Introduction to Cognitive Science
Shortcuts:
Weekly syllabus, readings etc.
Tutorial groups
ITO
course registration forms
Course questionnaires
(PDF)
News:
04/10/09
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There was an editing error in the 1st homework
as handed out 2nd Oct. The corrected homework assignment can
be downloaded from the weekly syllabus page here. Discard all earlier versions,
incluing that handed out in class.
30/09/09:
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Note change of Room (below).
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Note also that the rooms are different Tuesdays and Fridays.
22/09/09:
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This course runs in Semester 1. Lectures are 1400-1450 on
Tuesday in William Robertson Bldng. G.11 and Friday in Appleton Tower 2.12
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Sign up for a tutorial group!
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The links to notes are currently to last year's version. They will be
incrementally replaced by the 2009 version as the course progresses.
Lecturer
Mark Steedman, Informatics Bldng 4.15, 10 Crichton Street
steedman@inf.ed.ac.uk, 504631
Aims and Objectives
This course is principally aimed at
third-year undergraduates taking AI or Cognitive Science
degrees in the School of
Informatics, and at third- and fourth-year undergraduates in
the School of Philosophy, Psychology & Language
Sciences. It is intended to provide an introduction to
some current research issues in Cognitive Science,
together with examples of the different research paradigms
by which they might be investigated. the inherently
interdisciplinary nature of the subject is
reflected in the course, which brings together issues
relating to the disciplines of Cognitive Psychology,
Linguistics, Neuroscience, Philosophy and Artificial
Intelligence. Non-graduating students are also welcome to
attend the course.
- Specific Knowledge: previous work in field; understanding of main
issues; appreciation of difficulties.
- Methodology:
understanding of diversity of methods appropriate in the
field.
- State of the Art: awareness of emerging
trends in cognitive research, and limitations of current
solutions.
Prerequisites/Context
None.
Syllabus
Representing the World in the Brain (Stereo Vision).
Representing the World Symbolically (Scene Analysis).
Representing Action in the World Computationally (Planning)
How Animals and Humans Make Plans
Neurological and Developmental Substrate of Planning and Language
How Universal Grammar Reflects Non-Linguistic Planning.
How Semantics Reflects Non-Linguistic Planning
How Discourse Reflects Non-Linguistic Planning
Human and Computational Natural Language Processing
Human and Computational Language Development
Envoi: Scope and Limits of Computational Cognitive Science.
Intellectual skills development
- Communication skills: reading, writing, talking, interacting
with others,giving presentations [tutorials; coursework].
- Critical reading skills: analysis, criticism, evaluation.
[coursework; tutorials]
- Management Skills: [managing preparation and coursework]
Teaching methods
The course uses a combination of: (a) lectures; (b)
lecture-based tutorials; (c) homeworks.
Lectures
Two 1-hour lectures per week. A week-by-week
listing of lectures, notes, and tutorials is available
here.
Tutorials
One tutorial per week, in groups of around 10, in one of the
slots indentified
here
A week-by-week
listing of tutorials is available here.
Attendance at all tutorials is a requirement
of the course.
Assessment
Assessment will be by (a) a final examination paper; and (b) coursework.
The latter consists in three homeworks
the homeworks are made available here.
75% of a student's mark will be given for performance in the
examination.
25% of a student's mark will be based on the homeworks.
Late coursework
will be recorded as late and marks deducted as per the course
guide. Any extension to the coursework deadline for a particular
student must be approved by the Course Lecturer, and the reason
for the extension will be recorded. Any student requesting an
extension should contact the
lecturer at steedman@inf.ed.ac.uk
Readings
No one textbook is recommended for this course. In the week-by-week
syllabus, readings are recommended specific for each topic. The
required readings will be available
electronically via links from the
weekly-syllabus page
Student representative
The student representative for the course is elected in Week
2. For 2007/8 it is NAME, who can be mailed at
NAME@sms.ed.ac.uk
For further information, contact Mark Steedman as steedman@inf.ed.ac.uk
Updated: 22 Sept 2009
