Introduction to Cognitive Science

Spring 2011

Course Summary

Last Update: 2 May 2011

Note: NEW or UPDATED material is highlighted

  1. 7±2 Key Dates in Cognitive Science

  2. Course Goals:

    1. To give you an idea of:

      1. the nature of cognitive science
      2. its history
      3. its methodologies
      4. its vocabulary
      5. some of its principal topics, results, & open issues

    2. To give you an idea of some of the cognitive-science research at UB

  3. What is cognitive science?

    1. ≈def the interdisciplinary study of cognition, i.e., of:

      • believing (& knowing?)
      • consciousness
      • emotion
      • language understanding & generation
      • learning
      • perception
      • planning
      • problem solving
      • reasoning
      • remembering
      • representation
          (including categories, concepts, mental imagery)
      • sensation
      • thinking
      • etc.

    2. computational cognitive science =
      • cognition is computable (weaker)
      • cognition is computation (stronger)

      1. a working hypothesis:

        • how much of cognition is computable?

      2. "computable" =

        • classical symbolic computation
        • connectionist computation

    3. methodology:

      1. "mind as machine"

        1. express theories of cognition as computer programs

        2. can test theory by running the program

          • philosophical problem:

            • Do computers running such programs
              actually exhibit cognition?
            • If not, why not?

        3. contrast with behaviorism:

          • algorithms show how to get
            from stimulus/input to response/output

      2. interdisciplinary:

        • share methodologies & results across disciplines

  4. What is the mind?

    1. philosophy ≈def
        personal search for truth in any field,
        by rational (i.e., logical &/or scientific) means.

    2. Mind-body problem: What is the relation between mind and brain?

      1. dualisms (e.g., Descartes's interactionism)
      2. monisms
          (e.g., Berkeley's idealism;
          materialism/physicalism & the identity theory)

      3. functionalism:

        • psychological type of a brain state/process
          is a function of its causal role
          in the individual's cognitive life

        • Problems:

          • qualia (including inverted & absent)
          • implementation (cognitive architecture)
            may be important

    3. Problem of other minds: How do I know that you have a mind?

  5. Theory of Mind, Folk Psychology, & Modularity

    1. Theory theory:

      • BDI folk psychology is a theory we use
        to explain & predict others' and our own behavior

    2. Simulation theory:

      • We explain & predict others' behavior
        by simulating the others' mind

    3. Fodor's theory of mental modules
    4. Pylyshyn's theory of cognitive impenetrability

  6. Cognitive neuroscience

  7. AI & computation

    1. AI: "computational cognition"

      • Minsky: make computers do cognitive tasks
      • Boden: use computers to understand (human) cognition

      • AI as:

        • advanced CSE
        • computational psychology:

          • programs as theories/models
            of (human) cognition

        • computational philosophy:

          • how is cognition possible?
          • how much of cognition is computable?

    2. What is computation?

      • algorithms
      • Turing machines
      • Church-Turing thesis:
          Any algorithm can be expressed as a TM

      • GOFAI (classical symbolic AI): logic-based

        • Newell & Simon's PSSH:

          • a physical system can exhibit cognition

              iff

            it is a physical symbol system
            (= physical implementation of a TM)

          • production systems:

            • Logic Theorist
            • GPS

        • Fodor's CTM & RTM:

          • cognitive states/processes are
            computations over cognitive representations

          • cognitive representations are a language of thought (LOT),
            with a syntax (& maybe a semantics)

        • Dennett's Intentional Stance:
          • best to treat complex systems as if
            they were intentional (i.e., cognitive)

        • SNePS

  8. Reasoning

    1. logic = normative study of reasoning correctly
      (i.e., truth-preserving)

    2. cognitive science: how people actually reason

      • not always correctly!

        • Wason card-selection task
        • Tversky & Kahneman on probabilistic reasoning

      • Johnson-Laird's theory of Mental Models
      • Rips's theory of Mental Rules

      • Simon: bounded rationality

      • AI:
        computational theories of non-monotonic, default, defeasible reasoning

      • NEW
        Why do we reason?

  9. Connectionism (ANNs): statistics-based

  10. Linguistics:

    1. Chomsky:

      • deep vs. surface structure

      • transformational grammar:

        • phrase-structure grammar
            (rewrite rules)
        • & transformational rules

      • universal grammar (innate LAD)

      • competence vs. performance

    2. Lakoff & Johnson:

      • conceptual systems are metaphorical
      • based on human body.

    3. Guest Lecture: Jürgen Bohnemeyer

      • Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis:
          cognition is a function of the language we speak

  11. Concepts and Categories

  12. Vision

  13. Mental Imagery

    1. Pylyshyn: mental images are propositional
    2. Kosslyn: mental images are pictorial

    3. Maybe they're neither, just neuron firings

  14. Consciousness

  15. Situated/embodied/embedded/extended/external cognition

  16. Interdisciplinary cognitive science projects (at UB):

  17. Turing Test & Chinese-Room Argument



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