Cognitive Science Program
at the University of Virginia

Cognitive Science Current Approved Courses
for Spring 2005

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 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
* Prerequisites: Psyc 101 or any 200-level Psyc course and at least 4th semester standing

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
* Prerequisites: Psyc 101 or any 200-level Psyc course

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 required for majors and is the first part of a two-part series (305-306).

Instructor: James Freeman

PSYC 306-2: Research Methods & Data Analysis
* Prerequisites: 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 401/551: 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 402: Language and Cognition in Atypical Populations
* Enrolment Restrictions: Third or fourth year psychology or linguistics majors or by permission of instructor.

This course will focus on language and cognitive development in persons with disabilities. Among the populations examined will be children with autistic disorder, children with Williams syndrome, deaf children, developmentally dysphasic children, adults with aphasia, and children with severe mental retardation. In addition to spoken language development, the course will examine the acquisition of sign communication skills.

Instructor: John Bonvillian

PSYC 404 Memory Distortions
*Enrolment Restrictions: Psychology or Cognitive Science majors

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. This class will review a variety of different memory distortions with the goal of advancing our understanding of memory.

Instructor: Chad Dodson

PSYC 406: Language Development: Learning Words
*Prerequisite Psyc 305 and Psyc 306
*Enrolment Restrictions: 3rd or 4th year Psych, CogSci, or Linguistics majors, or instructor permission

This seminar will focus on how children learn the meanings of words. We will consider various theoretical debates, such as whether children acquire words through domain-general learning mechanisms or by mechanisms more specialized for word learning. We will also consider the extent to which word learning requires an ability to analyze other people's goals, intentions, and interests, and whether this helps to explain why language is specific to humans. Throughout, we will pay close attention to how children's early word learning interacts with and is influenced by their developing cognitive abilities.

Instructor: Vikram K. Jaswal

PSYC 407: Child Development Research and Schooling
*Prerequisite Psyc 220, Psyc 305 and Psyc 306
*Enrolment Restrictions: Psychology majors or instructor permission

In this class we will examine classroom practices in traditional and nontraditional schools today, based on actual observation and reading of research reports, and examine how they measures up to what we know about children's learning and development based on psychology experiments.

Instructor: Angeline Lillard

PSYC 409 Light Life And Vision
* Prerequisite Psyc 230
*Enrolment Restrictions: 4th year majors, Psychology, Biology, Cognitive Science

The course will provide an ecological perspective on how light affects the behavior of plants and animals. After a brief introduction to the physics of light, we will turn to plant adaptations to light; how they store energy, move, and maintain their circadian rhythms. We will examine the varieties of animal eyes and relate the functional organization of their visual nervous systems to the essential behaviors that define their ways of life.

Instructor: Dennis Proffitt

PSYC 410: Cognitive and Social Neuroscience
* Prerequisite Psyc 305 and Psyc 306
*(Can count towards Cog Psych or Neuroscience concentration)

Cognitive neuroscience is one of the hottest areas of study in psychology. Through the use of many techniques, psychologists and neuroscientists in this field investigate the relationship between the brain and behavior. In this course, we discuss the current methodologies used to study the brain-behavior relationship, including neuroimaging techniques (fMRI and PET), clinical neuropsychological studies, research on animals, and newer techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation and optical imaging. In addition, we critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches for a variety of behavioral tasks. The question of how the mind works is relevant for many areas of cognitive and social psychology. This course is broken down into parts that examine different aspects of these areas of psychology. Part I will provide a basic understanding of the brain and the methods used for studying it. In particular we will study the gross anatomy of the brain, but we will also examine the structures and functions of individual cells in the brain. In Part II, we begin to examine functional aspects of the brain. Perception of objects, faces, and attentional factors that modulate perception will be covered. Part III moves us into higher-level cognitive functioning, that which builds directly on the perceptual system. We will cover working memory, then long-term storage of objects, words, and facts. We will also examine memory for actions that may occur outside of consciousness. In Part IV, we cover ways of interacting with the world that demand higher-level functioning, such as physical actions and motor control, decision-making processes, and language. Finally, in Part V we examine social functions, the most debated area of cognitive neuroscience at the moment. Topics will include emotion, consciousness and hemispheric differences in the brain that affect states of consciousness. We conclude with an examination of how the brain changes as it ages.

