Computing

Current Issues in Cognitive Science

Module code: C8807
Level 6
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Seminar
Assessment modes: Coursework

This module will familiarise you with topics at the leading edge of scientific and philosophical progress in cognitive science.

It will provide insights into the range of methods used to research those topics and the theories behind those methods, in a way that builds upon issues covered in previous modules on the cognitive science pathway.

Topics vary from year to year, and are sometimes chosen by you, but may include:

• cognitive neuroscientific investigations of the self
• models of schizophrenia
• integrated information theories of consciousness
• the explanatory power of mirror neurons
• individuating the senses and sensory augmentation
• theories and architectures of emotion and affect
• folk psychology as theory, simulation and narrative practice

Module learning outcomes

• Critically discuss current debates and research areas in cognitive science.
• Adopt and defend a position on a number of current issues in cognitive science.
• Evaluate the different methods used by different disciplines to understand the mind, and of the ways in which these different methods might be combined to address specific problems in cognitive science.