CGSC 270 Introduction to Cognitive Science (Fall 1997)

Prof. W. Frawley

MW 11:15-12:30
Office: 46 E. Delaware Ave (Linguistics Dept.)
Office Hours: By Appointment
Phone: 831-6806
FAX: 831-6896
Email: billf@copland.udel.edu
http://www.udel.edu/billf/cgsc27097.html

Summaries of Class Discussion
Problem Search
Examinations
CGSC 270 Fall 96
Actual Cognitive Science Incidents
HELP!!

Texts

A. Damasio, Descartes' error, NY: Avon Books, 1994.
Reserve readings in the library

Requirements

three take-home examinations (75%)
group web-page summaries and problem search (25%)

NOTE: all students must use email and the web

Groups and Group Work

Group Composition: Groups will be assigned the first day of class and will remain so constituted for the entire semester.

Web-Page Summaries: Groups will have the responsibility of summarizing the week's discussion for entry on the page. This will be the basis of a running discussion that both class members and the cogsci community at large can access and add to. Email the summaries to Frawley.

Problem Search: The group summarizing the week's discussion must also find a problem that exemplifies material covered thus far in the course and report, on the day their summary is due, on how the problem relates to cognitive science. This material must be written and included in the email with the summary; it will be entered on the class web page.

Course Outline

A. Fundamentals

1. The Science of Cognitive Science (No Ghosts!)

Explanation and the contributing disciplines; Marr's and Flanagan's notions of levels; basic terms: computation, representation, architecture, modularity, connectionism, supervenience, functionalism, reduction, eliminativism competence/performance, individualism, design stance, etc.; cognitive science as a unifying theory.
Reading: Sterelny, The representational theory of mind, Ch. 1-3.

2. Computation and Intelligence

The (hard and soft machine) as analogy and reality: input devices, memory structure and retrieval, input/output asymmetry, how programs make virtual machines, compiling code; learnability: factory installed equipment, core mind, learning as deciding; received architectures: the extremes of mental code.
READING: Green et al. Cognitive science, Ch. 2-3; von Eckhardt, What is cognitive science? Ch. 3; (optional) Copeland, Are we computers?

3. Genes and Brains: Two kinds of Physical Constraints

Very basic material on neurons, neurochemistry, neural assemblies, brain locales and levels; very basic genetics and evolutionary theory, evolutionary constraints on believable explanations.
READING: Kolb and Whishaw, Fundamentals of human neuropsychology, Ch. 1-4; Brzustowicz, Looking for language genes

4. Properties of the Cognitive Processor

Limits of the cognitive computing device; input devices as energy detection mechanisms; attention, control, and resource allocation; kinds of memory, storage, access, statistical properties of input; kinds of mental content (concepts, images, representations...); activities of the processor: problem-solving, planning, updating.
READING: Stillings et al. Cognitive science, Ch. 2-3.

5. How Come We Turned Out Like This (and not otherwise)?

Children's initial knowledge; animal minds.
READING: Spelke, Initial knowledge: Six suggestions; Gallistel et al., Lessons from animal learning...; Griffin, Animal thinking, Ch. 1-2.

Examination #1 DUE: October 8 (distributed October 1)

B. Domains

1. Objects and Space

Low-level vs. high-level; edges, surfaces, generalized cones, geons; what and where; apriori spatial knowledge.
READING: Green et al., Cognitive science, 84-107; Murray, Piaget's theory; Baillargeon, The object concept revisited.

2. Faces

Faces vs. objects; complexes; verticality and preferred orientations.
READING: Green et al., Cognitive science, 107-119

3. Language

The abstract modular structure of mental grammar; the organization of language: phonology, syntax, and semantics; universal grammar, learnability, and acquisition.
READING: Liberman, The sound structure of Mawu words; Lasnik, The forms of sentences; Frawley, Linguistic semantics, Ch 1-2; Pinker, Language acquisition.

4. Music

Formal structure of music: grouping, meter, reduction; similarities to and differences from language; innate musical knowledge.
READING: Jackendoff, Musical parsing and musical affect.

