Major
Cognitive science is the cross-disciplinary study of how the mind works, with a focus on perception, reasoning, memory, attention, language, decision-making, motor control, and problem solving. It draws on tools and ideas from psychology, neuroscience, linguistics, economics, computer science, and philosophy. The major requirements are designed to provide breadth in the affiliated disciplines and depth in the student’s chosen area of specialization.
A major in Cognitive Science consists of seven required courses and four electives in a chosen area of specialization culminating in the senior capstone. The minimum number of courses is 13 and the minimum number of points is 39.
Required courses (7 classes)
- COGS UN1001 Introduction to Cognitive Science
- One course in each of four areas: psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.
- Two courses in a fifth area: mathematical and computational methods. These two courses must be selected in consultation with the program director to make sure they aren’t redundant.
- Please see below for the lists of approved courses in each area.
Area of Specialization and Electives (four classes)
Students must choose an area of specialization when they declare the major and choose four electives to build expertise in that area.
- Possible areas of specialization include: spatial learning, musicality, consciousness, emotion, dynamic semantics, natural language processing, talker recognition, computer vision, audiovisual integration, decision science, and neuroeconomics.
- The choice of specialization is flexible; there is not a predefined list. This is an opportunity for students to be creative; a student who has ideas about a new specialization that they would like to pursue may do so with the approval of the program director.
- Although there is no predefined list, each student’s area of specialization and choice of electives must be approved by the program director, and there must be at least one faculty member affiliated with the program who has expertise in the student’s chosen area.
- The program director will consult with a faculty member who has expertise in the student’s area of specialization to ensure that the student’s electives will provide sufficient preparation for the senior project.
- Please see below for a list of courses that students might want to consider as possible electives (depending upon their specialization), but please note that this list is not definitive. Any Barnard or Columbia (or approved transfer) course that builds expertise in the student's area of specialization may be counted as an elective with the approval of the program director.
Senior Capstone
Students may fulfill the Senior Capstone requirement in two ways: with a year-long senior project, or by taking two additional advanced courses.
- The senior project is a year-long project in a student’s area of specialization under the supervision of a chosen advisor. The project could be an experiment or a paper.
- Students who do senior projects must register for both COGS UN3903 Senior Project (3 points) and COGS UN3901 Senior Project Seminar (1 point) in the fall and COGS UN3904 Senior Project (3 points) and COGS UN3902 Senior Project Seminar (1 point) in the spring (8 points total).
- The Senior Project Seminar is an opportunity for students to present their projects to each other.
- While a year-long project is recommended, students may also satisfy the senior capstone requirement by taking two advanced courses, at least one of which must include a significant paper or project. The courses must be chosen in consultation with the program director and must be related to the student’s area of specialization. Both courses should be at the 3000-level or above.
Policies and Procedures
- You should take COGS UN1001 Introduction to Cognitive Science before choosing your specialization.
- After you have taken COGS UN1001 Introduction to Cognitive Science and after you have declared your major, please submit the Specialization and Electives Form. After you complete the form your response will be emailed to you. Please forward that email to the Program Director, Professor John Morrison, at jmorriso@barnard.edu and copy Maia Bernstein at mbernste@barnard.edu. Professor Morrison will respond with either approval or suggestions for alternatives; he’ll copy Maia on his response so she can keep track of what’s been approved.
- You may need to submit the Specialization and Electives Form several times as your interests solidify and you find out which courses are offered each semester: that is fine! Just please re-submit the form if and when your plans change.
- If you want to count a course from another institution (transfer, study abroad, or summer course at another institution) for one of the five area requirements (psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, linguistics, and mathematical and computational methods) then please submit the Transfer and Study Abroad Credit Approval Form; please then email the syllabus for the course as a PDF attachment to Maia Bernstein at mbernste@barnard.edu .
- Please note that the course must have already been approved by your school (BC, CC, or GS) to count towards your degree requirements before it can be considered for your Cognitive Science major requirements.
