Requirements

Moderation Requirements

Students concentrating in Mind, Brain, and Behavior (MBB) must also moderate into a program; ideally, one moderation board will be held for both the program and the MBB concentration. The moderation board must include at least one member of the core MBB faculty.

Course requirements for moderation are:

  1. Foundations in Mind, Brain, and Behavior (formerly Intro to Cognitive Science) (CMSC 131/PSY 131)
  2. One course from each of two different contributing disciplines: Psychology, Philosophy, Computer Science, Biology, or Linguistics

Graduation Requirements

In addition to completing the requirements for their program, students must complete a senior project that is relevant to Mind, Brain, and Behavior, as determined by the senior project board, which must include at least two members of the core Mind, Brain, and Behavior faculty (this may mean that the board will have four members rather than the usual three).

Course requirements for graduation are:

  1. Seminar in Cognitive Science (CMSC 308, 2 credits)
  2. Two course clusters chosen from the following list. A cluster is coherent set of courses, constructed by the concentration faculty, that provides an introduction to a given discipline and how it can contribute to the study of cognition.
    • Biology cluster: Three of the following courses, at least two of them numbered 200 or higher
      • BIO 141 Subcellular Biology
      • BIO 150 Evolution of Model Organisms
      • BIO 151 From Genes to Traits
      • BIO 201 Genetics (Eukaryotic)
      • BIO 204 Introduction to Physiology
      • BIO 313 Animal Behavior
      • BIO 315 Advanced Evolution
    • Computing cluster: Choose one course from each group
      • CMSC 141: Object-Oriented Programming or
        CMSC 143: Object-Oriented Programming with Robots
      • CMSC 251: Introduction to Artificial Intelligence or
        CMSC 225: Computer Architecture
      • CMSC 351: Artificial Intelligence or
        CMSC 353: Modeling and Simulation or
        CMSC 360: Intelligent Robots & Perception or
        CMSC 352: Biologically-Based Machine Learning
    • Linguistics cluster (subject to course availability):
      • Intro Linguistics (LIT 201)
      • Any two of:
        • PSY 256 Psycholinguistics
        • CNSV 299 Syntax
        • PSY 339 Cognitive and Neural Bases of Metaphor Comprehension
        • PHIL 271 Topics in Philosophy of Language
        • CNSV 220 Music and Language
    • Philosophy cluster (subject to course availability):
      • PHIL 115 Introduction to the Philosophy of the Mind
      • PHIL 247 The First Person Perspective: Philosophy of Mind
      • One of
        • PHIL 265 The Unconscious
        • PHIL 2** Self-Knowledge
        • PHIL 3** The Publicity of Mind
        • PHIL 3** Evolution and Cognition
    • Psychology cluster:
      • PSY 103 Introduction to Psychological Science
      • One course chosen from
        • PSY 210 Development and Psychopathology
        • PSY 216 Developmental Psychology
        • PSY 228 Cognitive Psychology
        • PSY 229 Social Cognition
        • PSY 230 Neuroscience
        • PSY 238 Clinical Psychology
        • PSY 240 Social Psychology
        • PSY 245 Personality
        • PSY 248 Human Memory
        • PSY 256 Psycholinguistics
        • PSY 264 Adult Psychopathology
      • One 300 level PSY course. Students should note that 300 level courses typically have a 200 level prerequisite in the same or closely related area, and typically require that students be moderated in Psychology or a closely related program

Course Groups for Graduation Requirements

Biology group

Courses include Comparative Anatomy, Eurkaryotic Genetics, Evolution, Introduction to Physiology, Biochemistry, and Molecular Biology.

Computer Science and Mathematics Group

Courses include Computer Architecture, Data Structures, Differential Equations, Digital Electronics, Elementary Linear Algebra, Functional Programming, Introduction to Digital Electronics, Introduction to Dynamical Systems, Scientific Programming, Artificial Intelligence, Algorithms, Computer Networks, Linear Algebra, Mathematical Logic, Operating Systems, Programming Languages, Simulation, and Theory of Computation.

Linguistics Group

Courses include Survey of Linguistics, History of the English Language, and Historical Linguistics.

Philosophy Group

Courses include Philosophy of Mind, Philosophy of Science, Symbolic Logic, Freud and Philosophy, Paradoxes of Logic and Semantics, Philosophy of Language, Philosophy of William James, Philosophy of Wittgenstein, Philosophy of Action, and Free Will.

Psychology Group

Courses include Introduction to Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychology, Human Memory, Psycholinguistics, Infant Development, Language and Cognition in Cultural Contexts, Language Technologies, Categories and Concepts, Mind, Brain, and Religious Experience, Music and the Brain, Research Methods, Statistics, Sensation and Perception, Drugs and Behavior, Advanced Developmental Psychology, Advanced Neuroscience, Cognitive Psychophysiology, and Developmental Neuroscience.

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