Cognitive Science BA

Course Requirements

Academic Requirements

Students must maintain a minimum GPA of 2.000 in the major. All courses taken by a student that are included in the Cognitive Science curriculum will be used in calculation of the major GPA. For example, if a curriculum requires a student to select two courses from a particular section and the student completes three courses from that section, all three courses would be used to calculate a student’s major GPA.  

Each course taken may be counted only once and applied toward only one requirement (e.g., PHI 320 may be taken as a core courses or applied to the advanced course section, but not both). Many courses in the advanced course section have prerequisite requirements. For more information students should check individual course descriptions in the undergraduate catalog and/or speak with the Cognitive Science advisor. The Cognitive Science major may not be combined with any other major to form a joint major. Students pursuing a double major may use a maximum of two advanced (300- or 400-level) courses toward both majors. For example, a student completing a double major between Cognitive Science and Psychology may apply only two advanced level psychology courses toward completion of the Cognitive Science major.

Transfer Credit Policy

For students not continuously registered at UB or who are newly admitted transfer students, courses taken more than 10 years prior to the date of admission or readmission to the University may constitute no more than 20% of the coursework applied to the Cognitive Science major. Students who have more than 20% of course work over 10 years old will be required to complete additional courses in the major. At least 50 percent of coursework toward the major must be completed at UB.

Program Distinction

A student in this major is eligible for Program Distinction upon degree conferral if the criteria are met. Criteria are found under Academic Honors in the Policy and Procedure section of this Catalog. Program Distinction is noted on the official transcript.

Curricular Plan

A Curricular Plan provides a roadmap for completing this academic program and the UB Curriculum on time. Your actual plan may vary depending on point of entry to the university, course placement and/or waivers based on standardized test scores, earned alternative credit and/or college transfer credit.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this concentration students will be able to:

• Understand several social scientific approaches to cognitive science.
• Identify how cognition changes through the life cycle.
• Identify and use computational models of human cognition and perception processes.
• Apply symbolic and connectionist methods and the theory of computation.
• Understand cognition apart from physiological implementation. 
• Identify and use abstract principles of thought.
• Identify language phenomena at the elementary physiological level through its abstract characterization.
• Understand how the brain implements thought, sensation, perception and consciousness .
• Identify symbolic information systems across disciplines and manipulate traditional information processing approaches.