The ATCS course is an introduction to Cognitive Science. This is an interdisciplinary field, comprising chiefly Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology and Philosophy. During the autumn term you will be doing ATCS, which introduces a range of approaches to studying, modelling and explaining cognition. Both classic and contemporary topics in the field of cognition will be introduced, including: perception, the nature of mental representations and mental models, learning, memory, emotion, language and consciousness.
The main aim of the course is to get you to think about the nature of the mind and to learn how cognitive scientists have attempted to explain cognition. There are a number of different perspectives for studying the mind and providing accounts of how it works. These include: Philosophy, Psychology, Artificial Intelligence and Linguistics. Furthermore, there are competing theories of how the mind works both across and within each of these disciplines. A main objective of the course is for you to understand how these various approaches complement and differ from each other.
The course is also designed to help you to learn skills that you can apply throughout your university life and beyond. These skills include note taking, critical reading, debating, project work, giving presentations, essay and report writing.
The course uses a variety of teaching methods and materials. Teaching will be through a combination of integrated lectures and seminars. The lectures will introduce and illustrate concepts, theories and techniques that are central to cognitive science. The seminars will provide you with the opportunity to discuss issues like whether the mind can be likened to a computer and whether computers can think. In the lectures you should note points to raise in the forthcoming seminars: these should include anything you would like to discuss further.
There are TWO lectures per week which everyone taking the course must attend. The times and places are:
| Professor Margaret Boden's Open Lectures | Tuesdays | 10.15-11.05 | Arts C133 |
| ATCS lectures | Tuesdays | 11.30-12.20 | Arts A1 |
The first lectures are on 17 October.
The topics for Professor Boden's open lectures are as follows.
| Week | Date | Topic |
| 2 | 17/10 | Man as Machine: Origins of the Idea |
| 3 | 24/10 | Are Minds Machines Too? |
| 4 | 31/10 | The Rise of Computational Psychology |
| 5 | 7/11 | The Birth of Connectionism |
| 6 | 14/11 | When GOFAI was NEWFAI |
| 7 | 21/11 | A-Life in Embryo |
| 8 | 28/11 | Philosophies of Mind and Machine |
The topics for the ATCS lectures are below. Lecture titles may be links referring to the relevant material.
| Week | Date | Topic | Lecturer |
| 2 | 17/10 | Introduction to Cognitive Science | David Young |
| 3 | 24/10 | Mental Representation | David Young |
| 4 | 31/10 | Approaches to Vision | David Young |
| 5 | 7/11 | Seeing | Margaret Boden |
| 6 | 14/11 | Learning and Memory | Martin Langham |
| 7 | 21/11 | Language | Richard Coates |
| 8 | 28/11 | Conversation | Nicola Woods |
| 9 | 5/12 | Emotion and Cognition | Helen Startup |
| 10 | 12/12 | Consciousness | Margaret Boden |
There is one two-hour seminar per week. The first half of this is primarily activity-based, e.g. debating topics, carrying out various exercises related to the lectures and planning your assignments. The second half provides you with an opportunity to discuss topics and issues that have arisen in the lectures and your readings for each week.
You have been allocated to a seminar group, lead by Andy Clark, David Young, Martin Langham, Chris Thornton, Nick Moberly or Rachel Wood. Check on the COGS 1st year undergraduate noticeboard for the seminar time you have been allocated to and the room number. As with all timetabled teaching sessions, attendance is a required part of your course.
The course is assessed wholly by coursework carried out during the term - there are no exams for ATCS. The marks you obtain are a factor in determining whether you pass your first year, but they will not affect your final degree class. However, the mark for the course will appear on the transcript you receive when you leave the University.
There are 3 assignments:
Deadlines must be strictly adhered to. The penalties for late work are set out in your Handbook for Candidates and tutors cannot waive these penalties. (See the Handbook for what to do if, for example, you are ill.) All work must be submitted to the COGS School Office. Please make sure that you put your name and major on your work and place it in the appropriate submission box. The written assignments should be typed or word processed (unless special permission has been given).
This project will investigate the putative mental models that people have and which they use to interact with the world. Specifically, you will carry out a study eliciting people’s understanding of:
(i) how a piece of technology works (e.g. mobile phone, computer, internet, telephone, library system);
(ii) a physical location (e.g. university campus, COGS, the library, halls of residence, Brighton).
Stage 1: Finding out about mental models
To study mental models you will need to ‘interview’ 3 people (who are not on the ATCS course), using a techique or techniques you consider most appropriate. Your goal is to try to uncover the following:
To do this you will need to think about the technique they will use (e.g. asking participants to talk-aloud, draw, explain whilst using the technology, do a mental walk round the place).
Stage 2: Representing mental models as a scientific explanation of how the mind works
You will then need to consider the ‘raw’ data you have collected in terms of how each of the above is represented in the mind (e.g. rules, mental images, propositions, mental animations).
You will need to analyse the data collected and discuss it with respect to a theoretical perspective. In particular, you will need to discuss the difference between different kinds of models and to what extent these can be considered as scientific explanations of what your subjects have told you.
Resources
You should read up about mental models, mental representations and everyday vs scientific explanations. There is plenty written up about these. Begin by looking for these topics in textbooks on cognitive science. Other more specific books include:
Write-up
A 1500 word write-up of the project is required. It should include:
Finally, you should discuss how effective your methodology was in eliciting mental models and what further research you could do to find out more about the nature of mental models.
The report should be handed in to the school office by 4:00 pm on Thursday 9th November 2000 (week 5).
This assignment counts for 40% of the marks for the course.
You will be asked to give a 5 minute presentation on your mental models project in either week 8 or 9.
This assignment counts for 10% of the marks for the course.
You should write an essay, discussing the following:
"Cognitive science treats the mind as a machine and thus seeks to express theoretical ideas as computational models that generate the behavior. ... The process of model building encourages a deep understanding of the theory." (D.W. Green & others, Cognitive Science: An Introduction, Blackwell, 1996, p. 19.)
Discuss this view in the context of the general methodology of Cognitive Science, and comment on whether the paradigm it describes is valuable in the study of ONE of the following: Psychology OR Artificial Intelligence OR Linguistics OR Philosophy.
The essay should be up to 2000 words in length and should be based on your reading of the literature. Essays will be marked in relation to how cogent and coherent your arguments are. Any quotes or extracts should be clearly marked in the essay, and the essay should be followed by a bibliography indicating your references. The essay should be handed in to the school office by 4:00 pm on Thursday 14th December 2000 (week 10).
This assignment counts for 50% of the marks for the course.
The main textbook that will be used throughout the course is:
It is strongly recommended that you purchase a copy of this book. It is available in the bookshop.
Other useful books include:
There are many sources of information about Cognitive Science on the web. Try typing +cognitive +science using one of the search engines (e.g. Google) and see what it brings up.
Also try: http://www.cogprints.soton.ac.uk/ and http://www-psych.stanford.edu/cogsci.html
Maintained by: David Young