Cognitive Science Courses
CODE | NAME | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|---|
Cognitive Science | Critical examination of the nature, function, and mechanisms of mental structures that process and represent information, in humans as well as other intelligent agents. Cognitive science integrates methods drawn from psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, computer science, linguistics, and other disciplines to address aspects of human cognition at the level of brains, behavior, and computation. |
Students interested in pursuing a major in Cognitive Science are encouraged to take CGSC: 299: Cognitive Science early in their college careers to gain an introduction to the various interdisciplinary approaches of the field and how they can be integrated to better understand the nature of the mind. The other courses that comprise the major are drawn from Psychology, Computer Science, Philosophy, and several other disciplines. Please see click here for an overview of the major requirements, and see below for a list of which courses will be offered during the next semester.
Spring 2027 & Special Topics Courses
12 units, including:3 units-Core
Course |
Course Title |
| PSYC100 | Introduction to Psychological Science |
| PSYC200 | Methods and Analyses |
| CGSC299 | Cognitive Science |
4 units-Breadth Requirement
One course from each of these four areas:
| Computer Science | |
| CMSC101 | AI & The Human Mind |
| CMSC150 | Introduction to Computing |
| Linguistics | |
| LING203 | Introductory Linguistics |
| PSYC343 | Psycholinguistics |
| Neuroscience | |
| PSYC341 | Cognitive Neuroscience w/Lab |
| Philosophy | |
| PHIL251 | Elementary Symbolic Logic |
5 additional units of electives
Chose from the courses below. At least 3 must be at the 300 level or above. Courses taken for breadth requirement do not count toward the requirement to take 3 courses at the 300 level.
| ANTH101 | Introduction to Cultural Anthropology |
| BIOL343 | Neurobiology |
| BIOL354 | Biological Basis of Neurodegenerative Diseases |
| CMSC101 | AI & The Human Mind |
| CMSC150 | Introduction to Computing |
| CMSC221 | Data Structures w/Lab |
| CMSC301 | Computer Organization w/Lab |
| CMSC395 | Natural Language Processing |
| DSST289 | Introduction to Data Science |
| DSST389 | Advanced Data Science |
| LING203 | Introductory Linguistics |
| PHIL251 | Elementary Symbolic Logic |
| PHIL381 | Philosophy of Language |
| PSYC341 | Cognitive Neuroscience w/Lab |
| PSYC343 | Psycholinguistics w/Lab |
| PSYC345 | Sensation and Perception w/Lab |
| PSYC359 Sec 1 | Data Visualization |
| PSYC359 Sec 2 | Translational Neuroscience |
| PSYC449 Sec 2 | The Criminal Brain |
The courses listed below may also count as elective credit toward the major, but all cases must be approved by the Cognitive Science coordinator to ensure the topic of research is relevant to the Cognitive Science curriculum. No more than two units of research-related coursework may be applied to the major. These courses typically do not satisfy the requirement that at least three electives must be at the 300 level or above. However, the Cognitive Science coordinator may in rare circumstances approve up to two of these courses as satisfying this requirement, provided that the scope of the project is sufficiently rigorous.
| BIOL394 | Undergraduate Research |
| CMSC340 | Independent Research |
| LING390 | Independent Research |
| PHIL390 | Independent Research |
| PSYC300 | Methods and Analyses Core Project |
| PSYC361 | Independent Research |
| PSYC462 | Senior Research |
| PSYC492 | Honors Research |