Artificial Intelligence

Cognitive Science Video

Cognitive Science (specialization)

This is the multidisciplinary study of mind and cognition. Researchers in cognitive science come from a wide range of backgrounds, including psychology, computer science, artificial intelligence, philosophy, mathematics and neuroscience. But they all share the common goal of gaining a deeper understanding of the human mind.

Relevant courses for this specialization:

• Seminar Cognitive Neuroscience
  Over the last two decennia, scientific research in the field of cognitive neuroscience has led to fundamental new insights in the relation between brain function and behavior. Research is ongoing, and in many cases, the latest insights have not yet traversed their ways down into the regular textbooks. This seminar offers students the possibility to discuss state of the art research. The latest insights into topics such as working memory, multisensory perception, and the mirror neuron system will be covered. The seminar will also cover important questions regarding legal and ethical aspects of cognitive and clinical neuroscience research.
• Human Information Processing
  At the end of this course students should be capable of outlining some major theories and controversies in human information processing, in particular relating to the concepts of processing stages, the central bottleneck, and executive control; specifying major methodological approaches to these controversies; deriving experimental predictions from research hypotheses and theories; interpreting results from research in terms of theoretical constructs; discussing interrelations among different theories in human information processing.
• Evolutionary Computing
  The course studies various algorithms based on the Darwinian evolution theory. Driven by natural selection (survival of the fittest), an evolution process is emulated and solutions for a given problem are "bred". During this course all "dialects" within evolutionary computing are treated (genetic algorithms, evolution strategies, evolutionary programming, genetic programming, and classifier systems). Applications in optimization, constraint handling and machine learning are discussed. Specific subjects handled include: various genetic structures (representations), selection techniques, sexual and asexual genetic operators, self-adaptivity and adaptivity. If time permits, subjects in Artificial Life and Artificial Societies, and Evolutionary Art will be handled. Hands-on-experience is gained by a compulsory programming assignment.

Further information on the curriculum is available on the website of the Faculty of Sciences:

Cognitive Science