Cognitive Modelling, COMP 40270
Lecturer: Fintan Costello
Contact Hours: 24 lecture hours over 12 weeks
Learning hours: 150 Hours
Module Description
The cognitive modelling course will describe a number of different approaches to cognitive modelling in a particular area, that of conceptual combination. Conceptual combination is a fundamental part of creative thought and language, and is seen, for example, whenever people interpret phrases like novel combined phrases "sand gun", "cactus fish" or "pet shark". Conceptual combination is an interesting area for cognitive modelling because it is a very diverse and complex cognitive process: people are able to combine concepts in a variety of different ways (for example, a "sand gun" is a tool that sprays sand, while a "cactus fish" is a fish with prickly spines, and a "pet shark" is a shark which is also a pet). This diversity is reflected in the number of quite different theories of conceptual combination that have recently been proposed by, for example, Wisniewski (Wisniewski, 1997), Gagné (Gagné & Shoben, 1997), Hampton(1988, 1996), and Costello (Costello & Keane, 2000, 2001). We will investigate these theories and examine the approaches to cogitive modelling they embody.
Teaching and Learning
The module comprises one two-hour lecture per week for one semester. This module is typically offered in the second semester, but this is subject to change from one year to the next. There will be 12 two-hour lectures in total. Students will spend a significant amount of time in self-directed reading, as well as the lectures.
Evaluation
The assessment will be 2 essays. The first will be 1500-2000 words long and will be announced in at the end of the 2nd week of term and taken up at the end of the 4th week of term. The second will be 750-1000 words long and will be accompanied by a spreadsheet doing some simple modelling. This will be announced at the end of the 4th week of term and taken up at the end of the 6th week of term.
Resources and Reading
To be announced in lectures