BCSC 153: Lecture Schedule
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Week
Date
Topic
Readings
1
01/21
Course overview and introduction
2
01/23
The study of the mind and research methods in cognition
Stanford Encyclopedia of
Philosophy: Cognitive Science
3
01/28
Concepts and categories
Medin & Smith (1984)
Tversky (1977)
Tversky (1977)
01/29
Discussion #1 impressions due @ 11:59pm
4
01/30
Hierarchical structure of semantic categories
Discussion #1: Is the basic level universal across cultures?
Discussion #1: Is the basic level universal across cultures?
Rosch et al. (1976)
Jolicoeur et al. (1984)
Jolicoeur et al. (1984)
5
02/04
Visual categorization in the brain: from light to maps to
concepts
Tootell et al. (1982)
Grill-Spector & Malach (2004)
Grill-Spector & Malach (2004)
6
02/06
Visual categorization in the brain: special category domains
Quiz #1
Quiz #1
Grill-Spector (2003)
Grill-Spector & Weiner (2014)
Grill-Spector & Weiner (2014)
7
02/11
Object and scene perception
Haxby et al. (2001)
Iordan et al. (2015)
Iordan et al. (2015)
02/12
Discussion #2 impressions due @ 11:59pm
8
02/13
Faces: a special cross-species cognitive domain
Discussion #2: Are some categories innate?
Discussion #2: Are some categories innate?
Maurer et al. (2002)
Grill-Spector et al. (2017)
Grill-Spector et al. (2017)
9
02/18
Computational models of (re)cognition
Quiz #2
Quiz #2
Rogers & McClelland (2008)
DiCarlo & Cox (2007)
DiCarlo & Cox (2007)
10
02/20
Exam #1 Review
11
02/25
Exam 1
12
02/27
Guest lecture: TBD
03/03
Discussion #3 impressions due @ 11:59pm
13
03/14
Learning and expertise
Discussion #3: Is expertise the same in my brain and yours?
Discussion #3: Is expertise the same in my brain and yours?
Tarr & Gauthier et al. (2000)
Meshulam et al. (2021)
Meshulam et al. (2021)
14
03/06
Language and Music
Guest instructor: Riesa Cassano-Coleman
Guest instructor: Riesa Cassano-Coleman
TBD
03/11
No class (Spring break)
03/13
No class (Spring break)
15
03/18
Emulating cognition: large neural network models
Quiz #3
Quiz #3
Cichy & Kaiser (2019)
Rajalingham et al. (2017)
Rajalingham et al. (2017)
03/19
Discussion #4 impressions due @ 11:59pm
16
03/20
Emulating cognition: huge neural network models
Discussion #4: Is the algorithm biased against me?
Discussion #4: Is the algorithm biased against me?
Bender et al. (2021)
Scotti, Banerjee, et al. (2023)
Scotti, Banerjee, et al. (2023)
17
03/25
Guest Lecture: TBD
TBD
18
03/27
Exam #2 Review
19
04/01
Exam 2
20
04/03
Attention: visual search, change blindness, tuning
Kastner & Ungerleider (2000)
Çukur et al. (2013)
Çukur et al. (2013)
21
04/08
Memory: encoding, recall, forgetting
Schacter et al. (1998)
Josselyn & Tonegawa (2020)
Josselyn & Tonegawa (2020)
04/09
Discussion #5 impressions due @ 11:59pm
22
04/10
Mental imagery and imagination
Discussion #5: Can we reconstruct our dreams?
Discussion #5: Can we reconstruct our dreams?
Kosslyn et al. (2001)
Horikawa et al. (2013)
Horikawa et al. (2013)
23
04/15
Spatial navigation and cognitive maps
Ekstrom & Isham (2017)
Epstein et al. (2017)
Epstein et al. (2017)
24
04/17
Cognition in our daily lives: narratives and events
Quiz #4
Quiz #4
Zacks & Swallow (2007)
Baldassano et al. (2018)
Baldassano et al. (2018)
25
04/22
Cognition in our daily lives: schemas and comprehension
Nguyen et al. (2017)
Zadbood et al. (2021)
Zadbood et al. (2021)
04/23
Discussion #6 impressions due @ 11:59pm
26
04/24
Influencing cognition in the brain
Discussion #6: Is it ethical to exogenously change a mind?
Discussion #6: Is it ethical to exogenously change a mind?
Shibata et al. (2001)
Iordan et al. (2024)
Iordan et al. (2024)
27
04/29
Exam 3 Review & course wrap-up
28
05/01
Final Exam