ATCS Course Handbook

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Introduction

The ATCS course (website at http://www.informatics.sussex.ac.uk/users/christ/crs/atcs/handbook.html) is an introduction to Cognitive Science. This is an interdisciplinary field, comprising chiefly Artificial Intelligence, Linguistics, Cognitive Psychology and Philosophy. Both classic and contemporary topics in the field of cognition will be introduced, including: perception, the nature of mental representations and mental models, learning, memory, emotion, language and consciousness.

Aims and Objectives

The main aim of the course is to get you to think about the nature of the mind and to learn how cognitive scientists have attempted to explain cognition. There are a number of different perspectives for studying the mind and providing accounts of how it works. These include: Philosophy, Psychology, Artificial Intelligence and Linguistics. Furthermore, there are competing theories of how the mind works both across and within each of these disciplines. A main objective of the course is for you to understand how these various approaches complement and differ from each other.

The course is also designed to help you to learn skills that you can apply throughout your university life and beyond. These skills include note taking, critical reading, debating, project work, giving presentations, essay and report writing.

The course uses a variety of teaching methods and materials. Teaching will be through a combination of integrated lectures and seminars. The lectures will introduce and illustrate concepts, theories and techniques that are central to cognitive science. The seminars will provide you with the opportunity to discuss issues like whether the mind can be likened to a computer and whether computers can think. In the lectures you should note points to raise in the forthcoming seminars: these should include anything you would like to discuss further.

Lecture times and topics

There are two lectures per week. These are

The introductory meeting/first lecture for the course will take place on Tuesday 12.30, week 1 in C133.

Attendance at the ATCS lecture is compulsory. Attendance at Prof. Boden's open lecture is highly recommended but may not be possible in all cases.

Lecture topics

The topics for the ATCS lectures are below.

The topics for Professor Boden's open lectures are as follows.

Week 1 - Introduction

Week 2 - Representation

Week 3 - Vision

Week 4 - Seeing

Week 5 - Learning

Week 6 - Language

Week 7 - Conversation

Week 8 - Imagery

Week 9 - Consciousness

The ATCS `book' - the whole website in one, printable document

Seminars

There is one seminar session per week. You should check on the COGS 1st year undergraduate noticeboard to see which seminar group/time you have been allocated to and the room number. As with all timetabled teaching sessions, attendance is a required part of your course.

The first half of each seminar is primarily activity-based, e.g. carrying out various exercises related to the lectures and planning your assignments. The second half provides you with an opportunity to discuss topics and issues that have arisen in the lectures and your readings for each week. (See next section for debating topics.)

Where the scheduled seminar activity does not fill the entire period, the rest of the time may be spent on the relevant debate exercise. The debate topics may be accessed via the `week' sections of the handbook.

Tutors should run these debates as follows. First, divide the seminar group into two halves, delegating one half to argue in favour of the motion and the other against it. Allow approximately half an hour for the debate to be carried out, making sure that individuals from both sides get a reasonable chance to make their points. At the end, write down the names of those aguing `in favour' on one sheet of paper and the names of those arging `against' on another.

Circulate the `in favour' list around the `against' group and vice versa, asking each person to (secretly) record their votes for the best performers from the other group. A `p' should be placed next to the name of the most persuasive debater; an `a' should be placed next to the name of the most authoritative (i.e., best read) debater and a `c' should be placed next to the name of the most cooperative (i.e., best team-working) debater.

Finally, collect in the two pieces of paper and announce the results of the voting, adding in your own feedback as appropriate.

Make sure to remind everyone that this assessment is informal and will not affect degree results.

Assessment

The course is assessed wholly by coursework carried out during the term - there are no exams for ATCS. The marks you obtain are a factor in determining whether you pass your first year, but they will not affect your final degree class. However, the mark for the course will appear on the transcript you receive when you leave the University.

