UVA Cog Sci

Cognitive Psychology

PSYC 2150: Introduction to Cognition
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: None
Description of course contents: Cognition is the activity of knowing: the acquisition, organization, and use of knowledge. Emphasizing fundamental issues, this course introduces such basic content areas in cognitive psychology as perception, memory, language, cognitive development, and philosophy of science.
Instructor: Willingham

PSYC 2300: Introduction to Perception
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: None
Description of course contents: Study of selected topics in perception, particularly visual perception; the role of stimulus variables, learning and motivation of perception.
Instructor: Proffitt

PSYC 2301: Introduction to Perception Lab
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: Simultaneous enrollment in PSYC 2300
Description of course contents: Optional lab to accompany the study of selected topics in perception, particularly visual perception; the role of stimulus variables, learning and motivation of perception.
Instructor: Proffitt

PSYC 3005-1: Research Methods & Data Analysis I
Credits: 4 (Required lab)
Prerequisite: PSYC 1010 or any 2000-level PSYC course
Enrollment restrictions: To be officially enrolled in PSYC 3005, registration is required for BOTH the lecture and a lab section. Otherwise, you will be dropped from the class. Instructions on how to add the lecture or lab section or how to change lab sections will be given during the first lecture.
Description of course contents: Introduction to research methods in psychology, integrating statistical analysis. Emphasis on descriptive statistics and non-experimental research methods. Use of computers for data analysis, experimentation, and report writing. This course is the first part of a two-part series (3005 and 3006).
*If course is full in SIS: An online waitlist may be started. Please do not contact the professor.
Instructor: Freeman

PSYC 3005-2: Research Methods & Data Analysis I
Credits: 4 (Required lab)
Prerequisite: PSYC 1010 or any 2000-level PSYC course
Enrollment restrictions: To be officially enrolled in PSYC 3005, registration is required for BOTH the lecture and a lab section. Otherwise, you will be dropped from the class. Instructions on how to add the lecture or lab section or how to change lab sections will be given during the first lecture.
Description of course contents: Introduction to research methods in psychology, integrating statistical analysis. Emphasis on descriptive statistics and non-experimental research methods. Use of computers for data analysis, experimentation, and report writing. This course is the first part of a two-part series (3005 and 3006).
*If course is full in SIS: An online waitlist may be started. Please do not contact the professor.
Instructor: Mikami

PSYC 3006: Research Methods & Data Analysis II
Credits: 4 (Required lab)
Prerequisite: PSYC 3005 (with C or better)
Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology Majors and Minors; CogSci Majors
To be officially enrolled in PSYC 3005, registration is required for BOTH the lecture and a lab section. Otherwise, you will be dropped from the class. Instructions on how to add the lecture or lab section or how to change lab sections will be given during the first lecture.
Description of course contents: Second part of a two-part series. Emphasis on inferential statistics (t-tests and ANOVA) and issues in experimentation.
*If course is full in SIS: An online waitlist may be started. Please do not contact the professor.
**Course May Meet Second Writing Requirement**
Instructor: Schmidt

PSYC 3435: Educational Psychology
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: PSYC 2150 (with grade of B- or higher highly recommended) and PSYC 2700
Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology Majors/Minors and Cognitive Science Majors
Description of course contents: Psychologists have studied the processes of learning and thinking for over 100 years, and theoreticians have attempted to apply that knowledge to K-12 education for almost that long. This course will use information from cognitive psychology to examine: major steams of thought in pedagogy; data patterns in student achievement and in teacher effectiveness; subject-specific teaching strategies; and proposed reforms for American education.
Instructor: Willingham

PSYC 4500-2: Memory: Forgotten, Illusory and True
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors and Cognitive Science Majors
Description of course contents: Although memory is generally accurate, some
illusions and distortions in remembering are unavoidable. The consequences of these memory problems range from relatively benign tip-of-the-tongue experiences to untrustworthy eye-witness testimony. We will look at different kinds of memory errors as a tool for investigating how memory works.
Instructor: Dodson

