Questions about Cognitive Science
ct...@pbs.uucp
I am a computer programmer, and I am contemplating going to graduate
school in the near future. As part of that, I am trying to pick an area of
computer science in which to specialize. Once upon a time, several years ago,
I heard mention of a fairly new sub-category of artificial intelligence called
"Cognitive Science". It sounded fascinating to me, and, if it really exists, I
think I would like to specialize in it. I have recently been trying to find
out more about the field, but I am not having much luck. Many of the people I
talk to have never heard of cognitive science, and the public library does not
have much information on the topic.
So, has anybody else heard of the field? Does it really exist? If so,
does anybody know where I can find more information about it? I would
especially like to find out who is doing work in the field, and where are they
doing it. Any information would be deeply appreciated.
Please send replies (if any) to me personally, rather than posting them
since we have a bad comp.ai feed. I'll post a summary of the replies to the
net.
Caroline Tice
Public Broadcasting Service
1320 Braddock Pl.
Alexandria, VA 22314
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ct...@pbs.uucp
> I am a computer programmer, and I am contemplating going to graduate
> school in the near future. As part of that, I am trying to pick an area of
This is a summary of all the responses I got to my posting "Questions
about Cognitive Science". I would like to thank everyone who took the time
and effort to reply.
Looking under Cognitive Psychology may give more information than looking
under Cognitive Science, although the latter actually encompasses the former.
Cognitive Science is the study of cognition in people, i.e. the study of
intelligence and the mechanisms that may account for "intelligent" behavior.
It can also be classified as the study of the human brain. It involves
questions such as how do people understand language, see, store memory, etc.
University libraries are more likely to have useful information than public
libraries.
Cognitive Science is NOT really a "sub-category" of Artificial
Intelligence, although it overlaps with AI. It is a relatively new, inter-
disciplinary field involving psychology, anthropology, philosophy, artificial
intelligence, linguistics, and neurology (to name a few fields). It is a
broad field, and very difficult to define precisely. One of the key
differences between Cog Sci and AI is that Cog Scientists who do work with
computer models design models based upon human cognition. AI researchers are
not so restricted and are free to develop any problem solving system which
performs those skills usually associated with humans, but not necessarily in
the same manner as humans. Another opinion (fact?) is that mainstream AI
involves a lot of mathematical analysis and theorem proving, while Cog Sci
leans more towards empirical data, more broad coverage of issues with less
specifics and less formal math.
Some people in the field are:
Don Norman at UCSD (Univ. of California - San Diego)
Herb Simon at CMU (Carnegie Mellon University?)
Allan Newell at CMU
John Anderson
Sarah Lesher at NCI (les...@ncifcrf.gov)
Randy Smith at MIT (ra...@wheaties.ai.mit.edu)
Donald Perlis at University of Maryland
Suggested universities are:
Arizona
Brandice
Brown University
*Carnegie Mellon University
*Massachusetts Institute of Technology
State University of New York, Buffalo
UCI
University of California, Los Angeles
*University of California, San Diego (contact Lynne Keith)
University of Colorado, Boulder
University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
University of Michigan
University of Sussex, Brighton, England (School of Cog. & Comp. Sci)
University of Washington, Seattle (contact Earl Hunt)
University of Wisconsin, Madison
*Yale
*These universities were recommended most often
Suggested books:
"Foundations of Cognitive Science" (ed.) Posner, published by MIT press
"The Minds New Science" by Gardner
"Computers and Thought: A Practical Introduction to Artificial
Intelligence" by Sharples, Hogg, Hutchinson, Torrance, & Young,
published by MIT press
a book by Johnson-Laird (1988?) (No title given)
a book by Stillings (No title given)
Suggested journals in the field are:
"Cognitive Science" published by Ablex
"Cog Psych"
"Memory and Cognition"
"Brain and Behavioral Sciences"
Again, thanks for all your responses!
Steven L Salzberg
In your message summarizing cognitive science programs and
schools, you omitted one quite near to your own headquarters
in D.C. Just up the road in Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University
has a Cognitive Science Center, offering both undergraduate
and graduate degrees. The Director of the center is Prof. Alfonso
Carramazza.
Steven Salzberg
Dept. of Computer Science
Johns Hopkins University
Baltimore, MD 21218
salz...@crabcake.cs.jhu.edu