FUNDAMENTALS OF COGNITIVE SCIENCES

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

Single discipline educational activity

Course Sheet

Course code:

PSICOG06

Academic Year of enrolment:

2020

Year of supply:

2020/2021

Type of Course:

Elective Course

Degree:

Course of 2nd Cycle Degree in PSYCHOLOGY

Disciplinary Sector:

General Psychology

Language:

Italian

Location:

Credits:

Programme Year:

Professor and Collaborators:

DI DOMENICO ALBERTO

Cycle:

First semester

Hours of classroom activity:

Individual study hours:

136

Prerequisites:

- Good knowledge of cognitive functions;
- Basic knowledge concerning the history of Psychology.

Objectives

The course allows students to acquire in-depth skills about history and interdisciplinary manifestations of cognitive sciences (psychology, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, linguistics, philosophy, anthropology).
The course will favor the development of critical skills in the evaluation of theories related to the functioning of the mind and brain, simulation models (classical artificial intelligence, neural networks, dynamical systems) and their practical applications (human factors, etc.).

Contents

The course will cover the past and present of the cognitive sciences, isolating the key events that led to their genesis and which have allowed their consolidation.
The content of the course is interdisciplinary and will require a good mastery of topics of cognitive psychology, neuroscience and computer science.
The historical vision of the discipline will be accompanied by a series of in-depth modules on contemporary research topics such as the evolution of cognition, the design of intelligent systems and human-machine interfaces.

Extended Syllabus

History of Psychology: from Aristotle to Wundt;
Birth and development of Psychophysics;
Structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism and cognitivism;
The precursors of cognitive sciences: cybernetics, calculators, artificial neural networks, artificial intelligence and linguistics.
Chomsky's contribution to the study of mind functioning;
Modularity and interactive models.

Recommended Bibliography

- Handouts provided by the teacher.

Methods of Provision

Conventional

Teaching Methods

Lectures and group reports on scientific articles.

Evaluation methods

Verification of learning:

Written test. Optional oral test (only if the written test is sufficient).

Università degli Studi
"G. d'Annunzio"

Chieti - Pescara

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