PSYC 4500-3: Perception and Action in Infants
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: PSYC 2700
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors and Cognitive Science Majors
Description of course contents: We will cover the development of the
major perceptual systems (vision and audition) in infancy and their
coordination with major action systems (locomotor systems like walking
and fine motor control like reaching and grasping). To understand infant
development, we must consider how these systems interact with one
another and with the child's developing intellect.
Instructor: Keen

PSYC 4500-4: Cognitive Research Methods
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors and Cognitive Science Majors
Description of course contents: You will acquire the tools you need to design experiments with human participants. We will focus on general methods that cut across sub-disciplines. Most of these methods were originally developed for research on perception and cognition, but they are now widely applied in other contexts.
Instructor: Kubovy

PSYC 4500-5: Pleasures of the Mind
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors and Cognitive Science Majors
Description of course contents: A re-examination of the concept of pleasure, this course will focus on the pleasure we take when we go through episodes in our lives. We will discuss theories of emotion, motivation, and esthetics with the goal of gaining an understanding of this complex notion.
Instructor: Kubovy

PSYC 4500-6: Social Neuroscience
*Note: PSYC 4500-6 may be used to fulfill either the Cognitive Psychology or the Neuroscience area requirement, but not both.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors, Cognitive Science Majors, and Neuroscience Majors
Description of course contents: A broad perspective on the expanding field of social neuroscience. An overview of novel empirical attempts to illuminate the neural mechanisms underlying social phenomena. Topics include, but are not limited to, social perception, social cognition, person perception, attitudes, and interpersonal processes. Emphasis on understanding the reciprocal interaction between brain function and everyday social behaviors.
Instructor: Morris

PSYC 4500-11: Biological Models of Cognition
*Note: PSYC 4500-11 may be used to fulfill either the Cognitive Psychology or the Neuroscience area requirement, but not both.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors and Cognitive Science Majors
Description of course contents: This course examines animal models that have been developed to study neurobiological mechanisms of cognition. Topics to be covered include goal-directed learning, decision-making, navigation, action selection, motivation, working memory and addiction. Each section will cover a specific cognitive process, the development and validation of animal models to study this process and a discussion of identified neurobiological mechanisms. Students will learn how to read and interpret scientific articles, present their ideas in a group setting and critically analyze current theories in psychology and neuroscience.
Instructor: Wiltgen

PSYC 4500-12: Art and Aging
Credits: 3
Prerequisites:
Enrollment Restrictions: Includes, but not restricted to, Psychology Majors/Minors and Cognitive Science Majors
Description of course contents: In this course, you will explore the physical, psychological, and emotional benefits of art and nature for the elderly. You will work in small teams of three to create digital technologies that provide interactive experiences with aspects of art and/or nature, such as a virtual window on an aesthetic world or a virtual museum experience. Your team will work with normal elderly people as well as with individuals with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease to develop ideas about what delights and benefits these individuals. Throughout the semester, you will also evaluate the impact of your designs on the well-being of the elderly.

You must have a background in at least one of the following areas:

Computer graphics and programming for iPads and tablet PCS
Background in art, architecture and/or design
Background in behavioral research
Experience working with the elderly and/or people with Alzheimer’s Disease and dementia

Instructor: Twedt

PSYC 5310: Developmental Psycholinguistics
*Note: PSYC 5310 may be used to fulfill either the Cognitive Psychology or the Linguistics area requirement, but not both.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors and Cognitive Science Majors; GSAS
Description of course contents: We will examine the development of language from a number of perspectives. In addition to studying the acquisition of speech in children with normal hearing, we will review the acquisition of spoken and signed language in deaf, autistic, mentally retarded, and aphasic individuals. We will also examine the acquisition of language-like systems of communication in nonhuman primates.
Instructor: Bonvillian

