Cognitive Science Minor
Donald T. Lysle, Chair
Regina M. Carelli, Associate Chair
Karen Gil, Associate Chair
Jeannie Loeb, Director of Undergraduate Studies
Desiree Griffin, Director of Undergraduate Psychology Advising
Kelly Giovanello, Director of Neuroscience Curricula
Rachel Penton, Director of Undergraduate Neuroscience Advising
Peter Gordon, Director of Cognitive Science Minor
Kaitlin Blakemore, Student Services Manager
Christopher Coffey, Undergraduate Instructional Program Coordinator
The cognitive science minor consists of five disciplinary areas: behavioral, biological, computational, linguistic, and philosophical. Each course, except the overview, falls into one or more disciplinary areas.
Students interested in pursuing the minor should contact the program director for further information.
Department Programs
Majors
Minors
Graduate Programs
Requirements
In addition to the program requirements listed below, students must:
- take at least nine hours of their minor "core" requirements at UNC–Chapel Hill
- earn a minimum of 12 hours of C or better in the minor (some minors require more)
For more information, please consult the degree requirements section of the catalog.
| Code | Title | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| Core Requirements | ||
| PSYC 330 | Introduction to Cognitive Science (prerequisite, PSYC 101) 1 | 3 |
| Four other courses distributed over at least two disciplinary areas, at least two of which must be numbered 400 or above, as follows: | 12 | |
Behavioral: | ||
| Human Evolution and Adaptation | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Behavioral Neuroscience | ||
| Applications of Natural Language Processing | ||
| Learning H | ||
| Sensation and Perception H | ||
| Cognitive Neuroscience | ||
| Cognitive Psychology H | ||
| Human Memory | ||
| Psychology of Language | ||
| Behavioral Decision Theory | ||
| Cognitive Development | ||
| Evolution and Development of Biobehavioral Systems | ||
Biological: | ||
| Animal Behavior | ||
| Behavioral Neuroscience | ||
| Behavioral Ecology | ||
| Sensation and Perception H | ||
Computational: | ||
| Fluency in Information Technology | ||
| Introduction to Scientific Programming | ||
| Foundation of Programming H | ||
| Models of Languages and Computation | ||
| Information Systems Analysis and Design | ||
| Human Information Interactions | ||
| Information Retrieval | ||
| Applications of Natural Language Processing | ||
| Introduction to Database Concepts and Applications | ||
| Information Visualization | ||
| Systems Analysis | ||
| Text Mining | ||
| Introduction to Numerical Analysis | ||
| Behavioral Decision Theory | ||
| Foundations of Decision Sciences | ||
| Introduction to Decision Analytics | ||
| Introduction to Probability | ||
| Machine Learning | ||
Linguistic: | ||
| Linguistic Phonetics | ||
| Applications of Natural Language Processing | ||
| Phonology | ||
| Syntax | ||
| Linguistic Variation and Language Change | ||
| Language and Computers | ||
| Phonological Theory I | ||
| Mathematical Linguistics | ||
| Language Deficits and Cognition | ||
| Language, Communication, and Human and Animal Minds H | ||
| Advanced Philosophy of Language | ||
| Psychology of Language | ||
Philosophical: | ||
| The Nature of Moral Consciousness: A Course in General Anthropology | ||
| Consciousness and Symbols | ||
| Symbolic Logic | ||
| Language, Communication, and Human and Animal Minds H | ||
| Truth and Proof: Introduction to Mathematical Logic H | ||
| Morality and Business | ||
| Mind, Matter, and Metaphysics: the Philosophy of Experience and Reality H | ||
| Theory of Knowledge | ||
| Philosophy of Mind | ||
| Philosophy of Mind | ||
| Advanced Philosophy of Language | ||
| Additional Requirements | ||
| PSYC 101 | General Psychology | 3 |
| Total Hours | 18 | |
| H | Honors version available. An honors course fulfills the same requirements as the nonhonors version of that course. Enrollment and GPA restrictions may apply. |
| 1 | Recommended preparation, PSYC 210 or another quantitative reasoning course. |
Students must earn a grade of C or better in at least four of the five core courses. Courses used to satisfy psychology core requirements cannot also satisfy requirements in the cognitive science minor. The minor is open to all, including psychology majors, who are still limited to no more than 45 credit hours in the department. Students and their advisors should take careful note of the specified prerequisites for advanced offerings in this listing. The specified courses (or their equivalent from other institutions) provide a necessary background for entry into these advanced courses.
See the program page here for special opportunities.
