Ampersand: Intro to the Study of the Mind-Brain: Psychological, Biological, & Philosophical Perspectives

3 units

A consideration of three primary areas of research in cognitive science: attention, memory, and language. These topics are used to illustrate the techniques by which mental abilities are investigated and explained in psychology and neuroscience: the focus, in particular, is on the use of reaction time studies, brain imaging, and cell recordings to isolate the basic components that make up complex functions. In addition to the central concepts and theories in each area, the course will address philosophical implications of this research concerning how the mind and brain are related, how the mind-brain encodes or represents information, and the nature of consciousness. And there will be an emphasis on applying these findings to important problems, such as Alzheimer's disease and deficits due to brain damage. The class is taught by three members of the faculty from different disciplines and combines a whole-group lecture with small discussion classes. The goal is to give students a good understanding of the interdisciplinary nature of cognitive science and to help them develop the ability to think and write critically about scientific research into the mind-brain. Prerequisite: admission to the Hewlett Program in the Study of the Mind-Brain. This course is for first-year (non-transfer) students only. Students who are not first-year students will be unenrolled from this course.