050.101 (N,S) Cognition
Introductory course exploring the study of human mental processes within the field of cognitive science. Drawing upon cognitive psychology, cognitive neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, linguistics, and artificial intelligence, the course examines theory, methods, and major findings in work on vision, reasoning, and language. No prerequisites.
Frank 3 credits 050.102 (N,S) Language and Mind
Introductory course dealing with theory, methods, and current research topics in the study of language as a component of the mind. What it is to “know” a language; components of linguistic knowledge (phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics) and the course of language acquisition. How linguistic knowledge is put to use: language and the brain, linguistic processing in various domains, relation between human and computer processing of language. Comparison of normal spoken language with signed language and other communication systems. Grading is based on homework and written examinations. No prerequisites.
Badecker 3 credits 050.105 (N,S) Introduction to Cognitive Neuropsychology
This course explores the cognitive deficits that may result from brain damage, considering how the study of these deficits sheds light on normal mental processes. Topics include brain anatomy and brain damage, disorders of visual perception, and impairments of reading, speaking, and writing. No prerequisites.
McCloskey 3 credits 050.109 (N,S,Q) Minds, Brains, and Computers
Mental processes such as language comprehension and visual perception involve complex computations carried out by the brain. But how do brains compute? What exactly does it mean to “compute” anyway? How do the brain and mind relate? These questions will be explored from a range of interdisciplinary perspectives, including recent attempts to develop “neural network” computers which strive to be models of how both the mind and the brain compute. Prerequisite (recommended): Calculus I.
Smolensky 3 credits 050.112 (N,S) Nature, Nurture and Cognition
Using both seminal and contemporary readings as a foundation, this seminar explores how genetics and experience interact to influence thinking, understanding, and the underlying cognitive processes (both human and otherwise). In so doing, we will discuss how innate determination of various components of cognition ultimately influence human nature.
Landau 3 credits 050.140 (N,S,H) The World of Language
This course exposes students to the fascinating variety—and uniformity—to be found among the worlds languages. Students discuss languages whose sound systems include clicks or tones, sign languages, languages with words that grow to the size of entire sentences, and reconstructed ancient languages which give rise to huge families of modern languages. They will examine a range of fundamental questions such as: Is knowledge of language encoded in the genes? Is it unique to mankind? How do new languages emerge from the contact of two very different languages? How did English change over time? Are all languages related? How does the native language influence the acquisition of a second language? Does language determine thought? No prerequisites.
Legendre 3 credits 050.203 (N,S) Cognitive Neuroscience: Exploring the Living Brain
This course surveys theory and research concerning how mental processes are carried out by the human brain. Currently a wide range of methods for probing the functioning brain are yielding insights into the nature of the relation between mental and neural events. Emphasis will be placed on developing an understanding of both the physiological bases of the techniques and the issues involved in relating measures of brain activity to cognitive functioning. Methods surveyed include electrophysiological recording techniques such as EEG, ERP, single/multiple unit recording and MEG; functional imaging techniques such as PET and fMRI; and methods that involve lesioning or disrupting neural activity such as WADA, cortical stimulation, animal lesion studies, and the study of brain-damaged individuals. Co-listed as 080.203 Cognitive Neuroscience. No prerequisites.
Rapp 3 credits 050.205 (N,S,H) The Structure of English
Our knowledge of English has a complex and yet regular structure in all major linguistic domains: word-formation (morphology), sound structure (phonology), and structure of phrases (syntax). For instance, we form words from other words with prefixes and suffixes as in in+accurate and parent+al. We also regularly adjust sounds depending on their context, so that we pronounce the final s of cat+s differently than the one of dog+s and the first vowel of natur-al differently than the one of nature. When forming sentences, we know for example, that the “him” in “John bought the book for him” is not John, while the one in “John brought the book with him” is John. This course uncovers some of the principles that make up our knowledge of English, also looking into its history and some of its regional dialects. No prerequisites.
