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Cognitive Science 102A  
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Reading, Lecture and Assignment Schedule

In the schedule below the two assigned books are designated by acronyms:
Thus: CITW = Cognition in the Wild; MW = Mindware.
Other readings are provided either directly via links on this page, or via electronic reserves at the UCSD library.
Lectures slides will be posted the day of lecture.
Lecture audio will be available as a podcast at: http://podcast.ucsd.edu

Exams and assignment due dates are marked in red.

 

 
Theme 1: Centralized and Distributed Thinking

Thursday, September 27
Introduction and overview of course: course mechanics, basic themes.
What is happening today in cognitive science.
(Lecture: Introduction)

Tuesday, October 2  
The centralized mindset. How we can break free of the centralized mindset. Five heuristics for thinking about decentralized systems.
Preparation for reading
Readings: "Learning about Life" and "Cognition, Distributed"
Lecture: Centralized mindset

 

 
Theme 2: Interactions with the Physical World and Tools

Thursday, October 4  
The socio-technical context of ship navigation.
Readings: CITW Introduction and Ch 1 Preparation for reading
(Lecture CITW Ch 1)
In class Midterm: Centralized mindset, CITW: intro & Ch 1

Tuesday, October 9
Classical Cognitive Science, cognition as computation.
Readings: Mindware: Preface, Introduction, & Ch 1 Preparation for reading
Physical symbol system hypothesis, propagation of representations.
Readings: Mindware: Ch 2 Preparation for reading
(Lecture Formal Systems)

Thursday, October 11
Navigation as Computation, cultural history of western navigation, how culture constructs the task world.
Readings: CITW Ch 2 (pp 49-65) Preparation for reading
(Lecture Computational Perspective on Navigation:Western Navigation)
Plagiarism Tutorial must be completed by midnight, October 11
Begin work on Essay 1

Tuesday, October 16
The cultural basis of activity, Micronesian navigation, the divergence of traditions.
Readings: CITW Ch 2 (pp 65-116) Preparation for reading
(Lecture Computational Perspective on Navigation:Micronesian Navigation)


Thursday, October 18
How tools transform cognitive activities, functional systems, cognitive amplifiers and cognitive artifacts.
Readings: CITW Ch 3 Preparation for reading
(Lecture Cognitive Ecology of Navigation)

 

 
Theme 3: Socially Distributed Cognition

Tuesday, October 23
Class cancelled due to fires in San Diego County.
Thursday, October 25 
Class cancelled due to fires in San Diego County.

Tuesday, October 30 
Social Organization affects the cognitive properties of groups, the coordination of action, paradox of the commons, traffic jams, juries, committees, voting schemes, fractal structure of cognition.
Readings: CITW Ch 4 Preparation for reading; CITW Ch 5 Preparation for reading
(Lecture Social Organization of Distributed Cognition)

Thursday, November 1 
The context of learning. The role of skepticism in science.
Readings: CITW Ch 6 Preparation for reading
(Lecture Social Organization of Distributed Interpretation Formation)
Essay 1 Due in Class


 
Theme 4: Distribution of Cognitive Processes through Time

Tuesday, November 6
Connectionism: an unfinished revolution. Society of Mind
Rule governed and rule described behavior, massively parallel, neurally inspired computing.
Readings: Mindware, Ch 4 Preparation for reading
(Lecture Connectionism)
Begin work on Essay 2

Thursday, November 8 
Perception, action, interaction, emergence, Ants, stygmergy, Robots, oil skimmers.
Readings: Mindware, Ch 5 & Ch 6; Preparation for reading
Today the Earwig, tomorrow man
(Lectures: Structured Program or Bag of Tricks, HentyJury)

Tuesday, November 13
Dynamical approaches to cognition
Preparation for reading
Reading: Mindware Ch 7
Lecture: Dynamics and Infotopia


Thursday, November 15
Learning in Context
Preparation for Reading
Reading: CITW Ch 7
Lecture: Learning a procedure

Tuesday, November 20
Organizational Learning, unplanned adaptive change, evolution and design of organizations.
Preparation for reading
Readings: CITW Ch 8
Lecture: Organizational Learning, Thinking with the Body
Essay 2 Due in Class
Begin work on Essay 3

Thursday, November 22
Thanksgiving Holiday


Southern California Fires Survey

 
Theme 5: Embodiment and Enactment

Tuesday, November 27
Cognitive technology, external symbols, literacy, material representations.
Readings: Mindware Ch 8 & 9 Preparation for reading
(Lecture Wideware),

Thursday, November 29
Embodied cognition, learning to do science.
Preparation for reading
Readings: Alac and Hutchins "I see what you are saying."
Lecture: Applying L. Fleck's philosophy of science to Cognitive Science

Tuesday, December 4
Embodiment in the big picture of cognitive science
Preparation for reading
Reading: Six views of embodied cognition.
Lecture: Six Views

Thursday, December 6
Culture and Cognition, what we miss by failing to see cognition as a cultural process. Putting Distributed Cognition in historical perspective, the holy grail of cognitive science.
Preparation for reading
Readings: CITW Ch 9
Lecture: Overview of Distributed Cognition

Essay 3 Due in Class

 

 
Final Exam Thursday, December 13, 2007, 3:00 - 6:00 pm. CNTR 119
Question bank study guide: a list of questions that have appeared on past versions of the final exam for this course.