Cognitive Science Program
at the University of Virginia

Previously Approved Courses

Spring 2003

Cognitive Psychology | Philosophy |Linguistics | Neuroscience

 

Previously Approved Courses by Semester

| Spring 2007|
Fall 2006 | Spring 2006 | Fall 2005 | Spring 2005 | Fall 2004 |
| Spring 2004 | Fall 2003 | Spring 2003 | Fall 2002

 

Back to Current Courses

Cognitive Psychology

PSYC 210: Introduction to Learning and Behavior

The course will examine historical and current theories that explain how different types of learning provide the foundation for most, if not all forms of an organism's behavior. We will cover these theories by carefully examining the most important research experiments that contributed to our current understanding of the principles and concepts that shape our behavior. The lecture content will focus heavily on experimental findings derived from research of learning processes in human and non-human species. The concept of Learning will be explored from the perspective of theories of Classical Conditioning, Operant Conditioning
and more recent theories of the organization of behavior derived from human studies.

Instructor:Cedric Williams

PSYC  215: Introduction to Cognition

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: Daniel Willingham

PSYC 305: Research Methods & Data Analysis* Prerequisite: Psyc 101 or any 200-level Psyc course

An introduction to the procedures used by psychologists in gathering and communicating knowledge in their field. We will study various kinds of research methods, learn the statistics used to analyze psychological data, and learn how to communicate results in a professional writing style. In this course, the emphasis is on descriptive statistics and non-experimental research methods. This is the first part of a two-part series (305-306).

Instructor: Barbara Spellman

PSYC 306-1: Research Methods & Data Analysis* Prerequisite: Psyc 305 ( with C- or better)

Second part of a two-part series required for psychology majors. Emphasis on inferential statistics (t-tests and ANOVA) and issues in experimentation. **Course May Meet Second Writing Requirement**

Instructor:James Freeman

PSYC 306-2: Research Methods & Data Analysis * Prerequisite: Psyc 305 ( with C- or better)

Second part of a two-part series required for psychology majors. Emphasis on inferential statistics (t-tests and ANOVA) and issues in experimentation. **Course May Meet Second Writing Requirement**

Instructor: Karen Schmidt

PSYC 401: Psychology of Language Comprehension* Prerequisite Psyc 101, Psyc 305

Psych 401 is designed to expose students, who may or may not have background in linguistics or
cognitive psychology, to the study of language and language comprehension. Students will be challenged to read and review the basic topics and issues in the subdiscipline. We will survey psycholinguistic functions such as speech perception, lexical processing, sentence processing, spoken and written discourse processing, speech production in- and out-of-context, and first language and second language acquisition. We will examine each area from a historical perspective, review the major question(s) in the area, and examine the research methodology. You will be expected to lead and participate actively in class discussions.

Instructor: Beverly Colwell Adams

PSYC 405: Memory Distortion* Prerequisite Psyc 215 (Intro to Cognition)

This seminar explores the causes and consequences of memory distortion from both cognitive and neuropsychological perspectives. Topics include amnesia, eyewitness memory, flashbulb memories and ways of minimizing memory errors. The goal is to examine how memory malfunctions in order to
understand the mechanisms of encoding and retrieval

Instructor:Chad Dodson

PSYC 407: Attention and Working Memory

Description to follow

Instructor:Jeff Hollier

PSYC 418: Invention and Design* Prerequisite ENWR 110 or TCC 101 or instructor permission,
** Course satisfies second writing requirement.

Designed for students who have an interest in understanding the processes of invention and design. The course is multidisciplinary, so all majors are welcomed. Extended case studies, also known as active learning modules, will be used throughout. Students work in teams on activities that simulate stages of
the invention and design process. Each of these learning modules will include hands-on projects that incorporate ethical and environmental issues. This course was developed with funding from the National Science Foundation, the Fund for the Improvement of Post-Secondary Education, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Cross-listed as TCC 315.

Instructor:Mike Gorman

PSYC 515: Advanced Cognitive Psychology*Prerequisite : Introduction to Cognitive Psychology

This course picks up where Introduction to Cognitive Psychology leaves off. It is assumed that you know that material. The pace is faster, and the reading material is primarily original source materials (that is, experiments and theories, not literature reviews).

Instructor:Daniel Willingham

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Philosophy

PHIL 350: Philosophy of Language

Philosophical problems can often be either solved or refined by scrutiny of the language in which they are couched. What is more, language and linguistic interaction themselves raise questions of the deepest conceptual kind, answers to which illuminate cognition and social interaction. For this reason language has been the premier area of inquiry among philosophers for a century. This course will examine, from a nontechnical point of view, topics that have been given the most intense treatment, namely: the nature of meaning and the relation thereof to truth and to "language games"; questions about the definition of language; the relation between language and thought; the nature of interpretation and the role that it plays in
organizing our understanding of the world; the interface between literal and figurative uses of language.
The course should be of interest not only to philosophy students, but also to those in linguistics, psychology, cognitive science, literature, anthropology, and computer science.

