What is Cognitive Science?

Cognitive Science is an inter-disciplinary area of study that investigates questions related to the human mind. The questions scientists have been asking most recently have become increasingly more complicated; too complicated for any single field to fully answer. Only by combining the findings and research methodologies from core scientific disciplines such as Anthropology, Computer Science, Linguistics, Philosophy, Psychology, and Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences (along with theories of evolution and development) can we hope to advance our understanding of ourselves.

Still not sure what Cognitive Science is? Then start reading the 100 Most Influential Works in Cognitive Science.

• How can I get involved in Cognitive Science at KU?
 
• Subscribe to the KUCOGSCI listserv to find out about upcoming presentations, reading groups, etc. at the Lawrence campus and the KU Medical Center in Kansas City that may be of interest to you.
 
To subscribe to the KUCOGSCI list:
 
1. Send e-mail to: listproc@ku.edu

2. Leave the Subject line blank

3. In the first line of the body of the message enter:
 

sub kucogsci yourfirstname yourlastname
    (E.g.:    sub kucogsci Noam Chomsky)


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• Start a Cognitive Science Reading Group:
• A group in the Fall of 2003 discussed:
Linked: The New Science of Networks by Albert-László Barabási

Editorial Reviews  from Amazon.com: How is the human brain like the AIDS epidemic? Ask physicist Albert-László Barabási and he'll explain them both in terms of networks of individual nodes connected via complex but understandable relationships. Linked: The New Science of Networks is his bright, accessible guide to the fundamentals underlying neurology, epidemiology, Internet traffic, and many other fields united by complexity. Barabási's gift for concrete, nonmathematical explanations and penchant for eccentric humor would make the book thoroughly enjoyable even if the content weren't engaging. But the results of Barabási's research into the behavior of networks are deeply compelling. Not all networks are created equal, he says, and he shows how even fairly robust systems like the Internet could be crippled by taking out a few super-connected nodes, or hubs. His mathematical descriptions of this behavior are helping doctors, programmers, and security professionals design systems better suited to their needs. Linked presents the next step in complexity theory--from understanding chaos to practical applications.
 

• Another reading group discussed:
Human Language and Our Reptilian Brain: The Subcortical Bases of Speech, Syntax, and Thought by  Philip Lieberman

Editorial Review from Amazon.com:  This book is an entry into the fierce current debate among psycholinguists, neuroscientists, and evolutionary theorists about the nature and origins of human language. A prominent neuroscientist here takes up the Darwinian case, using data seldom considered by psycholinguists and neurolinguists to argue that human language--though more sophisticated than all other forms of animal communication--is not a qualitatively different ability from all forms of animal communication, does not require a quantum evolutionary leap to explain it, and is not unified in a single "language instinct." Using clinical evidence from speech-impaired patients, functional neuroimaging, and evolutionary biology to make his case, Philip Lieberman contends that human language is not a single separate module but a functional neurological system made up of many separate abilities. Language remains as it began, Lieberman argues: a device for coping with the world. But in a blow to human narcissism, he makes the case that this most remarkable human ability is a by-product of our remote reptilian ancestors' abilities to dodge hazards, seize opportunities, and live to see another day.
 
 

• Take a course in another department to learn about the perspective that discipline takes on a topic that interests you.
 
• Become a member of one of the following student organizations:
 
• Undergraduate Anthropology Club
• Undergraduate Cognitive Science Club
• KU Psi Chi & Psychology Club
• KU Philosophy Club
• KU Student Speech-Language-Hearing Association (KUSSHA)
• Linguistic Graduate Student Association
 
• Become a member of the international Cognitive Science Society.