Instructor:Jeanine Steve

PSYC 411 Psycholinguistics

This course will discuss how linguistic models help us to understand the psychology of language. We will focus on the emergence of language in children, acquisition and development of language, language disorders and neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, and bilingualism.

Instructor: Filip Loncke

PSYC 554 Cognitive Development
* Enrolment Restrictions: Instructor permission

We will survey literature on cognitive development

Instructor: Angeline Lillard

PSYC 555 Developmental Psycholinguistics
* Enrolment Restrictions: Upper-level psychology majors or linguistics students or instructor permission

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: John Bonvillian

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Philosophy

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: Brie Gertler

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Linguistics

ASL 355: Comparative Linguistics: ASL & English

Describes spoken English and ASL (American Sign Language) on five levels: phonological, morphological, lexical, syntactic, and discourse. Compares and contrasts the two languages on all five levels using real-world examples. Documents similarities between signed languages and spoken languages in general. Describes the major linguistic components and processes of English and ASL. Introduces basic theories regarding ASL structure. Emphasizes ASL's status as a natural language by comparing and contrasting similarities and unique differences between the two languages.
Students will gain understanding of how all languages are structured. The class will be taught in English with examples from ASL; while ASL 101 is recommended, no prior knowledge of ASL or the Deaf community is required.

Instructor: Bruce Sofinski

ANTH 544 Morphology

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

PHIL 750 Philosophy of Language
* Prerequisites: At least one course in Philosophy at the undergraduate level or above. A knowledge of first order predicate logic and basic metatheory is a plus but not essential.

Philosophical problems can often be either solved or dissolved 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 these reasons language has been the premier area of inquiry among philosophers in the last century. This course will examine, from a non-technical point of view, topics that have been given the most intense treatment, all of which flow from the question, In virtue of what is language meaningful? Topics to be covered include the relation between thought and language; the possibility of an essentially private discursive realm; the view that oneâs linguistic framework somehow 'structures' reality; the method of solving or dissolving traditional philosophical problems by scrutiny of the language in which they are couched; the nature of linguistic meaning and the relation thereof to truth and to 'language games,' the relation between what is said in a given utterance and what is conveyed; the nature of interpretation and the role that it plays in organizing our understanding of the world. 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

PSYC 401/551, 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 402: Language and Cognition in Atypical Populations
* Enrolment Restrictions: Third or fourth year psychology or linguistics majors or by permission of instructor.

This course will focus on language and cognitive development in persons with disabilities. Among the populations examined will be children with autistic disorder, children with Williams syndrome, deaf children, developmentally dysphasic children, adults with aphasia, and children with severe mental retardation. In addition to spoken language development, the course will examine the acquisition of sign communication skills.

Instructor: John Bonvillian

PSYC 406: Language Development: Learning Words
* Prerequisite Psyc 305 and Psyc 306
*Enrolment Restrictions: 3rd or 4th year Psych, CogSci, or Linguistics majors, or instructor permission

This seminar will focus on how children learn the meanings of words. We will consider various theoretical debates, such as whether children acquire words through domain-general learning mechanisms or by mechanisms more specialized for word learning. We will also consider the extent to which word learning requires an ability to analyze other people's goals, intentions, and interests, and whether this helps to explain why language is specific to humans. Throughout, we will pay close attention to how children's early word learning interacts with and is influenced by their developing cognitive abilities.

Instructor: Vikram K. Jaswal

PSYC 411 Psycholinguistics

This course will discuss how linguistic models help us to understand the psychology of language. We will focus on the emergence of language in children, acquisition and development of language, language disorders and neurolinguistics, sociolinguistics, and bilingualism.

