York University - School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design

Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science

This is the scientific study of the mind and its processes. What is especially exciting about cognitive science is its interdisciplinary cooperation involving psychologists, philosophers, computer scientists, neuroscientists and others.

Though researchers from each of these fields have long studied thought, emotion, perception, memory, language and other aspects of cognition, cognitive science allows them to take advantage of research in the other disciplines. Different methodologies, intellectual histories and disciplinary divisions often isolate those with similar goals. Cognitive science aims to bring researchers back together. By approaching questions from a variety of perspectives, the cognitive scientist has a greater chance of finding answers to questions about cognition.

Cognitive science students may focus on several different areas (e.g. artificial intelligence, linguistic development, comparative cognition, philosophical psychology, human-computer interaction). The Cognitive Science program is housed in the Department of Philosophy and draws on the resources of several other programs, including Psychology, Linguistics and Computer Science.