Undergraduate Course: Introduction to Cognitive Science (PPLS08002)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 8 (Year 1 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces students to Cognitive Science, a field at the intersection of several disciplines including philosophy, psychology, linguistics, anthropology, computer science, human-computer interaction, and neuroscience. |
| Course description |
Cognitive Science is an interdisciplinary effort to uncover the relationships between brains, minds, computation, and behaviour. The course aims to provide a high-level perspective on key questions that the field of Cognitive Science aims to address.
Classes and assessments will cover topics in areas such as language, learning, perception, action, and thought.
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Priority will be given to Year 1 students, in particular those who need to take this course as a requirement of their degree programme. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2025/26, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: 0 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Lecture Hours 22,
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 10,
Supervised Practical/Workshop/Studio Hours 22,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
142 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Mid-term short-answer assignment worth 45% (1000 words)
Research participation 5%. A 300-word reflection on research practices in Cognitive Science or a related field. The reflection should be based on one of the following four available research experiences:
1. Participation in an experiment (or experiments) via SONA participant recruitment (~1 hour)
2. Participation in another available research study on language or cognition (~1 hour)
3. Attendance at a research talk (e.g., https://www.ed.ac.uk/ppls/psychology/events, ~1 hour)
4. Reading of a relevant journal article (other than an Intro CogSci required reading)
Final centrally arranged exam worth 50% |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S1 (December) | Introduction to Cognitive Science Exam | 120 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Demonstrate an understanding of the themes and questions encompassed by Cognitive Science across a variety of disciplines
- Evaluate recent findings in Cognitive Science to identify how they inform long-standing debates in the field
- Discuss and appreciate the interdisciplinary nature of Cognitive Science
- Compare approaches to Cognitive Science from different disciplines
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
This course will give an overview of the concepts and theories within cognitive science from different disciplines - students will learn how to explore concepts from different perspectives, and critically analyse them. They will also need to learn how to balance their workload and be resilient to get to grips with the content. During tutorials, students will learn to work as a group to understand the readings and dissect the writer's arguments. They will learn to discuss/debate respectfully and develop their public speaking skills to articulate their points. In the assessments, they have a strict word count to follow. They start developing clear written communication, how to convey their arguments succinctly, adapt their writing style to the audience, and how to bring clarity and structure to the essay.
Core skills gained on this course:
Critical thinking, critical analysis, considering alternative perspectives, formulating arguments, independence, taking initiative, learning from mistakes, taking on feedback and improving, problem solving, discussing/debating respectfully, clear written communication, having clarity and structure, adapting style to audience, resilience, workload management, data analysis. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Hannah Rohde
Tel: (0131 6)50 6802
Email: Hannah.Rohde@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Kayla Johnson-McCraw
Tel: (0131 6)50 3440
Email: Kayla.Johnson@ed.ac.uk |
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