B.S. in Cognitive Science

Cognitive science is the scientific study of cognitive phenomena such as reasoning, decision making, memory, learning, language, perception, and action. This young and emerging interdisciplinary field lies at the intersection of psychology, computer science, and philosophy, and has further important links to neuroscience, linguistics, anthropology, mathematics, biology, and education. Not only does Cognitive Science try to understand one of the most complex and fascinating entities in the known universe - the human mind – but Cognitive science also tries to understand other kinds of minds, whether they be animal minds, alien minds, or artificial minds. Thus, Cognitive Science promises to be the next 'basic' science, in line with physics, chemistry, and biology, as much of the research being conducted is aimed at discovering fundamental principles that underlie all minds. Further, just as the technologies based on physics, chemistry, and biology have had a tremendous impact on our lives, technology based on our understanding of cognitive systems has the potential to profoundly change the way we live and who we are. From using knowledge of human cognition to build 'cognitively ergonomic' tools and environments, to building devices to repair and augment cognitive skills and capacities, to creating artificially intelligent computers and robots, the applications of this discipline are right in line with Rensselaer's slogan: "Why not change the world?". Finally, the Cognitive Science Department at Rensselaer is perfectly positioned to offer one of the very best degree programs of its kind in the world. While many cognitive science programs in the country have a definite focus on one of the contributing disciplines – whether this be psychology, computer science, philosophy, neuroscience, or linguistics – the cognitive science program at Rensselaer is truly interdisciplinary in that it carefully balances all of the important contributing fields. Moreover, students have ample opportunity to perform undergraduate research in any of the associated laboratories and research groups. Graduates from our program will have a rich skill set that should allow for a wide spectrum of career paths. By going through an interdisciplinary curriculum that touches on many diverse fields of study, we expect our graduates to clearly and effectively communicate, have excellent critical thinking and reasoning skills, and be able to collect and analyze empirical evidence and data. Graduated students will also be able to generate and test hypotheses, conceptualize and evaluate complex systems, program and use computers, and conduct abstract mathematical analyses. And finally, our graduates will have a unique understanding of the human mind and how human cognition can effect, and is effected by, its environment. In sum, graduates from our program should be highly skilled and therefore highly marketable. We foresee graduates from our program to enter all areas of employment, whether this be industry, academics, government, or not-for-profit. More specific career fields include the information industry, human factors engineering, artificial intelligence, human performance testing, and education. Specific job titles may vary from professor to psychologist to lawyer, from computer programmer to user interface designer to technical writer, and from systems analyst to human resource manager to consultant. We also expect a substantial number of the graduates to continue with graduate education, whether this be in a dedicated Cognitive Science graduate program, or a graduate program in Computer Science, Psychology, Philosophy, Neuroscience, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Human-Computer Interaction, Decision Sciences, Information Technology, Economics, Linguistics, Anthropology, Education, or Law.