Decision making theories. Approaches to understanding how we make decisions. Heuristics that affect our decisions. Course summary.

Problem solving cycle. Barriers to problem solving

Topics in language - bilingualism. Reading

Language acquisition. Theories of language acquisition

Nature of Language. Properties of language

Representation of semantic information. Categories, concepts, schemas and scripts

Representation of visual information. Functional Equivalency hypothesis. Dual code theory. Propositional code theory.

Encoding, storage and retrieval. Visual, auditory and semantic codes. Position effects and interference

Explicit: semantic and episodic memories. Implicit: procedural and habit memories. Amnesias

Methods used to measure memory. Implict and Explicit memory. Information processing approach: Sensory registers, short-term memory. Working Memory

Preconscious and conscious attention. Search and vigilance. Signal detection theory. Divided attention

Perceptual theories. Top-down and bottom-up processing. Visual illusions.

Sensation and perception. Figure-ground. Perceptual constancies. Depth perception. Top-down and bottom-up processing.

Cognitive neuroscience - the brain.

Cognitive neuroscience - cells of the nervous system. Basic functioning of neurons.

Research Methods in cognitive science

Syllabus and class logistics. History of cognitive science