Burzio 3 credits 050.208 (H,N,S) Language Acquisition
What do infants under 10 months of age know about the sound patterns of their native language? When an adult points to a dog and speaks an unfamiliar word, how does a child know whether the word means Fido, toy poodle, dog, animal, white, or small? Why do children start to make mistakes like goed and seed after a period of using only went and saw? How do young children learn their languages syntax, i.e., its rules of word order, agreement, and so on? What is the role of genetically programmed knowledge of the regularities common to all languages, as opposed to experience with a specific language? Questions such as these are addressed, drawing on insights from psychological experiments, linguistic theory, and computational models. No prerequisites.
Landau 3 credits 050.247 (N,S,H) Topics in the History of the Romance Languages
The major Romance languages such as French, Spanish, Italian, and Portuguese are only a few of the myriad of local languages, all descendants of Latin, that the collapse of the Roman Empire gave rise to. This course explores the major changes both in sound structure and in general grammatical organization that marked the transition between Latin and the Romance languages, and their different territorial distributions. The general perspective is that of contemporary linguistic theory. Some familiarity with linguistic concepts will be helpful, but no specific theoretical background is required.
Burzio, Legendre 3 credits 050.306 Laboratory in Cognitive Neuropsychology
Intended for students with a solid background in theory and research about human cognition. This lab provides the opportunity to participate actively in the examination of the impaired performance of a small number of brain-damaged individuals. Students read relevant research literature, develop tasks to probe the nature of the deficits, assist in the administration of tasks to brain-damaged subjects, conduct analyses of data, and assess the implications of results for theories of normal cognition. Prerequisites: 050.105 and either 050.311 or 050.333 or permission of instructor.
McCloskey, Rapp 3 credits 050.311 (N,S) Written Language: Normal Processing and Disorders
This course surveys both the historical development of written language as well as current cognitive theories that account for the manner in which the written language is represented and processed by “readers/ writers” of a language. Issues regarding the relationship between the written and the spoken language, the acquisition of written language skills, as well as developmental and acquired disorders of reading and writing will be examined. Prerequisite: 050.101, 050.102 or 050.105 or permission of instructor.
Rapp 3 credits 050.314 (H,N,S) Classic Papers in Language Learning
Classic and current issues in language acquisition focusing on enduring questions and issues – how different scientific disciplines and theorists and experimentalists have addressed these issues. Prerequisite: Permission, Jr. or Sr. standing—Cogsci or PBS major.
Landau 3 credits 050.315 (N,S) Cognitive Neuropsychology of Visual Perception
When the visual areas of the brain are damaged or fail to develop normally, remarkable perceptual deficits may result (for example, inability to determine where objects are even though the objects can be seen clearly). This course explores a variety of visual deficits, focusing on what the deficits can tell us about normal visual perception. Prerequisite: any one of the following courses: 050.105, 050.311, 050.203, or 080.203.
McCloskey 3 credits 050.316 (N,S) Morpho-Phonology
This course addresses the interaction of principles of sound-structure: Phonology, with principles of word-formation: Morphology, and examines the hypothesis that morphology too consists of a set of relations that are enforced in parallel, just like the constraints of the phonology. It devotes special attention to the role of representational distance in both subdomains, reviewing evidence that a proper characterization of distance is key to understanding important phenomena in both areas, like neutralization of segmental contrasts and syncretism in inflectional paradigms. Prerequisites: One introductory phonology course and some familiarity with Optimality Theory.
Burzio 3 credits 050.317 (N,S) Semantics I
This course is an introduction to the formal semantics of natural language. We address both the conceptual and empirical issues that a semantic theory must grapple with, as well as some of the logical machinery that has been developed to deal with such problems. After discussing some foundational questions, analyses are built up for central phenomena including patterns of inference, quantification, scope ambiguities, anaphoric dependence, and tense and modality.
