Cognitive Science at Northwestern

So you’re thinking about a major (or minor) in Cog Sci…

Terrific! Congratulations on your interest in one of the most exciting and rapidly developing fields in modern science. The human mind is truly one of the great remaining frontiers of exploration. If you apply yourself, within a few months, you can be making your own contributions to the endeavor of pushing back that frontier of knowledge as we develop an ever better understanding of human thought and behavior.

One of the first things you should do as you begin to plan your major is to contact the Cog Sci undergraduate advisor, Mark Jung-Beeman (mjungbee@northwestern.edu) or Benjamin Scott-Hopkins (cogsci@northwestern.edu). You should talk with one of us a little about your interests and goals, and discuss aspects of the cognitive science program here at Northwestern that are particularly suited to you. Over the course of many such meetings, I’ve found myself saying certain things over and over again. The text here is intended to provide you with access to that information now, as you are just starting to consider work in cog sci. However, this is not intended as a substitute for an actual meeting to discuss the major.

Students are encouraged to work from top-to-bottom on the course requirements listed in the course catalog (see http://www.cogsci.northwestern.edu/major.html for a list of major and minor requirements), but you should feel free to skip around a little. In general, we encourage people to start with the introductory level courses (Cog Sci 207, 210, and 211). These classes will provide you with broad exposure to the field as a whole and give you a sense of the range of issues addressed. We also urge students to complete the Methods courses (Psych 201, Psych 205, and Comp Sci 110 or 111) as soon as possible, since these courses will provide important “mental tools” that will enable you to get more out of the other courses you take. For instance, in almost any cog sci course, you will encounter empirical studies in which data were collected, analyzed, and interpreted. Once you have taken a Statistics and a Research Methods course, you will be much better equipped to understand and appreciate the meaning of this work.

While you should endeavor to progress through the major/minor requirements from top to bottom, if you see a more advanced course that you are eager to take, you should not rule it out simply because you have a few Intro, Methods, or Core courses left to complete. Some advanced seminars are not offered every year, or even every other year. In some extreme cases, a course may be offered once and then never again. Thus, if you see an occasional course that fits your interests very closely, you should feel free to jump ahead and take it.

Prerequisites are suggestions, not absolute requirements. It is a little known fact that there is no automatic system in place to make sure that you have completed the listed prerequisites for a course prior to registering for it. Prerequisites are typically set by instructors to indicate the level of knowledge that they will expect from students on the first day of their class. If there is a particular course in which you are especially interested, but you do not have room in your schedule to complete all of the listed prerequisites, you should consider talking with the instructor about the situation. Some faculty will indicate that it is a very bad idea to take their course without having completed the listed prerequisites. Others will suggest additional reading that might help you prepare for the course. Many will simply indicate that you should take their course with caution. If the material presented in the reading and lecture ever begin to be unclear to you, you should contact the instructor immediately to figure out a way to do extra reading or other work to improve your understanding. (One important thing to note here, however, is that you should do this for any course you take, regardless of whether you have completed the prerequisites or not!)

Comp Sci 110 or 111 is an important part of your major, even if you are not planning to pursue advanced computational work. An increasingly common trend in many fields, including cognitive science, is the use of “computational models.” Rather than simply providing a verbal description of how one believes the brain accomplishes some task, a researcher writes a computer program to actually accomplish the task being studied. The performance of the program can then be tested and compared to actual human performance. For instance, when vision researchers first started hooking computers up to video cameras to test out their theories, they were shocked at how difficult some seemingly simple processes were. By refining their theories in the form of computer models over the past several decades, a much more complete and precise understanding of human vision has been obtained. Similar stories have emerged in a wide range of domains. Once you have obtained a little experience with programming and developed a sense of the sorts of things that are “easy” and “hard” for computers (i.e., once you have completed Comp Sci 110 or 111), you will be much better equipped to understand and appreciate these computational models of cognition. Even if you don’t ever produce one of these computational models yourself, it is important that you be able to understand the work of people who do.

Very few substitutions are allowed for Introductory, Methods, or Core courses. (Exceptions for certain major-minor combinations are listed below.) All such requests must be submitted to me in writing. As the Cog Sci Director of Undergraduate Studies, I then convey it to the Cognitive Science Committee. Such requests should include significant reasons for wanting to substitute another course and written documentation providing detail about the alternative course(s), including syllabi, papers, tests, etc. Even when complete, such requests are almost always denied. Much thought has gone into the design and selection of the program course requirements. It is unlikely that all of the required elements will be present in any other course.