There are 3 assignments:

1. a project report (counts for 40% of final mark)
2. a presentation (counts for 10% of final mark)
3. an essay (counts for 50% of final mark)
Deadlines must be strictly adhered to. The penalties for late work are set out in your Handbook for Candidates and tutors cannot waive these penalties. (See the Handbook for what to do if, for example, you are ill.)

Please apply to the COGS school office for their latest instructions regarding the submission of assessed coursework. In the year 2001-2002 the system involved submitting work in the foyer of the COGS building between 2 and 4pm on Thursday of the relevant week. Please make sure that you put your name and major on your work and place it in the appropriate submission box. The written assignments should be typed or word processed (unless special permission has been given).

Assignment 1: Mental Models Project

This project will investigate the putative mental models that people have and which they use to interact with the world. Specifically, you will carry out a study eliciting people's understanding of:

(i) how a piece of technology works (e.g. mobile phone, computer, internet, telephone, library system);

(ii) a physical location (e.g. university campus, COGS, the library, halls of residence, Brighton).

Stage 1: Finding out about mental models

To study mental models you will need to `interview' 3 people (who are not on the ATCS course), using a techique or techniques you consider most appropriate. Your goal is to try to uncover the following:

To do this you will need to think about the technique they will use (e.g. asking participants to talk-aloud, draw, explain whilst using the technology, do a mental walk round the place).

Stage 2: Representing mental models as a scientific explanation of how the mind works

You will then need to consider the `raw' data you have collected in terms of how each of the above is represented in the mind (e.g. rules, mental images, propositions, mental animations).

You will need to analyse the data collected and discuss it with respect to a theoretical perspective. In particular, you will need to discuss the difference between different kinds of models and to what extent these can be considered as scientific explanations of what your subjects have told you.

Resources

You should read up about mental models, mental representations and everyday vs scientific explanations.

Particularly useful is Don Norman's paper on mental models (extracts available online). Also of relevance is the chapter from Preece et al.'s book on Human Computer Interaction, extracts also available online.

See also the following.

Write-up

A 1500 word write-up of the project is required. It should include:

The report should be handed in to the school office by 4:00 pm on Thursday of week 5.

This assignment counts for 40% of the marks for the course.

Assignment 2: Presentation

You will be asked to give a 5 minute presentation on your mental models project in either week 8 or 9.

This assignment counts for 10% of the marks for the course.

Assignment 3: Essay

You should write an essay, discussing the following:

Cognitive science treats the mind as a machine and thus seeks to express theoretical ideas as computational models that generate the behavior. ... The process of model building encourages a deep understanding of the theory." (D.W. Green & others, Cognitive Science: An Introduction, Blackwell, 1996, p. 19.) Discuss this view in the context of the general methodology of Cognitive Science, and comment on whether the paradigm it describes is valuable in the study of ONE of the following: Psychology OR Artificial Intelligence OR Linguistics OR Philosophy.


The essay should be up to 2000 words in length and should be based on your reading of the literature. Essays will be marked in relation to how cogent and coherent your arguments are. Any quotes or extracts should be clearly marked in the essay, and the essay should be followed by a bibliography indicating your references. The essay should be handed in to the school office by 4:00 pm on Thursday of week 10.

This assignment counts for 50% of the marks for the course.

Reading List

The textbook that will be referred to throughout the course is:

You should buy a copy of this if possible.

A more recent textbook which may also be of help is

More recent still is

There are many sources of information about Cognitive Science on the web. Try typing +cognitive +science using one of the search engines (e.g. www.google.com) and see what it brings up.

Another useful resource http://www-psych.stanford.edu/cogsci.html

Other useful books include:

Additional reading for consciousness

See Steve Torrance's chapter on Understanding Consciousness here.

Additional reading for mental models

Particularly useful for the project is Don Norman's paper on mental models (extracts available here). Also of relevance is the chapter from Preece et al.'s book on Human Computer Interaction, extracts here.

See also

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