Introduction to Cognitive Science

For millennia, philosophers and scientists have been trying to unlock the secrets of the mind with only limited success—until now. Today, with modern technologies including the best in neuroscience, medical imaging, and recent advances in artificial intelligence, we are making more progress than ever before.

In Introduction to Cognitive Science, Professor Thad A. Polk takes you on a fascinating tour of the latest discoveries in the relatively new field of cognitive science. The goal is nothing less than understanding every interaction working in the human brain to produce all forms of cognition. Computer scientists, engineers, linguists, physicians, psychologists, and more are all pursuing the mysteries of the most complex structure in the known universe, the elegant human brain.

But how do we learn about the mechanisms underlying human cognition? Unlike scientists studying other parts of the body, hands-on examination of the brain yields limited results. We can certainly learn about the brain’s structure, but where is the “thinking”? How can we best use our mind to learn about the mind?

In 24 exciting lectures, Professor Polk shares dozens of the most challenging questions in cognitive science today: How do humans process language? How do we make decisions, and why do we so often regret them later? What are emotions, and why do we feel them? How does the brain affect our visual perception of the world? In this course, Professor Polk gives the latest, exciting answers for these questions, and many more.