PSYC 5325: Cognitive Neuroscience
*Note: PSYC 5325 may be used to fulfill either the Cognitive Psychology or the Neuroscience area requirement, but not both.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors; Cognitive Science Majors, and Neuroscience Majors; GSAS
Description of course contents: Several approaches have been used to investigate relations between mind (or cognition) and brain. For example, the case study perspective focuses on cognitive deficits of patients with localized brain damage, and the cognitive neuroscience perspective attempts to determine the neurobiological substrates of cognitive processes in normal humans, usually by means of structural or functional neuroimaging. Both of these perspectives will be covered in this course, and one of the goals will be to attempt to integrate findings from different approaches to studying mind-brain relations.
Instructor: Salthouse

Neuroscience

PSYC 2200: Introduction to Psychobiology
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Enrollment Restrictions: None
Description of course contents: One approach to understanding human behavior is to consider ourselves from a biological perspective. This course attempts to do so by examining how the brain guides behavior. The first portion is an overview of the structure and function of the central nervous system. With this knowledge, we then examine how the brain controls a variety of higher behaviors, including learning and memory, sex, emotions and sleeping.
Instructor: Brunjes

PSYC 4200: Neural Mechanisms of Behavior
* Note: PSYC 4200 OR BIOL 3170 credits may count for the major, but not both.
Credits: 4
Prerequisites: PSYC 2200 or Instructor Permission
Enrollment Restrictions: Psychology Majors /Minors, Cognitive Science Majors, and Neuroscience Majors
Description of course contents: Lectures and discussions on molecular and cellular aspects of neural mechanisms as they relate to behavior. Topics will include neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neurotransmitters and receptors, neuropharmacology, cortical organization and function, plasticity and neurodegenerative diseases.
Instructor: Erisir

PSYC 5265: Functional Neuroanatomy
Credits: 3
Prerequisites:
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors, Cognitive Science Majors, and Neuroscience Majors; GSAS
Description of course contents: An overview of the structure of the vertebrate
nervous system with an emphasis on the mammalian brain.
Instructor: Brunjes

PSYC 5401: Chemical Senses: Taste and Smell
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: PSYC 2200, 2220, or 4200 or Instructor Permission
Enrollment Restrictions: 4th years: Psychology Majors/Minors, Cognitive Science Majors, and Neuroscience Majors; GSAS
Description of course contents: Explores the neurobiology of the chemical senses by examining the biophysical basis of sensory transduction, the anatomical organization of two systems, and the physiological properties of peripheral and central structures along the gustatory and olfactory pathways. Emphasizes new, important findings in taste and smell.
Instructor: Hill

BIOL 3170: Introduction to Neurobiology
* Note: PSYC 4200 OR BIOL 3170 credits may count for the major, but not both.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: BIOL 2010 and BIOL 2020
Description of course contents: Analyzes the concepts of general neurobiology, including basic electrophysiology and electrochemistry, origin of bioelectric potentials, sensory, motor, integrative and developmental neurobiology, and conceptual models of simple learning.
Instructors: Condron and Provencio

BIOL 4170: Cellular Neurobiology
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: BIOL 3170 (or equivalent) and BIOL 3000
Description of course contents: Explores a cellular approach to the study of the nervous system. Topics include the structure and function of ionic channels in cell membranes; the electrochemical basis of the cell resting potential; the generation and conduction of nerve impulses; and synaptic transmissions. Class meetings include lectures, discussion, student presentations, and computer simulations of neurophysiology with NeuroDynamix.
Instructor: Friesen

BIOL 4270: Animal Behavior Laboratory
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: BIOL 3250 recommended.
Description of course contents: Provides direct experience in approaches used to study animal behavior. Each lab concentrates on a particular aspect of behavior. Student experiments relate to central nervous systems; sensory perception; sign stimuli, feeding behavior; social behavior; reproductive behavior; biological timing; and animal observation in the laboratory and field.
Instructor: Kawasaki

BIOL 4490: Neural Systems and Behavior
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: BIOL 3170 and BIOL 3250
Description of course contents: This is an upper level lecture/discussion course for students interested in pursuing additional studies in neurobiology beyond the introductory level.
Instructor: Mellon