However…, substitutions for Advanced Electives are very common and easy. The list of Advanced Elective courses given in the catalog should be considered as a list of starting suggestions, not as an exhaustive list of possible courses. If we were to list all of the 300+ level courses that are related enough to cog sci to be considered as advanced electives, the list would go on for many pages. And, as soon as any such list were complete, it would almost immediately be out of date, as new relevant courses are always coming up and old courses are retired. The rule of thumb that I and previous cog sci advisors have used is the following: “If you can, with a straight face, make a case for why a particular 300 or 400 level course is related enough to cog sci and your interests in the field, then the course can count as an advanced elective.” This is not a hard and fast rule, as I can imagine courses that would not count. However, in over a year in this job, I have not yet had to refuse any advance elective substitution request. You should feel tremendous freedom in perusing the course catalog for classes that you think will enhance your progress in the major. IMPORTANT: REGARDLESS OF HOW CLEAR IT IS TO YOU THAT SOME COURSE SHOULD COUNT AS AN ADVANCED ELECTIVE, IT MUST STILL BE APPROVED BY THE COG SCI ADVISOR (MARK JUNG-BEEMAN).

Advanced electives must have some structure to them. The cog sci program prides itself on the flexibility it enables students to exercise in pursuing their interests as advanced undergraduates. However, we do want students to have some structure to their Advanced Electives. Specifically, at least three of these electives must fall under one of the “areas of major emphasis” listed in the Advanced Elective section. Substitutions have occasionally been granted for these areas, most notably in the new area of “Social Cognition,” but these requests must be made in writing to the Cog Sci Committee via Mark Jung-Beeman. In order to assure some breadth, in addition to this depth, you must complete at least 2 of your 6 Advanced Electives outside this area of major emphasis.

We strongly encourage participation in independent research as part of your advanced electives. One of the best aspects of the cog sci program at Northwestern is the large number of affiliated faculty who are active researchers. As you discover these professors, from taking courses, hearing colloquia, and even just perusing the web, you are very likely to find a few research programs that closely match your interests. Essentially all of these many cog sci faculty are interested in collaborating with students on research. If you send an email, make a call, or even knock on a professor’s door and indicate your interest in learning more about their research and maybe getting involved in it, you will almost always be warmly welcomed. As valuable as the reading and discussion associated with standard courses can be, hands-on research provides an unequalled level of in-depth understanding of an issue. Many students choose to pursue a one-term Cog Sci 399 Independent Research course or a two-term Cog Sci 397 course. Either of these can count as one credit of your Advanced Elective requirements.

There are many opportunities for summer research in cog sci. Many students get involved in cog sci research during the summer at Northwestern. Some grants are available to support living expenses and research of this type. For more information on how to apply, contact the cog sci program administrator (cogsci@northwestern.edu) and watch the web site on this topic at http://www.nwu.edu/undergrad-research/summer.html.

Each spring, we invite junior majors with high GPAs and/sor a recommendation from a cog sci faculty member to participate in the senior honors program. Another way in which many students become involved in research is the senior honors program. Honors thesis projects typically last three full terms, enabling students to work with a faculty member on an in depth research project and become expert in a particular area. Students in the program attend the weekly honors thesis seminar and ultimately produce a paper that resembles a journal article. Students also present their work at the annual Cog Sci Fest talk symposium and are evaluated for Honors in Cognitive Science.

You should seek out the cog sci advisor’s help with the petition to graduate. By the end of the junior year, the registrar requires you to file a petition to graduate, in which you spell out the major(s) and minor(s) that you expect to complete and the date by which you plan to graduate. This complex and counter-intuitive form should be filled out in consultation with the cog sci advisor, currently Mark Jung-Beeman or Benjamin Scott-Hopkins.

Get to know your college advisor as well as your major advisor(s). When you declare a major, if not before, you will be assigned a College Advisor. If you are still in touch with your freshman advisor, and already have advisors for one or more majors or minors, the addition of yet another advisor might seem superfluous. It is not. The cog sci advisor is a great person to contact when you have questions about cog sci, but when you have questions about general College and University requirements, this person is typically not a very good source of information. The University has fortunately put in place a set of advisors who are experts on these ever-changing issues. You should make a point of meeting with this college advisor at least once, even if you don’t have specific questions. In case any issue ever does arise, your advisors can be extremely valuable resources, even advocates. To the extent that your advisors know you and your goals, they can provide much greater assistance.

A special note to WCAS students interested in a minor in Cog Sci, Psychology, or Computer Science. According to WCAS rules, students who pursue a minor can not double-count ANY of the minor courses toward completion of another minor or major. This creates a problem for students interested in a major/minor combination including Cog Sci and either Psychology or Computer Science, since the Methods courses required for the Cog Sci major/minor are also required for the Psych and Computer Science major/minor. In order to enable these major/minor combinations, the following substitution is allowed: “If a course is required for both Cognitive Science AND another major/minor, then the student can opt out of the course for Cognitive Science by completing another course, approved in advance, by the Cog Sci Director of Undergraduate Studies.” (If that makes sense to you the first time that you read it, without contacting me for further clarification, then I am very impressed!)