Frank 3 credits 050.320 (N,S) Syntax I
Contemporary syntactic theory, a branch of linguistics and cognitive science, aims to identify the principles, complex and yet precise, which we unconsciously employ in assembling words into meaningful sentences. In doing so, it also attempts to discern, beyond the apparent diversity of natural languages, the common traits, attributable to the general architecture of the language faculty. This course introduces the basic methods and means of analysis used in contemporary syntactic investigations, practicing with data from different languages. Prerequisite: 050.102 or permission of instructor.
Burzio, Frank, Legendre 3 credits 050.321 (N,S) Syntax II
Building on 050.320, this course addresses and compares conceptions of syntactic theory that have emerged in the 1980s and 1990s. Discussion focuses on both the substantive and formal properties of the fundamental principles of syntactic theory, as well as the cross-linguistic evidence that has motivated them. When possible, connections will be made to other areas of linguistic inquiry such as processing, acquisition, and computation. The particular choice of topics and conceptions will vary from year to year but may include (1) the contrast between the Principles and Parameters view where syntactic theory is composed of a set of inviolable principles whose form admits a certain amount of cross-linguistic variation, and the Optimality Theory view where the principles are invariant though violable, and cross-linguistic variation is determined by the relative importance of satisfying the various principles; (2) the role of structure building operations in grammar, and the differences between characterizations of well-formedness in terms of sequences of derivational steps and representational well-formedness requirements. Prerequisite: 050.320 or permission of instructor.
Frank, Legendre 3 credits 050.325 (N,S) Phonology I
An introduction to the basic principles underlying the mental representation and manipulation of language sounds and their relation to human perception and vocal articulation: how units of sound are both decomposable into elementary features, and combined to form larger structures like syllables and words. The role of rules and constraints in a formal theory of phonological competence and in accounting for the range of variation among the worlds languages. Previous experience with one other language-related course desirable but not obligatory.
Burzio, Smolensky 3 credits 050.326 (N,S,H) Foundations of Cognitive Science
This course explores general issues and methodology in cognitive science through the reading of classic works (from Plato and Kant through Skinner and Turing) and recent research articles to begin construction of a coherent picture from many seemingly divergent perspectives on the mind/brain. Recent brain-based computational models serve to focus discussion. Prerequisite: at least one course at the 300-level or higher in cognitive science, computer science, philosophy, or psychology. Co-listed as 050.626.
Smolensky 3 credits 050.327 (N,S) Phonology II
This course extends the material covered in 050.325 with more advanced topics linking phonology with both morphology and phonetics. Topics include the typology of stress systems; the role of Optimality Theory in reduplicative and non-reduplicative morphology, autosegmental phonology and feature geometry. Prerequisite 050.325 or equivalent.
Burzio, Smolensky 3 credits 050.329 (N,S) Advanced Phonological Analysis
Intended as third semester of the phonology sequence. Sources will include research articles as well as textbooks. Potential topics include the following—Assimilation: tone systems, vowel harmony, and autosegmental phonology; Dissimilation: the Obligatory Contour Principle; Prosodic morphology: reduplication, templatic morphology; Stress: metrical theory; Opacity: rule ordering vs. constraint ranking; Issues in Optimality Theory: alignment constraints; Inventory typology and local conjunction, lexical stratification; The Phonetics/Phonology interface. Prerequisite: 050.326/626, 050.327/627 highly recommended.
Smolensky 3 credits 050.332 (N,S) Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
This seminar provides an in-depth examination of the current literature on cognitive development in the context of developmental cognitive neuroscience. We will consider several domains of inquiry, including visual perception and attention, knowledge of objects, faces, and space, and language learning. For each of these, we will consider issues such as the nature of knowledge representation in the developing brain; the kinds of developmental changes that occur; the effects of different kinds of experience, including those presented by genetic deficits, environmental deprivation, and brain damage; the developmental time course within which such damage or difference can affect cognitive development. Prerequisite: one of the following: Introduction to Developmental Psychology, Introduction to Cognition, Introduction to Cognitive Neuropsychology, Introduction to Cognitive Development, or permission of instructor.
