• to explain the rise of the so-called cognitive paradigm;
• to trace the historical roots and the evolution of basic ideas of contemporary cognitive science;
• to provoke a deeper understanding and critical assessment of present problems in this area and their proposed solutions.

• demonstrate a working knowledge of the intellectual traditions that have shaped the current state of ideas in the field of Cognitive Science;
• discuss the good and bad points of the computational metaphor and the knowledge representation hypothesis.

• lectures focusing on key ideas and problems;
• guided reading;
• tutor-led group discussions.

Cognitive Psychology, Hove: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1995.

Gardner, H.,

The Mind's New Science, NY: Basic Books, 1987.

Herrnstein, R. J. & Boring, E. G. (eds.),

A Source Book in the History of Psychology, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1965.

Hofstadter, D. & Dennett, D.,

The Mind's I, N.Y.: Basic Books, 1981.

Leahey, T. H.,

A History of Psychology, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 1980.

O Nuallain, S.,

The Search for Mind, N. J.: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1995.

Posner, M. (ed.),

Foundations of Cognitive Science., Cambridge, M. A.: The MIT Press, 1991.

• Introduction (4 hours) - basic concepts concerning history of science and its reconstruction (paradigm, scientific research tradition).
• Synopsis (2 hours) - an overview of recent problems and discussions forming the face of contemporary cognitive science.
• The evolution of cognitive ideas in the fields of philosophy, psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, anthropology, artificial intelligence (12 hours) - the main ideas originating from the listed above disciplines and contributing to the development of cognitive science.
• Converging studies (8 hours) - perception, mental imagery, categorization, mental models.
• Discussion (4 hours) - the main dogmas of cognitivism (knowledge representation hypothesis, computational metaphor) and their possible alternatives.

Introduction

Topic 1: Discussions about the "hard core" of cognitive science. The historical nature of the scientific subjects and methodologies. History of science as a tool for understanding the present state of affairs, and as a key to the future.
Required reading:

• "Definition and scope of Cognitive Science" - Chapter 1 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Chapter 1 of [Leathey, 1980].

Topic 2: History of science and its rational reconstruction. Cumulative versus anticumulative views of scientific growth. What is a paradigm? What is a scientific research tradition?
Required reading:

• Chapter 1 of [Leathey, 1980].

Additional readings:

• Chapter 1 of [Kuhn, T. (1970). The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.]
• Chapter 1 of [Lakatos, I. (1978). The Methodology of Scientific Research Programmes. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.]

Synopsis

Topic 3: Cognitive Science: the birthplace, basic hypotheses and problems. What happened in 1956? The informational approach, the knowledge representation hypothesis, the computational metaphor. Is there a paradigm or different research programs take place in cognitve science?
Required reading:

• Chapter 3 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Chapters 1, 2 and 3 of [Pylyshyn, Z. (1984). Computation and Cognition. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.]

The evolution of cognitive ideas in the fields of philosophy, psychology, linguistics, neuroscience, anthropology, artificial intelligence.

Topic 4:The place of philosophy in cognitive science. The rationalistic tradition from Plato to Chomsky. Some philosophical problems relevant to contemporary cognitive science: the mind-body problem, the problem of unversalia, the controversion presentationism/representationism.
Required reading:

• Chapter 4 of [Gardner, 1987]. Additional reading:

Additional reading:

• Chapter 21 of [Posner, 1991].

Topic 5: Additional readings: Psychological origins: a brief account of the main streams in the history of psychology from its rise as a scientific discipline in the end of last century to the turn to cognition.
Required reading:

• Chapter 5 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional readings

• Parts II and III of [Leathey, 1980].

Topic 6: The contribution of neuroscience. How specific is neural functioning? The neural base of cognition. Will neuroscience devour cognitive science?
Required reading:

• Chapter 9 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Chapter 4 of [O Nuallain, 1995].

Topic 7: Artificial Intelligence: thinking as computation. The GPS project. Against "general intelligence". Connectionism vs symbolism - the new controversion of 80's. Does the situated cognition approach have a future?
Required readings:

• Chapter 6 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Chapter 5 of [O Nuallain, 1995].

Topic 8: The place of linguistics. The anti-psychologism of an earlier era as a search for autonomy. The neo-behaviorism and the problem of language. Chomsky against behaviorist views of language. Language and thought.
Required reading:

• Chapter 7 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Chapter 3 of [O Nuallain, 1995].

Topic 9: Anthropology: from Levy-Bruhl to Levy-Strauss.
Required reading:

• Chapter 8 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Chapter 6 of [O Nuallain, 1995].

Converging studies

Topic 10: Perception. The work of David Marr. The Gibsonian view of perception. The ecological approach.
Required reading:

• Chapter 10 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Part V of [Herrnstein & Boring, 1965].

Topic 11: Mental Imagery. Images through the ages. Kosslyn's model. Pylyshyn's penetrating case against imagery. A Wittgensteinian Critique.
Required reading:

• Chapter 11 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Chapter 8 of [Pylyshyn, Z. (1984). Computation and Cognition. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.]

Topic 12: Theories of categorization. The classical view of categorization and its philosophical origins. Rosch's critique of the classical view and the birth of the prototype theory. The explanation-based view. Why the problem of categorization in so important.
Required reading:

• Chapter 12 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Chapters 10 & 11 of [Eysenk & Keane, 1995].

Topic 13: What is to be rational? Different critiques of the substantial nature of human reason. Johnson-Laird and his mental models approach. Are mental models a panacea?
Required reading:

• Chapter 13 of [Gardner, 1987].

Additional reading:

• Johnson -Laird, P. N., Mental Models in [Posner, 1991].

Discussion

Topic 14: Problems of cognitive modeling: the frame problem in AI. McCarthy and Hayes's famous paper "Some philosophical problems from the stand-point of AI". Dennett's philosophical interpretation of the frame problem. What is the moral of the story of the frame problem?
Required reading:

• Dennett, D. Cognitive wheels: the frame problem of AI in [Pylyshyn, Z. (ed.). (1987). The robot's Dilemma. N.J.: Ablex].

Additional reading:

• Some of the papers in [Pylyshyn, 1987].

Topic 15: Beyond the main dogmas of cognitivism: knowledge representation hypothesis and computational metaphor.
Required reading:

• Searle, J. Minds, Brains and Programs in [Hofstadter & Dennett, 1981].

Additional reading:

• Chapter 14 of [Gardner, 1987].