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Introduction to Cognitive Science

Introduction to Cognitive Science. COGN 1001 Schedule 11:40 – 12:30 Tuesday: K. K. Leung Building, LG 102 Thursday: K. K. Leung Building, LG 109 Syllabus - http://www.hku.hk/philodep/courses/icogsc0001/

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Introduction to Cognitive Science

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  1. Introduction to Cognitive Science • COGN 1001 • Schedule • 11:40 – 12:30 • Tuesday: K. K. Leung Building, LG 102 • Thursday: K. K. Leung Building, LG 109 • Syllabus - http://www.hku.hk/philodep/courses/icogsc0001/ • BBoard - http://www.hku.hk/cgi-bin/philodep/bbs/start.cgi HKU

  2. Lecturers • Psychology - Dr A. Francis • Computer Science - Dr. Q. Huo • Linguistics - Dr. A. Bodomo • Neuroscience - Dr. I. Bruce • Philosophy - Dr. J. Lau [Cognitive Science Centre Director] HKU

  3. Tutorials CogSci Graduates • Tutors • Lo Lap Yan • Savio Wong Wai Ho • Grading • 40% Coursework • 25% Five Assignments • 10% Tutorial Participation and Attendance • 05% Attendance • 60% Final Exam HKU

  4. So, what’s the course about, already!?! • What do Cognitive Scientists study? • Why? • How? HKU

  5. What? Information in the brain HKU

  6. Basic Assumptions • Information can be processed and stored (remembered), retrieved, changed, communicated and turned into action. • There are rules (logical or otherwise) by which information is manipulated or processed. HKU

  7. Cognitive Science is a basic science • Like chemistry, physics, or biology • The activities of the nervous system can be analysed at different levels • Psychological • Computational • Neurological • All the levels are relevant and are not reducible HKU

  8. History • It all starts with Philosophy (Decartes, Mind/Body problem). • Post-behaviorist Psychology (Chomsky, Miller; Modern Linguistics) • Cognitive Neuropsychology (from Broca to fMRI) • Computer Science (Turing, von Neuman, neural computation) HKU

  9. Why? Brains do amazing things HKU

  10. A few things brains do • Recognize people and things • Reach out and pick up things • Speak and understand language(s) • Read and write • Navigate the streets of Hong Kong • Lecture on Cognitive Science • Etc. HKU

  11. To help us better understand human behaviors. To help make our computers better at doing human-like tasks. Why study these things? HKU

  12. Why not just study brains? HKU

  13. The brain is as complex as anything we know • 1280–1380 grams • 180 billion neurons (80+ billion involved in information processing) • 1 trillion connections (1,000,000,000,000) (some cells have up to 15,000 connections!) • at least 60 possible neurotransmitter chemicals • dozens of different kinds of cells: bushy, spiny, stellate, basket; chopper; Purkinje, Golgi… • nearly 100 functionally distinguishable areas HKU

  14. The relationship between anatomy or physiology and behavior is very complex HKU

  15. Studying brains (alone) might not tell us what we want to know. • Like studying architecture or urban planning by looking only at bricks! • We need to study behavior from many perspectives. HKU

  16. How? That’s the rest of the course! HKU

  17. The five major areas Computer Science Philosophy COG SCI Physiology Linguistics Psychology HKU

  18. Information in the brain What is the physical structure of the nervous system, and what is its role in human behavior? Perception Categorization Representation Memory Attention (Language) Learning Thought Cognitive Psychology HKU

  19. Perception HKU

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  21. Computer Science • "Knowledge representation" • What is AI? • Semantic networks and frames • Predicate logic • Rule-based systems HKU

  22. “Creatures” created by Rodney Brookes at MIT Partial semantic network for “water” HKU

  23. What are the mental processes and representations underlying language production and understanding? Language Structure Phonology Morphology Syntax Semantics Pragmatics Literacy Linguistics HKU

  24. University of California Perceptual Sciences Laboratory (D. Massaro) http://mambo.ucsc.edu/ HKU

  25. Physiology • Horrifying complexity of connections among neurons in the brain • Relatively simple interactions between neurons • excitation & inhibition • Voyage through the visual system for the image of a brown dog • Simple retinal processing to parallel processing of form, colour, motion to object recognition • Limitations of the Neuroscience approach to Cognition HKU

  26. EEG/ERP recording MRI (axial) fMRI (coronal) HKU

  27. Philosophy • Two roles of Philosophy in Cognitive Science • Role #1 : baby science nursery • "what you do to a problem until it can be solved by science”: work with scientists to find the best way to study a problem • many sciences developed out of philosophy • Role #2 : building inspector • examines foundational assumptions and concepts e.g. What are computations? What is consciousness? What makes something a representation? HKU

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