential for future careers in industry as well as in academia in areas such as: computer industry (robotics, artificial intelligence, expert systems, language understanding, virtual reality, computer graphics, programming, analysts, etc.), biotechnology (e.g., cognitive neuroscience, biomolecular/genetic computing), medicine/medical research, clinical psychology/psychiatry (learning disabilities, dyslexia, autism, learning and memory, psycho pharmacy, psychotherapy,) education (curriculum, language acquisition, cognitive development, learning disabilities), human-computer interface design, human factors (tool design, telecommunications, work-place safety), language (speech pathology, language instruction), language translation and cross-cultural interpretation, lexicography (building dictionary databases, search engines, etc.), business, art, music, etc.