5. Mathematics

Innate mathematical knowledge; counting, incrementation, and sets.
READING: Gelman and Brenneman, First principles ...

6. Theory of Mind

Knowledge of other minds; responses to minds, not behavior; metarepresentation; a social knowledge module?
READING: Gopnik and Wellman, The theory theory; Povinelli, Chimpanzee theory of mind?

Examination #2 DUE: November 19 (Distributed November 12)

C. Breakdown

1. Amnesia, Agnosia, and Aphasia

Memory loss and dysfunction; deficits of object and face recognition; kinds of language breakdown (Broca, Wernicke, Specific Language Impairment)
READING: Cohen, Preserved learning capacity in amnesia...; Farah, Visual agnosia, Ch. 1-2; Farah, Dissociable systems for recognition...; Kolb and Whishaw, Fundamentals of human neuropsychology, 512-31.

2. Williams Syndrome

Language without world knowledge; spatial deficits.
READING: Karmiloff-Smith et al., Is there a social module?

3. Autism

Mindblindness; deficits in theory of mind and metarepresentation; preserved language.
READING: Baron-Cohen et al., Does the autistic child have a theory of mind?

D. Frontiers: Consciousness and Emotions

Are feelings and subjectivity computed? Awareness and self without an inner homunculus?
READING: Flanagan, Consciousness reconsidered, Ch. 1-3; Churchland, The engine of reason, the seat of the soul, Ch. 8-9; Damasio, Descartes' error, Ch. 1-7.

E. Prospects and Progress

Educational and technological applications of cognitive science. How does reading work? Can we teach it better? Why is math learning so difficult? Can we teach math and science better? Why are second languages so hard to learn? Can we teach languages better? Can we build intelligent machines to help education?

F. Making Minds: A Visit to ASEL (if time allows)

Can we build useful, if not intelligent, machines? Applied Science and Engineering Labs, A.I. DuPont Children's Hospital.

Examination #3 DUE: Day of Scheduled Final (distributed December 10)

Chronology

Wednesday 9/3 Science of Cognitive Science
Monday 9/8 Science of Cognitive Science
Wednesday 9/10 Computation & Intelligence Problem Search & Summary: Sci of CogSci ( Frawley)
Monday 9/15 Computation & Intelligence
Wednesday 9/17 Genes & Brains Problem Search & Summary: Comp Intell.
Monday 9/22 Genes & Brains/Processor
Wednesday 9/24 Processor Problem Search & Summary: Genes & Brains
Monday 9/29 How Come...?
Wednesday 10/1 How Come...? Exam #1 Distributed
Monday 10/6 Objects & Space Problem Search & Summary: Processor/How come
Wednesday 10/8 Objects & Space EXAM #1 DUE
Monday 10/13 Objects & Space
Wednesday 10/15 Faces
Monday 10/20 NO CLASS
Wednesday 10/22 Language Problem Search & Summary: Objects & Space
Monday 10/27 Language Problem Search & Summary: Faces
Wednesday 10/29 Language
Monday 11/3 Language
Wednesday 11/5 Language
Monday 11/10 Music & Mathematics Problem Search & Summary: Language
Wednesday 11/12 Theory of Mind Exam #2 Distributed
Monday 11/17 Amnesia, Agnosia & Aphasia Problem Search & Summary: Music & Math/TOM
Wednesday 11/19 Amnesia, Agnosia & Aphasia EXAM #2 DUE
Monday 11/24 Amnesia, Agnosia & Aphasia
Wednesday 11/26 Williams Syndrome
Monday 12/1 Autism Problem Search & Summary: Amnesia, Agnosia, Aphasia
Wednesday 12/3 Consciousness
Monday 12/8 Emotions Problem Search & Summary: Williams/Autism
Wednesday 12/10 Prospects and Progress Problem Search & Summary: Consciousness & Emotions Exam #3 Distributed
Visit to ASEL if possible during reading day/exam week
Day of Scheduled Final: EXAM #3 DUE