Certificate in Cognitive Science

Introduction

Cognitive Science is a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary field that emphasizes developing empirically grounded computational models of cognition. Its practitioners come from various fields including computer science (artificial intelligence), psychology, philosophy, linguistics, anthropology, and neuroscience. At Georgia Tech, cognitive science faculty, students and researchers reside in Computing; Pychology; Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISyE); Language, Communications, and Culture (LCC); Architecture; and Civil and Environmental Engineering. One distinctive aspect of our cognitive science program here is the presence of several research programs that study cognitive science in the context of real-world problems.

Graduate students who plan to approach their graduate training from a Cognitive Science perspective are encouraged to obtain a Certificate in Cognitive Science. Doing so provides an integrated set of courses and a peer group of other students interested in cognition from a variety of disciplines. The certificate can also be used to meet the Ph.D minor requirement.

Students receive their MS or PhD degrees in a home discipline at Georgia Tech while participating in an interdisciplinary curriculum tailored to their specific interests in Cognitive Science. Students from any unit on campus may receive a Certificate in Cognitive Science upon completion of the certificate requirements and their degree. Students enter the certificate program after first being admitted to a disciplinary MS or PhD program at Georgia Tech.

Cognitive Science Faculty

Program Coordinator: Nancy Nersessian.
Education Coordinator: Ashwin Ram.
Professors: Al Badre, Janet Kolodner, Chris Mitchell, Nancy Nersessian, Andy Smith.
Associate Professors: Ronald Arkin, Nelson Baker, Dorrit Billman, Richard Catrambone, Ashok Goel, T. Govindaraj, Alex Kirlik, Colin Potts, Ashwin Ram, Craig Zimring.
Assistant Professors: Susan Bovair, Mark Guzdial, Joseph Petraglia-Bahri, Tony Simon.
Research Faculty: Kurt Eiselt, Ute Fischer, Cindy Hmelo, Roland Hubscher, Hari Narayanan, Wendy Newstetter.

Logistics

Click here to retrieve the form used to petition for the certificate.

Requirements

To earn a certificate in Cognitive Science, students must fulfill graduate degree requirements in some unit on campus and, in addition, must take the three core courses, courses in three disciplinary areas, one methods course outside their home discipline, and a minimum of three topical courses and/or seminars. They must also have at least two Cognitive Science faculty on their advisory and thesis committees, with at least one of them being from a unit different than the student's home unit.

The course requirements would typically come to about 30 hours. However, one disciplinary course, one methodology course, and one or two topical courses would usually be inside a student's home discipline. Thus, extra-departmental course units would typically be about 18. Students with a different history, need for minor, or degree unit might have a different path for completing the certificate.

Courses

Cognitive Science core courses: All three core courses are required.

CS 7501: Introduction to Cognitive Science (3 units). (Or: CS8050, Proseminar in Cognitive Science.) This is an introductory course with wide appeal, presenting multiple coherent perspectives on Cognitive Science. It is typically taken in a student's second or third quarter. It is taught by different instructors which rotate through the various disciplines involved in Cognitive Science, often team-taught or individually-taught with guest lectures, in a mixed lecture/discussion/problem-solving format.

CS 7511: Cognitive Modeling (4 units). This is a hands-on course covering a range of computational modeling methodologies. It discusses how to build a model for a cognitive theory and evaluate it. It is typically team-taught. It does not require an extensive programming background, but is targetted at students in their second year and above.

CS 8051: Issues in Cognitive Science (1 unit). This on-going seminar alternates weekly between a colloquium series and a brown bag series. Colloquia are typically presented by leading researchers in the field from all over the world, and include specific time for a student meeting with the speaker. Brown bags are informal discussions led by our own faculty and students. These usually focus on in-progress research and new directions. All Cognitive Science students are required to enroll in this seminar on an on-going basis, unless they are excused by the education coordinator due to an unavoidable conflict. In addition, one brown bag presentation of the student's research is required, and additional presentations are encouraged. Students from the various disciplines that comprise Cognitive Science but who are not specifically aiming for the Cognitive Science certificate are also encouraged to attend and participate.