- Please note that a maximum of four transfer courses may be counted towards the Cognitive Science major.
- If you want to count a course from another institution as an elective, then please list it on your Specialization and Electives Form AND attach a PDF of the syllabus for the course when you email the form to Professor Morrison.
- Please submit the Capstone Requirements Form in March of your junior year to tell us your plans for your senior capstone requirement: either the details of your senior project, or the two additional advanced courses you plan to take.
- If you are doing a senior project, you must register for your advisor’s section of COGS UN3903 Senior Project (fall) and COGS UN3904 Senior Project (spring). If your advisor cannot be the instructor of record for some reason (for instance, if your advisor is at the medical school), then you may register for the Program Director’s section.
- If you are doing a senior project you must also register for COGS UN3901 Senior Project Seminar (fall) and COGS UN3902 Senior Project Seminar (spring).
- Please submit the Major Requirements Form for the first time in October of your senior year so that we can confirm you’re on track to graduate.
- Please submit the Major Requirements Form a SECOND TIME in February of your senior year, after your last semester registration is finalized. You may have taken multiple courses which could count towards the same requirement and we’ll need to know exactly which course you want to count for which requirement when we certify you for graduation. Please note that the courses that you list on the form to count towards your major are the courses we will include when we calculate your major GPA (which is taken into consideration for recommendations on Departmental Honors).
Required courses:
- COGS UN1001 Introduction to Cognitive Science.
- One course in each of four areas: psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics.
- Two courses in a fifth area: mathematical and computational methods. These two courses must be selected in consultation with the program director to make sure they aren’t redundant.
Please see below for the lists of approved courses in each area.
Course Number |
Course Name |
PSYC BC2110 |
Perception |
PSYC BC2115 |
Cognitive Psychology |
PSYC UN2210 |
Cognition: Basic Processes |
PSYC UN2220 |
Cognition: Memory and Stress |
PSYC UN2430 |
Cognitive Neuroscience |
Please note that PSYC UN2430 Cognitive Neuroscience may be used to fulfill either the Neuroscience requirement or the Psychology requirement, but not both.
Course Number |
Course Name |
NSBV BC1001 |
Introduction to Neuroscience |
PSYC UN2430 |
Cognitive Neuroscience |
PSYC UN2435 |
Social Neuroscience |
PSYC UN2450 |
Behavioral Neuroscience |
PSYC UN2481 |
Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience |
NSBV BC3381 |
Visual Neuroscience |
Please note that PSYC UN2430 Cognitive Neuroscience may be used to fulfill either the Neuroscience requirement or the Psychology requirement, but not both.
Course Number |
Course Name |
PHIL UN2655 |
Cognitive Science and Philosophy |
PHIL UN3252 |
Philosophy of Language and Mind |
PHIL UN3651 |
Philosophy of Mind |
PHIL UN3655 |
Topics in Cognitive Science and Philosophy |
PHIL UN3912 |
Seminar: Perception |
Course Number |
Course Name |
LING UN3101 |
Introduction to Linguistics |
Logic and Decision Theory
Course Number |
Course Name |
ECON GU4850 |
Cognitive Mechanisms and Economic Behavior |
PHIL UN1401 |
Introduction to Logic |
PHIL UN3411 |
Symbolic Logic |
PHIL GU4561 |
Probability and Decision Theory |
PSYC UN2235 |
Thinking and Decision Making |
Statistics
Course Number |
Course Name |
ECON BC2411 |
Statistics for Economics |
PSYC BC1101 |
Statistics |
PSYC UN1610 |
Statistics for Behavioral Scientists |
STAT UN1001 |
Introduction to Statistical Reasoning |
STAT UN1101 |
Introduction to Statistics |
STAT UN1201 |
Calculus-Based Introduction to Statistics |
Computer Science:
Course Number |
Course Name |
COMS BC1016 |
Introduction to Computational Thinking |
COMS W1001 |
Introduction to Information Science |
COMS W1002 |
Computing in Context |
COMS W1004 |
Introduction to Computer Science (JAVA) |
COMS W1007 |
Honors Introduction to Computer Science |
COMS W3134 |
Data Structures in JAVA |
COMS W3136 |
Data Structures in C/C++ |
COMS W3137 |
Data Structures and Algorithms |
STEM BC2223 |
Computer Programming for Behavioral Sciences |
Electives:
Please note that the list of possible electives below is just to give you ideas. Whether or not you can count a particular course as an elective depends upon your area of specialization. Any course that builds expertise in your area of specialization may be counted as an elective with the program director’s approval, regardless of whether it is listed below; a course that does not build expertise in your area may not be counted as an elective even if it is listed below.