Landau 3 credits 050.333 (N,S) Psycholinguistics
This course provides a broad survey of current research on natural language processing. Topics include the recognition and production of words, the planning and production of sentences, and how listeners understand spoken sentences. The types of evidence examined include speech errors, the analysis of acquired language impairments, eyetracking and Event-Related Brain Potential (ERP) measurements, and various measures of lexical access and relative processing complexity that can be exploited to reveal how the brain represents and processes language.
Badecker 3 credits 050.334 (N,S,Q) Computational Models of Cognition
Introduction to connectionist, symbolic and statistical techniques used in computational modeling of language, learning, and reasoning. Students will implement models, but no extensive programming background will be assumed.
Frank 3 credits 050.339 (N,S) Cognitive Development
This is a survey course in developmental psychology, designed for individuals with some basic background in psychology or cognitive science, but little or none in development. The course is strongly theoretically oriented, with emphasis on issues of nature, nurture, and development. We will consider theoretical issues in developmental psychology as well as relevant empirical evidence. The principal focus will be early development, i.e., from conception through middle childhood. The course is organized topically, covering biological and prenatal development, perceptual and cognitive development, the nature and development of intelligence, and language learning. No prerequisites.
Landau 3 credits 050.358 (H,N,S) Language and Thought
Have you ever wondered about the relationships between language and thought? Philosophers, linguists, psychologists, and cognitive scientists have too and this course will survey the current thinking on this matter. Does language develop from an undifferentiated system of cognition or is it “special,” developing independently from other systems of knowledge? Do certain aspects of knowledge require language for their development and use? Once acquired, does ones native language affect the form in which we think? Classical papers such as those by Whorf and Sapir, more recent philosophical papers by people such as Fodor and Dennett, and recent empirical work by linguists and psychologists on the relationship between language and thinking in development and in adults will be covered. Discussions will focus on the theoretically possible relationships between language and thought and the empirical data that speak to these. Prerequisite: undergrads must be junior/senior except by permission of instructor. Majors in Cognitive Science, Psychology, and Philosophy welcome, but course is open to all majors.
Landau 3 credits 050.362 (N,S) Field Methods in Linguistics
Linguistic fieldwork has a long and venerable tradition in the field of linguistics. It has made it possible for linguists to analyze many of the 5,000 languages of the world, reveal the extent of variation among languages, and propose theories of what a possible human language is like. In this course, students will construct their own description of a language from scratch, through direct elicitations from a native-speaker consultant. The language chosen by the instructor will most likely be a non-Indo-European language. Prerequisite: 050.325/625, 050.320/620, or by permission of instructor.
Legendre 3 credits 050.364 (N,S) Advanced Topics in Cognitive Neuropsychology
Seminar in which students will read, critique, and present research articles on topics currently attracting attention and/or controversy in cognitive neuropsychology. Prerequisite: one or more of 050.105, 050.203, 050.311, 050.315, 080.203.
McCloskey 3 credits 050.639 Cognitive Development (For description, see 050.339)
Landau 3 hours 050.370 (N,S,Q) Formal Methods in Cognitive Science: Language
An introduction to a wide range of mathematical techniques and structures relevant to the formal analysis of natural language grammar and processing. Topics include mathematical basics (sets, functions, notions of proof, cardinalities), discrete structures (graphs, algebras, lattices), and formal language and automata theory (the Chomsky and automation hierarchies of expressive capacity). Special attention is paid to applications in the cognitive science of language.
Frank 3 credits 050.371 (N,S,Q) Formal Methods in Cognitive Science: Inference
This course introduces a variety of techniques for modeling human reasoning and induction. Possible topics include computational complexity, computability and Turing machines, with special focus on applications in the formal modeling of learning; propositional and predicate logic, as applied to natural language semantics, knowledge representation, and deductive inference; probability theory and statistical inference; statistical learning theory; information theory; Bayesian networks. No prerequisites.