Instructor: Mitchell Green

PHIL 334: Philosophy of Mind

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.

Instructor: Harold Langsom

 PHIL 547:Philosophy of Mathematics

A comparison of various schools in the philosophy of mathematics (including logicism, formalism, and conceptualism) and their answers to such questions as "Do numbers exist?" and "How is mathematical knowledge possible?" Prerequisite: Some familiarity with quantifier logic [PHIL 242]
or permission of instructor.

 Instructor: James Cargile

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Linguistics

ANTH 340 Structure of English *No prerequisites


The objective of this course is to help students understand the system of descriptive-as opposed to prescriptive-rules underlying English grammar, and so to better appreciate the language and become
better writers, educators, and analyzers. Some time is spent early on in the course thinking critically about variation and standardization in the English language, but the bulk of the semester is spent learning the basic elements of English phonological and morphological description, examining the notion
of "part of speech" from both formal and functional perspectives, and exploring basic English sentence types, common phrase and clause patterns, sentence transformations, and information-packaging strategies.

 Instructor: Lise Dobrin

ANTH 544:Morphology*Prerequisite: Introductory linguistic course or permission from instuctor

This course provides an overview of recent morphological theory, focusing on recurring themes that have arisen as the subfield has sought to find its place within the generative paradigm. The issues we will cover fall mainly into two broad groupings: those that relate morphology to phonology (such as allomorphy and word formation), and those that relate it to syntax (e.g., inflection, distinguishing compounds from phrases). Throughout the course we will be mindful of whether there is such a thing as pure morphology, a core set of phenomena having to do with word structure which motivates a distinct component of grammar. Students will do weekly or biweekly problem sets and give a class presentation on a common morphological category
or means of formal expression.

 Instructor: Lise Dobrin

ANTH 549: Language and Thought

Description to follow

Instructor: Eve Danzinger

The above course has been changed for the spring semester. Instead 549 will be:

ANTH 549:Discourse Analysis Prerequisite: An introductory course in Linguistics: ANTH 540, LNGS 701, or LNGS 325.

NEW COURSE DESCRIPTION This course offers a linguistic approach to the study of multi-party speech events that are longer than the single sentence. We view these as vehicles through which such
central issues as identity, subjectivity and power are negotiated in human societies. Topics to be covered
include: methods in the documentation of discourse (including ethical issues), conversational analysis,
linguistic pragmatics, narrative analysis, and critical discourse analysis. The course takes a hands-on approach in which students prepare their own recordings, transcriptions and analyses of naturally occurring speech events. Students will prepare commentaries on readings, and complete a final project for presentation to the class.

Instructor:Eve Danzinger

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Computer Science

Instructor: Dave Evans

CS 445: Introduction to Computer Graphics*Prerequisite: Cs 216 with C- or better or permission from instructor.

This course will introduce the fundamentals of three-dimensional computer graphics: rendering, modeling, and animation. Students will learn how to represent three-dimensional objects (modeling) and the movement of those objects over time (animation). Students will learn and implement the standard rendering pipeline, defined as the stages of turning a three-dimensional model into a shaded, lit, texture-mapped two-dimensional image.

Instructor: Dave Luebke

Neuroscience

PSYC 220: Intro to Psychobiology

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:Dave HIll

** OR- BIOL: 317 CAN COUNT FOR THIS REQUIREMENT. BOTH WILL NOT COUNT TOWARD THE MAJOR **

PSYC 321/529 Psychobiology Lab * Prerequisite: PSYC 220 or PSYC 420, PSYC 305 strongly recommended.

This course is designed to give the student experience with the techniques used to study brain behavior relations and provide a better understanding of the biological basis of behavior. Techniques will include neuroanatomy, electrophysiology, pharmacology and behavioral analysis.

Instructor: Lisa Goehler

PSYC 420: Neural Mechanisms of Behavior * Prerequisite: PSYC 220 or 222, or instructor permission; prior or concurrent enrollment in PSYC 321 is highly recommended.

Lectures on molecular and cellular aspects of neural mechanisms in relation to behavior, including neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, neurotransmitters, receptors, neuropharmacology, development, plasticity and neurodegenerative diseases.

Instructor: Alev Erisir

PSYC 581: MInd- Body Interactions *Prerequisites:PSYC 101 and 220

Psychological states, such as stress, profoundly influence bodily functions. Similarly, signals from the body modulate psychological states including anxiety and depression as well as cognitive functions such as learning and memory. In this seminar we will explore the pathways and neural mechanisms by
which these bi-directional interactions occur.

Instructor: Lisa Goehler

NESC 533: Neural Network Models*Prerequisite:Instructor permission

. Introduces, from an elementary but somewhat mathematical viewpoint, the newly developing field of nueural networks. Examines the basic principles of neural network theory as it relates to biological neural networks.

Instructor: William Levy

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