Cognitive Science methods courses: One methodology course outside the student's home discipline is required. The choice of course must be appropriate to the student's educational program, and must be approved by the student's advisor and the education coordinator.

CS 2360/4730: Lisp Programming for Artificial Intelligence
CS 7360: Advanced Artificial Intelligence Systems Development
ISyE 6400: Design of Experiments I
ISyE 7210: Simulation of Interactive, Real-Time, Dynamic Systems
LCC 6170: Quantitative Research Methods
LCC 8100: Qualitative and Ethnographic Research Methods
Psy 6611: Quantitative Methods in Psychology I
Psy 6615: Research Methods in Cognitive Psychology
Psy 6640: Methods in Engineering Psychology

Disciplinary courses: Students must take three of the following courses (thereby covering three disciplines), including at least two outside their home discipline. The choice of courses must be appropriate to the student's educational program and approved by the student's advisor and the education coordinator. Students may get credit for a discipline by taking the appropriate course at Georgia Tech, or a course at another institution with approval of the student's advisor and the education coordinator. Transfer of credits for a prior course must be approved by the instructor of the equivalent Georgia Tech course, the student's advisor, and the education coordinator.

CS 7512: Philosophy of Cognition
CS 6361: Artificial Intelligence
ISyE 6205: Introduction to Cognitive Engineering
LCC 6023: Language Theory and Linguistics
Psy 6012: Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
(Emory) Cognitive Neuroscience
(UGA) Cognitive Anthropology

Cognitive Science topical courses: Students must take at least three topical courses or seminars. Other courses may be added to the following listing by the education coordinator after obtaining the approval of the Cognitive Science faculty. Courses may be taken at Georgia Tech or at another institution with approval of the student's advisor and the education coordinator. The choice of courses should be appropriate to the student's educational program in order to maintain coherence.

CS 7513: Cognitive Models of Science
CS 8052: Seminar in Cognitive Science
CS 6342: Knowledge Strucures for Machine Intelligence
CS 6397: Educational Technology
CS 6398: Design and Analysis of Educational Software
CS 6752: Human-Computer Interfaces II
CS 7323: Autonomous Robotics
CS 7331: Problem Solving
CS 7332: Case-Based Reasoning
CS 7341: Conceptual Information Processing
CS 7343: Machine Learning
CS 7344: Natural Language Understanding
CS 8113: Issues in Cognition and Instruction
CS 8113: Numerical Approaches to Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence
ISyE 6214: Models of Interactive Computer Interfaces
ISyE 6215: Models of Human-Machine Interaction
ISyE 6219: Human Factors Engineering
ISyE 6221: Human-Machine Control Systems
ISyE 6223: Understanding and Aiding Human Decision Making
ISyE 6224: Advances in Human-Machine Systems Research
ISyE 6845: Effective Use of Interactive Computer Graphics
LCC 6403: Cognitive Perspectives on Communication
LCC 6607: Electronic Media and Education: A Socio-Cognitive Perspective
PST 4115: Philosophy of Science
Psy 4423: Introduction to Psycholinguistics
Psy 4754: Models of Human Information Processing
Psy 6629: Psychomotor Skill Learning and Performance
Psy 7011: Problem Solving
Psy 7011: Advanced Cognitive Development
Psy 7011: Seminar in Experimental Psychology
Psy 7020: Advanced Learning
Psy 7025: Seminar in Cognitive Aging
(Emory) Bio 360: Introduction to Neurobiology
(Emory) Psy 302: Human Learning and Memory
(Emory) Psy 310/513: Cognitive Development
(Emory) Psy 476Q: Introduction to Neuropsychology

Additional guidance can be obtained from the Cognitive Science education coordinator and the Cognitive Science faculty. Check with the offering departments and/or the education coordinator and/or the faculty for information about when courses are offered. Information on the Cognitive Science program is also available electronically from http://www.cc.gatech.edu/cogsci/.