Faculty of Philosophy

The undergraduate programme of study: cognitive science offers the following courses in English:

• Cognitive robotics (Prof. dr Bipin Indurkhya)

Robots are increasingly becoming what computers have been for the sciences
of cognition from the 1960s to date. Robotics, and more generally, control
systems theory is taking the place of computers as the metaphor of choice for
cognitive systems. In a way, we are witnessing a grand return of the body
in the sciences of mind. This course represents an exposure to the main ideas
in the field.

• Contemporary issues in cognitive science (Prof. dr Bipin Indurkhya)

Cognitive Science is an interdisciplinary research area that studies how
an agent interacts with its environment, forms beliefs about it, and how
the beliefs, in turn, affect its perception of the environment. It explores
the mechanisms underlying action and perception, reasoning and beliefs, and
so on.
Three major approaches can be identified in the contemporary
perspective on Cognitive Science: Neuroscience­based, psychological
and behavioral, and modeling based. In this course we will examine
the philosophical basis of all three approaches.

• Language and cognition (dr hab. Zofia Wodniecka)

The course pertains to the following issues: 1. Orientation and introduction to Psychology of Language; 2. Linguistic principles and psychological processes supporting language use; 3.
Early language experience and biological mechanism; 4. Language perception:
speech; 5. Language perception: written language; 6. Lexicon, lexical access and
meaning; 7. Sentence processing; 8. Text and discourse; 9. Producing language;
10. Language acquisition; 11. Second language; 12. Language impairments; 13.
Neural bases of language; 14. Language and thought; 15. Questions for the future

• Usability (prof. dr Bipin Indurkhya)

Usability is a key area in modern engineering design. It is about designing
systems and artifacts that are easy to use. It considers perceptual and cognitive
abilities of the users, their biases and habits, environmental and contextual
factors, cultural and social norms, and so on, to design a product that can be
used naturally without having to think about it. It studies various factors that
affect user interaction — whether a website, software application, mobile device,
robotic system, or any other user-operated product — and how to incorporate
them in the design from the very beginning.
This course is designed to give an overview of various methodologies for user-
centered design with focus on cognitive science and techniques for conducting
usability testing (evaluation techniques). The course will give students an overall
understanding of the field and would make them realize that usability is not a
luxury but a fundamental requirement of any interactive software or any other
interface. They will also acquire some hands-on experience with usability testing
and evaluation.
The course will be based on lectures, reading research papers, discussions,
dealing with practical design problems and doing small projects.

 

For more information about the programme, visit:

http://www.uj.edu.pl/en_GB/web/kognitywistyka/studia-licencjackie