Course Number |
Course Name |
ANTH UN1009 |
Introduction to Language and Culture |
COGS GU4050 |
Natural and Artificial Neural Networks |
COGS GU4051 |
Natural and Artificial Neural Networks Lab |
COGS GU4800 |
Resource-Constrained Decision Making |
COMS W4170 |
User Interface Design |
COMS W4701 |
Artificial Intelligence |
COMS W4705 |
Natural Language Processing |
COMS W4731 |
Computer Vision |
COMS W4771 |
Machine Learning |
COMS W4772 |
Advanced Machine Learning |
ECON GU4020 |
Economics of Uncertainty and Information |
ECON GU4840 |
Behavioral Economics |
ECON GU4860 |
Behavioral Finance |
LING GU4202 |
Cognitive Linguistics |
LING GU4206 |
Advanced Grammar and Grammars |
LING GU4376 |
Phonetics and Phonology |
LING GU4903 |
Syntax |
MUSI GU4325 |
Introduction to Cognitive Musicology |
NSBV BC3381 |
Visual Neuroscience |
PHIL UN2685 |
Introduction to Philosophy of Language |
PHIL UN3685 |
Philosophy of Language |
PHIL UN3840 |
The Nature and Significance of Animal Minds |
PHIL GU4495 |
Perception |
PHIL GU4660 |
Philosophy of Mind |
PSYC BC2107 |
Psychology of Learning |
PSYC BC2129 |
Introduction to Developmental Psychology |
PSYC BC2163 |
Human Learning and Memory |
PSYC BC3164 |
Perception and Language |
PSYC BC3369 |
Language Development |
PSYC BC3372 |
Comparative Cognition |
PSYC BC3381 |
Theory of Mind and Intentionality |
PSYC BC3384 |
Social Cognition |
PSYC BC3390 |
Canine Cognition |
PSYC BC3394 |
Metacognition |
PSYC BC3399 |
Humans and Machines |
PSYC UN2250 |
Evolution and Cognition |
PSYC UN2280 |
Developmental Psychology |
PSYC UN3270 |
Computational Approaches to Human Vision |
PSYC UN3290 |
The Self: A Cognitive Exploration |
PSYC UN3445 |
The Brain and Memory |
PSYC UN3450 |
Evolution of Intelligence and Consciousness |
PSYC GU4202 |
Theories of Change in Human Development |
PSYC GU4222 |
The Cognitive Neuroscience of Aging |
PSYC GU4223 |
Memory & Executive Function through the Lifespan |
PSYC GU4225 |
Consciousness and Attention |
PSYC GU4229 |
Attention & Perception |
PSYC GU4239 |
Cognitive Neuroscience of Narrative & Film |
PSYC GU4242 |
Evolution of Language |
PSYC GU4244 |
Language & Mind |
PSYC GU4270 |
Cognitive Processes |
PSYC GU4280 |
Core Knowledge |
PSYC GU4281 |
The Psychology of Curiosity |
PSYC GU4287 |
Decision Architecture |
PSYC GU4289 |
Games People Play: Psychology of Strategic Decisions |
PSYC GU4430 |
Learning and the Brain |
PSYC GU4435 |
Non-Mnemonic Functions of Memory Systems |
SOAR AV4000 |
SOUND:Music, Math, and Mind |