Higher Cognitive Functions

Course manual 2019/2020

Course content

Understanding what makes us human is the overarching theme of  research into higher cognitive functions such as language, reasoning, decision-making, music, and theory-of-mind. The course will overview current research into higher cognitive functions and will illustrate key debates in the field, while encouraging students to take a critical stance towards this research.

Study materials

Literature

• selected papers

Objectives

After succesfully finishing this course, the student can:

1. Demonstrate knowledge about important outstanding issues in cognitive science
2. Formulate new research questions in cognitive science and design experiments to address them
3. Discuss state-of-the-art research with experts in the field
4. Integrate ideas from distinct subfields in cognitive science
5. Identify important ethical considerations when performing research in cognitive science or neuroscience

Teaching methods

• Lecture
• Seminar
• Presentation/symposium
• Self-study
• Working independently on e.g. a project or thesis
• Supervision/feedback meeting

Interactive lectures on current research will illustrate knowledge construction in the cognitive sciences.

Students will prepare interviews with experts to critically evaluate research.

Students will develop a research proposal to address key debates empirically, drawing on findings from multiple lines of research.

Learning activities

Attendance

Requirements of the programme concerning attendance (OER-B):

1. In the case of practicals, the student must attend at least 80%. Should the student attend less than 80%, he/she must redo the practical, or the Examinations Board may have one or more supplementary assignments issued.
2. In the case of study-group sessions with assignments, the student must attend at least 80% of the study-group sessions. Should the student attend less than 80%, he/she must redo the study group, or the Examinations Board may have one or more supplementary assignments issued.
3. The student must attend 80% of the teaching per study unit of the mandatory courses, entry courses and specialisation courses.

Assessment

Assignments

College Tour Interview

• Students will be tasked to interview a visiting speaker

Research Proposal

• Students will write a proposal based on the lectures

Written examination

• This examination reviews the content of the lectures and will ask the student to integrate findings that were discussed.

Fraud and plagiarism

The 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' applies to this course. This will be monitored carefully. Upon suspicion of fraud or plagiarism the Examinations Board of the programme will be informed. For the 'Regulations governing fraud and plagiarism for UvA students' see: www.student.uva.nl

Course structure

Timetable

The schedule for this course is published on DataNose.

Additional information

max. 25

Last year's course evaluation

In order to provide students some insight how we use the feedback of student evaluations to enhance the quality of education, we decided to include the table below in all course guides.

Contact information

Coordinator

• dr. Tom Lentz