1. Admission Requirements
Admission into the graduate program will be based upon evaluation of a Graduate Admissions Committee. Applicants would normally be expected to have strong GRE scores, high academic achievements as measured by grades on all college-level work, and strong research potential in cognitive science and likelihood of success in a graduate program based upon the evaluations of at least three qualified persons who are familiar with the applicant’s previous academic accomplishments.
Students seeking admission to the cognitive science graduate program preferably should have undergraduate degrees in cognitive science or a related discipline (e.g., psychology, computer science, philosophy, neuroscience, linguistics). Where necessary, students will be required to take non-credit courses to fulfill prerequisites for graduate courses.
2. Degree Requirements
The doctoral program in cognitive science will require a minimum of 72 hours of graduate credit, although most students will normally accumulate more hours. Dissertation credits will comprise 24 of these hours. Given the multidisciplinary nature of the proposed program (along with the need to take courses across several different disciplines), students are likely to take more than the minimum of 48 hours of coursework. A course requirement may be satisfied by completing the course at USL, transferring it from another university or having the course waived. Certain restrictions are placed on whether particular courses that have been satisfactorily completed may be applied toward the degree.
Students will normally elect a curriculum which will establish proficiency in one of the three focal areas of comparative cognition, cognitive processes, or language and mind. This curriculum will be determined in consultation with the student’s advisor and guidance committee. In order to provide a common foundation in cognitive science, however, all students will take the following core courses:
History and Foundations of Cognitive Science (CGSC 501: proposed new course)
Cognitive Psychology (met by taking PSYC 516: Human Learning and Memory)
Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 541: proposed new course)
Computational Basis of Intelligence (CMPS 523)
Cognitive Neuroscience (CGSC 520: proposed new course)
Comparative Cognition (CGSC 510: proposed new course)
Because of the multidisciplinary nature of the program and its intention to prepare students for a multidisciplinary job market, all students will be required to select additional courses so as to provide (1) advanced training in the methodologies and procedures of two of the core contributing disciplines (computer science, psychology, linguistics, and philosophy), and (2) an 18-hour minor in one of these disciplines. The minor may include appropriate topics taught in the cognitive science seminar course by faculty from the relevant discipline. The minor should encompass an appropriate methods course (for example, the psychology department’s Experimental Design or Quantitative Models courses; the philosophy department’s Advanced Topics in Symbolic Logic course; appropriate courses in computer science, linguistics, etc.), and three hours of non-thesis guided research (the latter normally to be accumulated within the first two years). An additional methods course and non-thesis guided research in another discipline will be necessary to complete the methodological requirement specified above. Thus, in addition to applying for positions advertised by dedicated cognitive science programs, students will have the requisite methodological background and research skills to apply for cognitive science jobs in a specific core discipline.
An additional requirement imposed by the University is proficiency in two foreign languages or their equivalents. We propose that equivalent mastery may involve demonstrated proficiency in statistics, symbolic logic, linguistics, or computer programming. The language requirement need not involve coursework undertaken in addition to graduate coursework, although such is, of course, not excluded. Entering students who have taken sufficient undergraduate courses in one or two foreign languages may be deemed to have partially or wholly fulfilled the language requirement. Substitution of language equivalents, on the other hand, will require graduate-level coursework, although some of these courses may also be used to fulfill other requirements of the cognitive science program.
Finally, students need to be aware of the following regulations concerning the graduate degree, in addition to those listed in the Graduate Bulletin:
b. Cognitive Science Research Colloquium: Students must enroll in the cognitive science research colloquium (CGSC 590) during each regular semester, but the credits earned thereby may not be applied toward the graduate degree.
c. Examinations: The written Ph.D. comprehensive exam, the oral Ph.D. prospectus exam, and the oral dissertation defense must each be passed in a maximum of two attempts. The comprehensive exam will cover the core courses. The prospectus exam, conducted by the student’s dissertation committee and two additional examiners from the graduate faculty of the Institute chosen in consultation with the student and the dissertation chairperson, may be scheduled starting two weeks after the written prospectus has been approved by the dissertation committee. Dissertation defense exams may be conducted in any semester, but exams scheduled for the summer semester must be announced by mid-April. The comprehensive exam must be completed before the prospectus exam, which needs to be completed before the dissertation defense.
Sample curricula for the three focal areas are as follows:
a. Comparative Cognition (with a minor in Psychology)
BIOL 670 Evolutionary Processes
CGSC 501 History & Foundations of Cognitive Science 510 Comparative Cognition 520 Cognitive Neuroscience 690 Seminar: Development of Theory of Mind 697 Directed Research : Simulations of Chimpanzee Theory of Mind
CMPS 500 Design and Analysis of Algorithms 523 The Computational Basis of Intelligence
PHIL 541 Philosophy of Mind 590 Advanced Topics in Mind & Cognition: Self-Consciousness
PSYC 512 Perception 515 Advanced Psychological Research Design 516 Human Learning And Memory 534 Advanced Developmental Psychology 538 Advanced Social Psychology 597 Directed Research : Recognition of Attention in Children(Courses meeting the methodology and research requirement in the minor area include PSYC 515 and PSYC 597; courses meeting these requirements a second disciplinary area, in this example, computer science, include CMPS 500 and CGSC 697.)
b. Cognitive Processes (with a minor in Computer Science)
CGSC 501 History & Foundations of Cognitive Science 510 Comparative Cognition 520 Cognitive Neuroscience 690 Seminar: Representation in Automata 697 Directed Research : Communication and Planning 697 Directed Research : Referent Identification for Autonomous Agents
CMPS 500 Design and Analysis of Algorithms 521 Automated Reasoning 522 Autonomous Agent Architecture 523 The Computational Basis of Intelligence 588 Neural Networks
ENGL 453G Generative Grammar 458G Discourse Analysis
PHIL 541 Philosophy of Mind
PSYC 511 Perception 516 Human Learning and MemoryCourses meeting the methodology and research requirement in the minor area include CMPS 500
c. Language and Mind (with a minor in Linguistics)
CGSC 501 History & Foundations of Cognitive Science 510 Comparative Cognition 520 Cognitive Neuroscience 690 Seminar: Discourse Markers 697 Directed Research : Computer-Mediated Communication 697 Directed Research : Category Formation in Communication
CMPS 523 The Computational Basis of Intelligence
ENGL 453G Generative Grammar 458G Discourse Analysis 461G Psycholinguistics 506 Principles of Linguistics 553 Seminar in Linguistics (with appropriate topic)
PHIL 541 Philosophy of Mind 590 Advanced Topics in Mind & Cognition: Self-Consciousness
PSYC 513 Quantitative Models in Psychology 516 Human Learning and Memory(Courses meeting the methodology and research requirement in the minor area include ENGL 453G and the first CGSC 697; courses meeting these requirements in a second disciplinary area, in this example, psychology, include PSYC 513 and the second CGSC 697.)