Bachelor of Arts (BA)
in Cognitive Science
For further information on the BA in Cognitive Science in the College, please contact the Director of the program, Dr. Charles Yang.
Cognitive science is the empirical study of intelligent systems, including the human mind. An interdisciplinary science, it combines results from biology, computer science, linguistics, mathematics, neuroscience, philosophy and psychology to the study of language processing, perception, action, learning, concept formation, inference and other activities of the mind, with applications for information technology and the study of artificial intelligence.
The BA in Cognitive Science in the College requires a total of 16 course units:
ONE credit for the core course COGS 001
SIX credits in the breadth requirement
and NINE credits in a specialized track chosen by the student.
Core Course: 1 credit
The interdisciplinary field of Cognitive Science is surveyed in the following course, which should normally be your first stop if you are interested in the major. It is offered in the Fall term.Introduction to Cognitive Science (COGS 001/CIS 140/LING 105/PHIL 044/PSYC 107)
Breadth Requirement: 6 credits
To ensure more substantive knowledge of the wide-ranging fields that contribute to Cognitive Science, all students must take one course from each of the following six areas. Advanced Placement credit will not be counted toward the major requirements.- Psychology
Introduction to Experimental Psychology (PSYC 001)
Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 151)
- Computation
Introduction to Programming (CIS 110)
Programming Languages and Techniques I (CIS 120)
Formal Logic I - Ideas in Logic and Computation (PHIL 005/LGIC 010)
- Language
Introduction to Linguistics (LING 001)
Introduction to Formal Linguistics (LING 106)
- Philosophy
History of Modern Philosophy (PHIL 004)
Introduction to Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 244)
Philosophy of Language (PHIL 405)
Philosophy of Psychology (PHIL 426)
- Neuroscience
Introduction to Cognitive Neuroscience (BIBB 249/PSYC 149)
Introduction to Brain and Behavior (BIBB 109/BIOL 109/PSYC 109)
- Mathematics
Introduction to Statistics (STAT 111)
Calculus (MATH 104, 114/115)
Concentration: 9 credits
Beyond the more structured breadth requirements, the student chooses one of four concentrations: Cognitive Neuroscience, Computation and Cognition, Language and Mind, or a special Independent Concentration constructed to meet a set of interests not included in one of the other concentrations.Because the fields encompassed by Cognitive Science are so diverse, it is impossible for one faculty to be an expert in all areas. As a result, the student should rely on two sources for advising in the major:
The Program Director advises students when they are first considering the major and while still fulfilling the breadth requirements; handles administrative duties such as major declaration and certification; and is the final authority in all matters relating to the major requirements.The Track Advisor is a member of the Penn faculty who has expertise in the student's chosen area. He or she gives advice on the choice of courses, the development of a coherent plan of study, and possibly research projects and senior thesis topics. The student should find an advisor as soon as possible after declaring the major, in order to get maximum benefit from this specialized advice. Consult the Program Director for assistance.Within each concentration, the student follows a nine-course Specialized Track. The specialized track is the particular course of study devised by the student in collaboration with his or her track advisor. There is considerable flexibility in the choice of courses for many of these areas, but all courses must be approbved by the advisor. As many as two of these courses may be foundational (see below), but a course counted toward the breadth requirement cannot also be counted toward the specialized track.
Suggested courses relevant to the concentration are presented below. These lists are by no means exhaustive, and students interested in courses not mentioned below should consult the program director for pre-approval. Similarly, the specialized track does not need to be drawn solely from one of the lists below.
Currently, only the Cognitive Neuroscience concentration has a specific required course: Introduction to Brain and Behavior (BIBB 109/BIOL 109/PSYC 109); but in many instances the advisor will identify one or more courses essential to the track of interest to the student. For example, at least one course in Statistics, such as STAT 111, is strongly recommended to students specializing in Cognitive Neuroscience.