Instructor: Filip Loncke

PSYC 555 Developmental Psycholinguistics
* Enrolment Restrictions: Upper-level psychology majors or linguistics students or instructor permission

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: John Bonvillian

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Computer Science

All CS courses are acceptable except CS 110, CS 120, and CS 182.
ECE 200 will count for credit, but does not fill CS area requirement.

The most common intro-level CS courses for Cognitive Science majors are:

CS 101: Introduction to Computer Science
CS 200: Foundations of Computer Science
CS 202: Discrete Mathematics

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.

Instructors: Dave Hill

PSYC 321 Psychobiology Lab
* Prerequisite: PSYC 220 or PSYC 420, PSYC 305 strongly recommended.
* Enrolment Restrictions: Instructor Permission

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 410: Cognitive and Social Neuroscience
* Prerequisite Psyc 305 and Psyc 306
(Can count towards Cog Psych or Neuroscience concentration

Cognitive neuroscience is one of the hottest areas of study in psychology. Through the use of many techniques, psychologists and neuroscientists in this field investigate the relationship between the brain and behavior. In this course, we discuss the current methodologies used to study the brain-behavior relationship, including neuroimaging techniques (fMRI and PET), clinical neuropsychological studies, research on animals, and newer techniques like transcranial magnetic stimulation and optical imaging. In addition, we critically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of these approaches for a variety of behavioral tasks. The question of how the mind works is relevant for many areas of cognitive and social psychology. This course is broken down into parts that examine different aspects of these areas of psychology. Part I will provide a basic understanding of the brain and the methods used for studying it. In particular we will study the gross anatomy of the brain, but we will also examine the structures and functions of individual cells in the brain. In Part II, we begin to examine functional aspects of the brain. Perception of objects, faces, and attentional factors that modulate perception will be covered. Part III moves us into higher-level cognitive functioning, that which builds directly on the perceptual system. We will cover working memory, then long-term storage of objects, words, and facts. We will also examine memory for actions that may occur outside of consciousness. In Part IV, we cover ways of interacting with the world that demand higher-level functioning, such as physical actions and motor control, decision-making processes, and language. Finally, in Part V we examine social functions, the most debated area of cognitive neuroscience at the moment. Topics will include emotion, consciousness and hemispheric differences in the brain that affect states of consciousness. We conclude with an examination of how the brain changes as it ages.

Instructor:Jeanine Steve

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: Kurt Illig

PSYC 425: Brain Systems Involved in Memory
* Prerequisite PSYC 220, 222 or PSYC 420,
* Enrolment Restrictions: Psychology or Cognitive Science majors

The seminar will explore the contribution and role of several brain structures in regulating higher order cognitive processes such as decision-making, emotional assessments, learning, and the storage of new information into long term memory. Students will learn how to conduct comprehensive literature searchers, organize large volumes of information, improve public speaking skills, be introduced to a broad spectrum of traditional and current state of the art neuroscience techniques and gain a better understanding of the interactions that occur between brain structures and neurotransmitter systems to enable new memories to be formed.

Instructor: Cedric Williams

PSYC 529 Advanced Psychobiology Laboratory
* Prerequisite PSYC 321
* Enrolment Restrictions: Instructor permission

Each student helps design and carry out an original research project related to neural bases of behavior. Six laboratory hours.

Instructor: Lisa Goehler

PSYC 531 Functional Neuroanatomy
* Prerequisite PSYC 420 or BIOL 417

Overview of the structure of the mammalian nervous system, organized around the various functional subunits of the brain.

Instructor: Peter Brunjes

NESC 533 Neural Network Models
* Prerequisite PSYC 420 or BIOL 417

This is an introductory course to neural networks research, specifically biologically-based networks that reproduce cognitive phenomena. The goal of this course is to teach the basic thinking and methodologies used in constructing and understanding neural-like networks.We will study networks with elements that explicitly correspond to neurons and synapses, and we will study, at the simplest possible level, the network computations that arise from such explicit, plausible biology. In essence, any insight into how groups of neurons subserve thought rests on such computations and the mathematical relationships that define the computations.

Instructor: William Levy

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