Frank, Smolensky 3 credits 050.372 (N,S,Q) Formal Methods in Cognitive Science: Neural Networks
Introduction to real and complex numbers, functions of many variables, differential and integral calculus, differential equations, numerical optimization, dynamical systems, linear algebra, probability theory, information theory. Applications to mathematical models of neural networks as biological and as computational systems. (See also 050.672.) No prerequisites.
Smolensky 3 credits Advanced undergraduates may take 600-level courses with permission of the instructor. 050.602 Topics in Cognitive Neuropsychology
The analysis of cognitive disorders consequent to brain damage provides crucial constraints for theories of the structure of cognitive mechanisms and brain-cognition relationships. Current developments in various domains of cognitive neuropsychology are reviewed. Topics vary from year to year and include disorders of language production and comprehension, disorders of reading and writing, and disorders of attention, perception, and memory.
McCloskey, Rapp 2 hours 050.612 Introduction to Linguistics for Non-Cognitive Science Students
This course is primarily intended for engineering students of language and speech processing.
Staff 050.616 Morpho-Phonology (For description, see 050.316)
Burzio 3 hours 050.620 Syntax I
(For description, see 050.320.)
Burzio, Frank, Legendre 3 hours 050.621 Syntax II
(For description, see 050.321.)
Frank, Legendre 3 hours 050.625 Phonology I
Co-taught with 050.325. A rigorous development of modern phonological theory, using both rule-based approaches and Optimality Theory. Topics include syllable theory, word stress, typology of phonological repairs, derivational effects in non-derivational Optimality Theory.
Burzio, Smolensky 3 hours 050.626 Foundations of Cognitive Science
(For description, see 050.326.) Prerequisite: graduate standing.
Smolensky 3 hours 050.627 Phonology II
Co-taught with 050.327. Continuation of Phonology I, 050.625. Topics include the phonetics/phonology interface, stress systems and metrical phonology, reduplication and prosodic morphology, output-output correspondence and surface-based morphology, autosegmental phonology. Prerequisite: 050.625 or equivalent.
Burzio, Smolensky 3 hours 050.629 Advanced Phonological Analysis
(For description, see 050.329.)
Smolensky 3 hours 050.630 Topics in Language Processing
This course examines current models of human language processing. Subject matter may include experimental studies of sentence processing (e.g., parsing, coreference processing, grammatical agreement); lexical recognition/ production; and the role of grammatical knowledge, discourse structure, and real-world information in processing. Prerequisite: 050.333 or equivalent or permission of instructor.
Badecker 3 hours 050.632 Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
(For description, see 050.332.)
Landau 2 hours 050.633 Psycholinguistics
(For description, see 050.333)
Badecker 3 hours 050.636 Survey in Cognitive Development
Key questions about human knowledge can be answered by considering their origins and development. This course is designed to shed light on fundamental questions about human knowledge by considering current theories, issues, methods, and evidence in cognitive development. The backbone of the course will be landmark readings which have historically framed nature/ nurture issues, as well as current readings on development that explore the nature of constraints on learning, the nature and role of plasticity, and the interaction of genes and environment. Sample domains of inquiry include the development of knowledge of objects, space, numbers, and language. Evidence from normal development will be considered, as well as evidence from genetic deficits, sensory deficits, and early brain damage.
Landau 2 hours 050.637 Topics in Language Learning and Cognitive Development
This course is an intensive examination of the literature on specialized topics in language acquisition and cognitive development. Topics will vary from year to year, and will include the nature and development of spatial cognition, acquisition of the lexicon, plasticity in sensory and cognitive systems, and language learning by children and adults.
Landau 2 hours 050.647 Topics in the History of the Romance Languages
(For Description, see 050.247)
Burzio, Legendre 3 hours 050.658 Language and Thought
(For description, see 050.358.)
Landau 3 hours 050.662 Field Methods in Linguistics
(For description, see 050.362.)
Legendre 3 hours 050.664 Advanced Topics in Cognitive Neuropsychology
(For description, see 050.364.)