Concentration 1: Cognitive Neuroscience
Introduction to Brain and Behavior (BIBB 109/BIOL 109/PSYC 109) requiredIntroduction to Cognitive Neuroscience (PSYC 149/BIBB 249)Molecular and Cellular Neurobiology (BIBB 251/BIOL 251)Visual Neuroscience (PSYC 117/BIBB 217)Neuroendocrinology (PSYC 139/BIBB 260 OR BIBB 460)Animal Behavior (BIBB 231/BIOL 231/PSYC 131)Animal Cognition (BIOL 432/PSYC 431)Drugs, Brain and Mind (BIBB 370/PSYC 125) Physiology of Motivated Behaviors(BIBB 227/PSYC 127) Biological Bases of Psychological Disorders (BIBB 480) Systems Neuroscience (BIOL 451) Perception (PSYC 111) Learning (PSYC 121) Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 151)Psychology of Language (LING 135/PSYC 135) Attention and Memory (PSYC 155) Education and Cognition (PSYC 251) Res. Experience in Cog. Neuroscience(PSYC 349) Cog. Psychology (PSYC 351) Cognition and Perception (PSYC 411) Computer Analysis and Modeling of Biological Signals and Systems (LING 525)Neurobiology of Learning and Memory (BIOL 442/PSYC 421) Philosophy of Biology (PHIL 226) Smell and Taste (BIBB 420) Human Memory (PSYC 159) Developmental Neurobiology (BIBB 350) Behavioral Pharmacology (BIBB 481)Functional Imaging of the Human Brain (BIBB 421) Neurodegenerative Diseases (BIBB 475) Concentration 2: Computation and Cognition
Formal Logic I = Ideas in Logic and Computation (PHIL 005/LGIC 010)Introduction to Decision Theory (PPE 110)Perception (PSYC 111)Networked Life (CIS 112/PPE 112)Intro to Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 151)Judgments and Decisions (PSYC 153)Attention and Memory (PSYC 155)Human Memory (PSYC 159)Strategic Reasoning (PPE 201)What is Meaning? (PHIL 205)Education and Cognition (PSYC 251) Philosophy of Science (PHIL 225 or 425)Epistemology (PHIL 231 or 331)Automata, Computability, and Complexity (CIS 262)Language Acquisition (LING 270)Decision Processes (OPIM 290)Formal Logic II = Logic I (PHIL 006/MATH 570/LGIC 310)Evolutionary Computation (OPIM 319)Introduction to Algorithms (CIS 320)Computer Simulation Models (OPIM 325)Philosophy of Perception (PHIL 330)Advanced Topics in Algorithms (CIS 334) Language and Game Theory (LING 354)Machine Perception (CIS 390)Res. Experience in Perception (PSYC 311)Cognitive Neuroscience (PSYC 349)Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 351)Artificial Intelligence (CIS 391)Quantum Computer and Information Science (CIS 398)Recursion Theory (PHIL 411/CIS 571)Logic II = Topics in Logic (PHIL 412/MATH 571/LGIC 320/CIS 518)Set Theory (PHIL 413/CIS 571)Philosophy of Mathematics (PHIL 414)Model Theory (PHIL 416/LGIC 320)Game Theory (PPE 417/PHL 417)Philosophy & Visual Perception (PHIL 423)Philosophy of Psychology (PHIL 426/526)Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 430)Theory of Knowledge (PHIL 431)Origins of Analytic Philosophy (PHIL 442)Modal Logic (PHIL 445)Cognition and Perception (PSYC 411)Visual Cognition (PSYC 459)Neuroeconomics (PSYC 473)Language and Neuroeconomics (LING 480)Logic in Computer Science (CIS 482) Computational Learning Theory (PHIL 517)Machine Learning (CIS 520)Concentration 3: Language and Mind
Introduction to Formal Linguistics (LING 106)Introduction to Speech Analysis (LING 120)Learning (PSYC 121)Formal Logic I = Ideas in Logic and Computation (PHIL 005/LGIC 010)Introduction to Cognitive Psychology (PSYC 151)Cognitive Development (PSYC 181)Animal Behavior (BIBB 231/BIOL 231/PSYC 131)Psychology of Language (LING 125/PSYC 135)Sound Structure of Language (LING 230)Animal Communication (PSYC 241)What is Meaning? (PHIL 205)Introduction to the Philosophy of Mind (PHIL 244)Introduction to Syntax (LING 250)Formal Semantics and Cognitive Science (LING 255)Language Acquisition (LING 270)Special Topics in Development: Language Acquisition (PSYC 280)Introduction to Semantics (LING 380/580)Research Experience in Language (PSYC 335)Language and Game Theory (LING 354)Wittgenstein: Mind and Language (PHIL 344)Morphological Theory (LING 404)Philosophy of Language (PHIL 405)Animal Cognition (BIOL 432)Argument Structure (LING 411)Language and Neuroeconomics (LING 480)Philosophy of Language (PHIL 405)Recursion Theory (PHIL 411/CIS 571)Origins of Analytic Philosophy (PHIL 442)Modal Logic (PHIL 445)Introduction to Human Language Technology (CIS 430)Mathematical Methods for Natural Language Processing (CIS 477)Dynamics of Language (LING 506)Syntax I, II (LING 550, 551)Semantics II (LING 554)Pragmatics I, II (LING 590, 591)Phonetics I, II (Ling 520, 521)Computer Analysis and Modeling of Biological Signals and Systems (LING 525)Phonology I, II (LING 530, 531)Proof Theoretic Foundations of Linguistic Structure (LING 548)Computational Learning Theory (PHIL 517)Developmental Psycholinguistics (LING 570)The Mental Lexicon (LING 575)Computational Linguistics (CIS 530)Foundational Courses: Up to 2 credits
We recognize that some of the concentration courses may have prerequisites that fall outside the normal understanding of "cognitive science," and that in some cases knowledge of basic sciences or other areas will make an important contribution to the student's mastery of the field.Consequently, students are permitted to satisfy up to two of the nine credits in the specialized track using the following foundational courses. Each course, however, must be approved by the program director as relevant to the track.
