Cognitive Systems Core Courses

COGS 200 - Introduction to Cognitive Systems

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The keystone course in the Cognitive Systems Program, this course is designed to introduce students to the principles of cognition in intelligent systems, both biological and artificial. The course is team-taught by representatives of the computer science, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology departments. Students will first be introduced to the ways that researchers in each of these areas approach issues in perception and cognition. Discussion will then turn to the ways that these areas can be usefully combined to investigate issues such as the relation between mind and brain, the possibility of truly intelligent machines, the way that language affects thought, and the nature of consciousness. There is no separate lab/tutorial section for this course.

Prerequisite: Second year standing in the Faculty of Arts or Science.

COGS 300 - Understanding and Designing Cognitive Systems

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This course develops a multidisciplinary approach to the theory, methods, and current issues across the member disciplines of the Cognitive Systems program. The perspectives of these disciplines are integrated by way of general Computer Science principles of information representation and processing; central to this are the ways that information can be represented and processed by any cognitive system, both natural and artificial. An introduction is given to a range of topics on human and machine intelligence, such as robotics, sensory systems, language structure, memory, knowledge extraction, knowledge management, and human-computer interaction. Issues examined in this context include theories of mind (human and machine), computational characterizations of agents (human and machine) in complex environments, situated cognition, and communication in natural and artificial systems.

Prerequisite: COGS 200 (CPSC 111/121 are strongly recommended)

COGS 303 - Research Methods in Cognitive Systems

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By examining and comparing the research methodologies of different disciplines relevant to Cognitive Systems, this course develops the student's understanding of how scientific method may vary across disciplines. Each methodology has its own assumptions, idiosyncrasies, and biases as well as its own explicit paradigm. This course will critically examine and compare discipline-specific methodologies so that students may distinguish fundamental vs. superficial differences and similarities between disciplines. Attaining a clear understanding of the underlying assumptions and theoretical constraints for different disciplines is a prerequisite for doing effective interdisciplinary research.

Prerequisite: COGS 200

COGS 401 - Seminar in Cognitive Systems

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This seminar prepares students to engage in independent research on issues that cut across the boundaries of the member disciplines of the Cognitive Systems program. Emphasis is on the advanced application of general Computer Science principles of information representation and processing for the understanding and designing of intelligent systems, both natural and artificial. Detailed accounts of cutting-edge research by Cognitive Systems faculty and other scholars are given on a range of topics, such as robotics, machine vision, human vision, speech synthesis, language structure, memory, knowledge extraction, database management, and human-computer interaction. This will provide the necessary background for students to identify and develop a basic or applied research project on various aspects of human and machine intelligence.

Prerequisite: COGS 300

COGS 402 - Research in Cognitive Systems

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In order to gain first-hand experience with interdisciplinary research students will work in a UBC laboratory in collaboration with Cognitive Systems faculty. Guidance is provided in the selection, development, and execution of a manageable project in basic or applied research. Possible projects span a wide range of areas, such as designing effective visual displays, developing virtual reality systems, designing speech synthesis systems, understanding unconscious perception, investigating limits on the perception of computer animation, designing human-like avatars, and developing effective teleoperation systems for a variety of conditions.

Prerequisite: COGS 300 (COGS 401 is strongly recommended)