Linguistics

ANTH 2400: Language and Culture
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Description of course contents: This course will be a survey of topics having to do with the relationship between language, culture, and society. We will consider both how language is described and analyzed by linguists and how evidence from language can shed light on a variety of social, cultural, and cognitive phenomena. Topics include: nature of language, origins of language, how languages change, writing systems, use of linguistic evidence to make inferences about prehistory, the effects of linguistic categories on thought and behavior, regional and social variation in language, and cultural rules for communication.
Instructor: Rodriguez

ANTH 3450: Native American Languages
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: LNGS 3250
Description of course contents: Introduces the native languages of North America and the methods that linguists and anthropologists use to record and analyze them. Examines the use of grammars, texts and dictionaries of individual languages and affords insight into the diversity among the languages.
Instructor: Danziger

ANTH 3480: Language and Prehistory
Credits: 3
Prerequisites:
Description of course contents: This course covers the basic principles of diachronic linguistics and discusses the uses of linguistic data in the reconstruction of prehistory.
Instructor: Danziger

ANTH 5420: Theories of Language
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: A course in Linguistics, preferably LNGS 3250
Description of course contents: Survey of modern schools of linguistics, both American and European, discussing each approach in terms of historical and intellectual context, analytical goals, assumptions about the nature of language, and relation between theory and methodology.
Instructor: Contini-Morava

LNGS 3250: Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Analysis
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Description of course contents: Introduces sign systems, language as a sign system, and approaches to linguistics description. Emphasizes the application of descriptive techniques to data.
Instructor: Elson

LNGS 3250: Introduction to Linguistic Theory and Analysis Discussion
Credits: 1
Prerequisites: Simultaneous enrollment in LNGS 3250
Description of course contents: Discussion for the course which introduces sign systems, language as a sign system, and approaches to linguistics description. Emphasizes the application of descriptive techniques to data.
Instructor: Elson

SPAN 3200: Introduction to Hispanic Linguistics
Credits: 3
Prerequisites:
Description of course contents: This course offers a rigorous introduction to the formal study of the Spanish language. Topics include: articulatory phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, historical linguistics and dialectology. Conducted in Spanish.
Instructor: Tejedo-Herrero

Philosophy

PHIL 2420: Introduction to Symbolic Logic
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: None
Description of course contents: A basic introduction to the concepts and techniques of modern formal logic. The aim of this course is to give the student a working knowledge of both sentential and quantifier logic. The emphasis is on developing an ability to carry out proofs within these systems and on developing an ability to translate sentences of natural language into symbolic notation. The course will acquaint the student with the concepts of formula, proof, interpretation, and validity. Students will use logic software that will allow them to develop greater expertise with the material.
Instructor: Humphreys

PHIL 3330: Philosophy of Mind
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: None
Description of course contents: What is the nature of the mind and why do we find its nature so puzzling? We shall critically examine various theories about the nature of the mind; we shall also discuss the nature of particular kinds of mental states and events, such as beliefs, desires, feelings, sensory experiences, and others. We shall be especially concerned with the relations between the mind and the body, and, more generally, between the mental and the physical. Most of the readings will be by contemporary philosophers.
**Course May Meet Second Writing Requirement**
Instructor: Gertler

PHIL 5420: Symbolic Logic (Advanced)
Credits: 3
Prerequisite: PHIL 2420 or equivalent
Description of course contents: Examines various results in metalogic, including completeness, compactness, and undecidability. Effective computability, theories of truth, and identity may also be covered.
Instructor: Cargile

Computer Science

All Computer Science courses are acceptable except CS 1010 and CS 1020. ECE 2066: Science of Information will count for credit but does not fill the CS area requirement.

The most common introductory-level Computer Science courses for Cognitive Science majors are:

CS 1110: Introduction to Programming (Previously CS 101)

CS 1120: From Ada and Euclid to Quantum Computing and the World Wide Web (Previously CS 150)

CS 2102: Discrete Mathematics I (Previously CS 202)