Biology and Chemistry(for the concentration in neuroscience)
Introduction to Biology (BIOL 101, 102,121)
Introductory Chemistry I (CHEM 001)
General Chemistry I, II (CHEM 101, 102)
Principles of Organic Chemistry (CHEM 241, 242)
Computer Science (for tracks in computation and engineering applications)
Programming Languages and Techniques I, II (CIS 120, 121)
Introduction to Computer Architecture (CIS 240)
Mathematical Foundations of Computer Science I, II (CIS 260, 261)
Economics (for tracks in game theory and decision processes)
Introductory Economics: Micro (ECON 001)
Introductory Economics: Macro (ECON 002)
Microeconomic Theory (ECON 003)
Mathematics (for tracks in logic or computation)
Calculus I, II (MATH 104, 114, 115, 140, 141)
Calculus III, IV (MATH 240, 241)
Mathematics in the Age of Information (MATH 210)
Physics (for tracks in speech processing or engineering applications)
General Physics (PHYS 101, 102)
Physics I: Mechanics and Wave Motion (PHYS 150 or 170)
Physics II: Electromagnetism and Radiation (PHYS 151 or 171)
Additional information
Additional majors or minors.At most, 8 of the 16 credits required for the COGS major can be counted to fulfill the requirements of another major or a minor. (Courses used to fulfill general requirements are not, however, counted towards the limit of 8 double-counted credits.)Similarly, no more than 3 of the 6 credits required for the COGS minor may be counted to fulfill the requirements of another major or minor. The minimum grade for any course counted toward the COGS program is C-. Students must have a GPA of 2.0 in courses counted towards the major in order to be admitted to the COGS major.Students who wish to receive a degree with honors must have a minimum GPA of 3.5 for courses counted toward the major, and 3.0 cumulative for all courses. The student must also complete a senior-year research project on a topic in cognitive science approved by the program director and supervised by the concentration advisor. Credit can be received by enrolling in COGS 398 (see the program director for details). A thesis of approximately 30-40 pages is normally expected.
Minor
The Minor in Cognitive Science requires 6 credits, distributed as follows:ONE credit for the introductory course COGS 001THREE credits from different breadth areas (excluding Mathematics), and TWO credits from a single concentration.Finding out what courses are offered
Since the courses relevant to the COGS major are spread across a range of departments, it can be difficult to determine your options in a particular semester. To help out in this task, these links will take you to the information on courses in the relevant departments.
| Department | Course pages | Course descriptions | Advance registration | Current courses |
| BIBB | PSYC/BIOL | Register | Timetable | Roster |
| CIS | Courses | Register | Timetable | Roster |
| ECON | Courses | Register | Timetable | Roster |
| LING | Courses | Register | Timetable | Roster |
| MATH | Courses | Register | Timetable | Roster |
| OPIM | Courses | Register | Timetable | Roster |
| PHIL | Courses | Register | Timetable | Roster |
| PSYC | Courses | Register | Timetable | Roster |
| STAT | Courses | Register | Timetable | Roster |
Involvement
Students enrolled in the Cognitive Science major are encouraged to be attend the Noon Colloquium Series at the Institute for Research in Cognitive Science (IRCS).Students are also encouraged to be involved in the on-going events of IRCS-affiliated departments:
CISLinguisticsMathNeurosciencePhilosophyPsychology
For undergraduate application information, please visit Penn's Admissions Office.