McCloskey 3 hours 050.666 Information Extraction from Speech and Text
Introduction to statistical methods of speech recognition (automatic transcription of speech) and understanding. The course is a natural continuation of 520.665 and/or 600.465 but is independent of either. Topics include elementary information theory, hidden Markov models, efficient hypothesis search methods, statistical decisions trees, the estimation- maximization (EM) algorithm, maximum entropy estimation, finite state transducers, context-free grammars, parsing, and the Baum, CYK, and Viterbi algorithms. Weekly assignments and several programming projects. Prerequisites: 550.310 or equivalent, expertise in C or C++ programming. Co-listed with 520.666 and 600.666.
Jelinek 050.670 Formal Methods in Cognitive Science: Language
This course together with 050.671-672 develops the skills and basic knowledge of formal methods which are prerequisites for theoretical sophistication in cognitive science and for critical evaluation of current research in psychology, neuroscience, computational modeling, linguistics, and philosophy of mind. Presented within their cognitive science context are a range of mathematical and computational techniques central to the study of a variety of cognitive domains, from vision and language to reasoning and learning. Students not only become familiar with the properties of formal systems, but also learn to manipulate mathematical objects and evaluate and construct proofs, to write computer programs, and to design experiments and statistically analyze data. (For possible topics, see 050.370.) No prerequisites.
Frank 3 hours 050.671 Formal Methods in Cognitive Science: Inference
(For description, see 050.371.)
Frank, Smolensky 3 hours 050.672 Formal Methods in Cognitive Science: Neural Networks
Introduction to continuous mathematics relevant to cognitive science. Applications to neural network theory, including Hodgin-Huxley equations for action potential propagation in neurons (with introduction to relevant biophysics), backpropagation learning in connectionist networks, exact solution of learning problems in linear networks. (See also 050.372.) No prerequisites.
Smolensky 3 hours 050.800 Directed Readings
Guided independent readings in special fields of cognitive science.
Staff 050.801 Research Seminar in Cognitive Neuropsychology
Current issues and ongoing research in cognitive neuropsychology are discussed.
Rapp 2 hours 050.802 Research Seminar in Cognitive Processes
Current issues and ongoing research on human cognition are discussed.
McCloskey, Rapp 2 hours 050.811 Research Seminar in Language and Cognition
This is a specialized research seminar for individuals carrying out research on language acquisition, cognitive development, and the interface between language and cognition. Students must be actively involved in carrying out empirical and/or theoretical research in these areas.
Landau 2 hours 050.821 Research Seminar in Grammatical Structure
Topics in phonological, morphological, syntactic, and/or semantic theory. Discussion of the current literature and specifically of the relevance of linguistic results for the study of the mind.
Staff 2 hours 050.822 Research Seminar in Syntax
A critical analysis of current issues and debates in theoretical syntax. Discussion of ongoing research.
Burzio, Frank, Legendre 2 hours 050.823 Research Seminar in Phonology
An investigation into the organization of speech sounds from the perspective of contemporary theories of phonology.
Burzio, Smolensky 2 hours 050.824 Research Seminar in Lexical Representation
A critical review of evidence bearing on the question of how words are represented and stored in the mind.
Badecker, Burzio 2 hours 050.825 Research Seminar in Optimality Theory
Current topics in optimality theory, taken from areas such as phonology, syntax, acquisition and learnability, computational and psychological issues in processing, and relations to neural networks and cognitive theory.
Burzio, Legendre, Smolensky 050.826 Research Seminar in Formal Approaches to Cognitive Science
An advanced seminar for students with active research interest in formal approaches to cognitive science with topics ranging from the mathematical analysis of neural networks to computational studies of linguistic structure. Discussions will focus both on the ongoing research of participants and on current literature.
Frank, Smolensky 2 hours 050.827 Research Seminar in Language Acquisition
Legendre 050.830 Topics in Cognitive Science
Staff 050.832 Research in Language Processing
Current topics in human language processing, with discussion of recent developments in theory and experimental study.
Badecker 2 hours 050.839 Research in Cognitive Science
Staff 050.849 Teaching Practicum
Staff 050.850 Departmental Reading Course |
