Class time and location. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 6-7:15pm, COB 116
Teaching team.
Prof. Rick Dale,
rdale@ucmerced.edu, instructor
Office hours: Tuesdays and Thursdays from 5-6pm, SSM 261A
Bryan Kerster, bkerster@ucmerced.edu, teaching assistant, Ph.D. student
Section: Tuesdays, 7:30-8:20pm [06L] and 8:30pm-9:20pm [07L], SSM 154
Consult Bryan in section for his office hours
Alexandra Paxton, aloan@ucmerced.edu, teaching assistant, Ph.D. student
Section: Mondays, 7:30-8:20pm [02L] and 8:30pm-9:20pm [03L], SSM 154
Consult Alex in section for her office hours
Janelle Szary, jszary@ucmerced.edu, teaching assistant, Ph.D. student
Section: Wednesdays, 7:30-8:20pm [04L] and 8:30pm-9:20pm [05L], SSM 154
Consult Janelle in section for her office hours
Overview. Cognitive scientists seek to understand the mental processes that underlie intelligent behavior, including how those processes evolve and develop over time. Their work concerns not just humans, but also non-human animals and machines, and requires a convergence of methods from different disciplines: philosophy, psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, evolutionary and biological sciences, anthropology, computer science, and engineering. The goals of this course are to familiarize students with the breadth of cognitive science methods, to provide hands-on experience with simple examples and demonstrations, and to provide background for conducting cognitive science in the lab and in the workplace.
Learning Outcomes. By the end of the course, students will acquire an understanding of the range of methods in cognitive science. They will develop the skills to conduct cognitive science research, as well as the ability to understand and think critically about the research of others. Through lab, students will gain hands-on experience with a variety of cognitive science methods:
Behavioral experiments: Measure human behavior in lab settings to test hypotheses, which is central to psychological methods. Students will work with one or two classic examples.
Cognitive neuroscience experiments: Analyze neural activity to test hypotheses, which is central to neuroscientific methods. Students will extract and analyze EEG recordings from a database.
Observational methods: Students will carefully observe and record behavior 'in the wild,' which is central to the development of research questions and hypotheses. Linguistic and corpus analyses: Use specific facts of languages as evidence of how minds work. Students will work with one or two simple cases or corpora.
Computational models: Design and implement computational models to test theories about mental processes and properties, which is central to both psychological and neuroscientific methods. Students will work with one or two simple examples.
Robotics & artificial life: Design and implement simple computer algorithms and virtual agents that mimic cognition or behavior, which is central to computer science methods. Students will work with one or two simple examples.
Readings. There is no textbook for this course. Materials will be completely free and distributed through this website. Regular readings will be assigned related to lectures and lab. Sometimes these will be run in your browser; sometimes they will be PDF files you can download and print. The readings will all be available through the web, and will include a mix of instructional readings, original research papers, and also popular science media-type articles. Each week's readings will be finalized at least a week in advance. See the course website for a preliminary schedule.
Grading. Your final grade will be based on 3 exams (20% each), lab activities (30%), and a short final paper (10%).
Exams. Exams will be non-cumulative, closed book, and primarily multiple choice. More details will be provided in the week leading up to each exam.
Lab participation. Lab assignments will include a variety of hands-on activities including spreadsheets, graphing, basic statistics, some mild programming, use of online tools for data analysis or visualization, and more. Your section leader will provide the details for each, including how each exercise will be graded.
Final paper. You will be asked to write a short paper summarizing a simple research project using the tools you learn in lab. Details will be provided mid-semester.
Extra credit. Faculty and students at UC Merced conduct numerous studies of human behavior. Each student can participate in up to 5 hours worth of experimentation (typically 1 or 2 experiments per hour). Each hour of participation will be worth 1% added to your final grade, for up to 5% direct top off on your final grade.
Important information about academic integrity. This class, like all at UC Merced, observes the guidelines on academic integrity and honesty. Please don't cheat. Your work should be your own. Click here to read UC Merced's academic honesty policy.
Special needs. The University of California Merced is committed to ensuring equal academic opportunities and inclusion for students with disabilities based on the principles of independent living, accessible universal design and diversity. I am available to discuss appropriate academic accommodations that may be required for student with disabilities. Requests for academic accommodations are to be made during the first three weeks of the semester, except for unusual circumstances. Students are encouraged to register with Disability Services Center to verify their eligibility for appropriate accommodations. [adapted from CRTE]
Final note. Anything on this syllabus is subject to change, and if so, this change will be clearly communicated by the instructor in advance. Any information not contained on this syllabus should not be assumed, and students are responsible for consulting with the instructor to clarify any ambiguities or missing details.