Prospective Trainees
The focus of our graduate training is scholarly research. Students are encouraged to develop a research program, to collaborate with a variety of faculty and with other students, and to publish their research in leading journals. To this end, we have a focused course load that is designed to complement, rather than to detract from, time spent concentrating on research. Through research, course work, and a variety of advanced talk series and workshops, students are expected to achieve a high degree of intellectual breadth and depth.
Students also receive training in teaching as teaching assistants and interns, and teaching-related workshops.
There are three elements in the graduate curriculum of the Cognition Program.
1. Departmental Curriculum. Students must complete the departmental core graduate curriculum. Within this curriculum, there are two requirements specific to cognition students.
- They must take Cognitive Psychology as one of their three core psychology classes.
- They must fulfill the departmental minor area requirement by taking three courses that provide a coherent grounding in some aspect of cognition or cognitive neuroscience. These courses are to be decided on in consultation with the student's advisor, prior to actually taking the courses. It is recommended that students fulfill this requirement through cognitively-oriented courses in anthropology, computer science, human development, linguistics, or neurobiology. Other courses are also acceptable as long as they are relevant to the study of cognition.
2. Basic courses. Three basic courses. Pre-approved courses are:
Psyc 31200: Systems Neuroscience
Psyc 31500: Neuroethology
Psyc 32000: Color Vision
Psyc 32600: Speech Perception
Psyc 33100: Developmental Neuropsychology
Psyc 34214: Cognitive Neuroscience
Psyc 34400: Computational Models of Language
Psyc 34700: Social Cognition
Psyc 36100: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Psyc 37500: Introduction to the Psychology of Language
Psyc 38300: Attention
Psyc 38500: Cognitive Neuropsychology
Psyc 39000: Vision
Psyc 36100: Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience
Psyc 37400: Human Memory
Psyc 42550: Cognitive Development
Psyc 43200: Seminar in Language Development
Students may also propose other courses, based on course offerings in a given year. Such student-proposed courses should be approved by the cognition area chair prior to taking them.
3. Advanced courses and seminars. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in advanced courses and seminars, particularly in their area of interest.
