Cognitive Science

Cognitive Science is the cross-disciplinary study of the structure and processes of human cognition and their computational simulation or modeling. This interdisciplinary program is designed to give students an understanding of questions dealing with human cognition, such as concept formation, visual perception, the acquisition and processing of natural language, and human reasoning and problem-solving.

The program draws on relevant courses found within the fields of anthropology, biology, computer science, education, linguistics, philosophy, and psychology, as well as specially designed lower and upper division courses in cognitive science.

Declaring the Major

For prerequisites required before declaring the major, please see the Major Requirements tab. Once prerequisites are completed, students may submit the Cognitive Science declaration submission form. Students interested in the major should consult the Cognitive Science website. If students have questions or would like to speak to someone about the major or other academic issue, they should schedule an appointment with a Cognitive Science academic advisor. The Cognitive Science office is located in 101 Stephens Hall.

Honors Program

Major Requirements

In addition to the University, campus, and college requirements listed on the College Requirements tab, students must fulfill the following requirements specific to their major program.

General Guidelines

1. All courses taken to fulfill major requirements must be taken for a letter grade. Each lower division prerequisite must be completed with a grade of C- or better.
2. A lower division requirement may be repeated one time only with the repeated grade being final. For all other groups, students may repeat courses one time only with the repeated grade being final.
3. All students must complete at least 26 upper division units.
4. A minimum grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 must be maintained in all upper division courses used by the major.
5. No more than two upper division courses may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements in a double major. No more than one upper division course may be used to simultaneously fulfill requirements for a student's minor program, with the exception of minors offered outside of the College of Letters & Science.
6. Please note that COG SCI 197 , COG SCI 199 , COG SCI H195 , COG SCI H195A , and COG SCI H195B may not be used to fulfill upper division requirements.

For information regarding all requirements outside the major, including breadth requirements, residence requirements and unit requirements, please see the College Requirements tab.

Students admitted to Berkeley Spring 2015 and earlier should review requirements in the Berkeley Academic Guide archive.

Summary of Major Requirements

Lower Division Prerequisites

Lower Division Requirements

Upper Division Distribution Requirements

Select one course from each of the following six areas. Courses that are listed within more than one area of concentration can be counted toward only one requirement.

Upper Division Electives

In addition to completing the six distribution groups, students must complete at least three additional elective courses. Please submit an elective petition form if you want to ask for a course not listed below to count as an elective for the major. The course must have an explicit connection to the study of the mind.

Select three courses from the following list:

College Requirements

Undergraduate students must fulfill the following requirements in addition to those required by their major program.

For a detailed lists of L&S requirements, please see Overview tab to the right in this guide or visit the L&S Degree Requirements webpage. For College advising appointments, please visit the L&S Advising Pages.

University of California Requirements

Entry Level Writing

All students who will enter the University of California as freshmen must demonstrate their command of the English language by fulfilling the Entry Level Writing requirement. Fulfillment of this requirement is also a prerequisite to enrollment in all reading and composition courses at UC Berkeley and must be taken for a letter grade.

American History and American Institutions

The American History and American Institutions requirements are based on the principle that all U.S. residents who have graduated from an American university should have an understanding of the history and governmental institutions of the United States.

Berkeley Campus Requirement

American Cultures

All undergraduate students at Cal need to take and pass this campus requirement course in order to graduate. The requirement offers an exciting intellectual environment centered on the study of race, ethnicity and culture of the United States. AC courses are plentiful and offer students opportunities to be part of research-led, highly accomplished teaching environments, grappling with the complexity of American Culture.

College of Letters & Science Essential Skills Requirements

Quantitative Reasoning

The Quantitative Reasoning requirement is designed to ensure that students graduate with basic understanding and competency in math, statistics, or computer/data science. The requirement may be satisfied by exam or by taking an approved course taken for a letter grade.

Foreign Language

The Foreign Language requirement may be satisfied by demonstrating proficiency in reading comprehension, writing, and conversation in a foreign language equivalent to the second semester college level, either by passing an exam or by completing approved course work taken for a letter grade.

Reading and Composit ion

In order to provide a solid foundation in reading, writing, and critical thinking the College of Letters and Science requires two semesters of lower division work in composition in sequence. Students must complete parts A & B reading and composition courses in sequential order by the end of their fourth semester for a letter grade.

College of Letters & Science 7 Course Breadth Requirements

Breadth Requirements

The undergraduate breadth requirements provide Berkeley students with a rich and varied educational experience outside of their major program. As the foundation of a liberal arts education, breadth courses give students a view into the intellectual life of the University while introducing them to a multitude of perspectives and approaches to research and scholarship. Engaging students in new disciplines and with peers from other majors, the breadth experience strengthens interdisciplinary connections and context that prepares Berkeley graduates to understand and solve the complex issues of their day.

Unit Requirements

• 120 total units
• Of the 120 units, 36 must be upper division units
• Of the 36 upper division units, 6 must be taken in courses offered outside your major department

Residence Requirements

For units to be considered in "residence," you must be registered in courses on the Berkeley campus as a student in the College of Letters & Science. Most students automatically fulfill the residence requirement by attending classes at Cal for four years, or two years for transfer students. In general, there is no need to be concerned about this requirement, unless you graduate early, go abroad for a semester or year, or want to take courses at another institution or through UC Extension during your senior year. In these cases, you should make an appointment to meet an L&S College adviser to determine how you can meet the Senior Residence Requirement.

Note: Courses taken through UC Extension do not count toward residence.

Senior Residence Requirement

After you become a senior (with 90 semester units earned toward your B.A. degree), you must complete at least 24 of the remaining 30 units in residence in at least two semesters. To count as residence, a semester must consist of at least 6 passed units. Intercampus Visitor, EAP, and UC Berkeley-Washington Program (UCDC) units are excluded.

You may use a Berkeley Summer Session to satisfy one semester of the Senior Residence requirement, provided that you successfully complete 6 units of course work in the Summer Session and that you have been enrolled previously in the college.

Modified Senior Residence Requirement

Participants in the UC Education Abroad Program (EAP), Berkeley Summer Abroad, or the UC Berkeley Washington Program (UCDC) may meet a Modified Senior Residence requirement by completing 24 (excluding EAP) of their final 60 semester units in residence. At least 12 of these 24 units must be completed after you have completed 90 units.

Upper Division Residence Requirement

You must complete in residence a minimum of 18 units of upper division courses (excluding UCEAP units), 12 of which must satisfy the requirements for your major.

Student Learning Goals

Mission

Cognitive Science is an interdisciplinary field of inquiry that is concerned with the acquisition, representation, and use of knowledge by individual minds, brains, and machines, as well as groups, institutions, and other social entities. Because the fundamental purpose of the University, as a social institution, is the preservation, generation, and transmission of knowledge, cognitive science speaks to the heart of the University's mission. By engaging faculty from psychology, philosophy, linguistics, computer science, neuroscience, and anthropology, sociology, and other social sciences in common purpose, cognitive science constitutes a microcosm of the University as a whole. Berkeley's Cognitive Science Program is almost unique in terms of the scope of our approach to the field.

Cognitive Science major students are expected to approach problems of knowledge using the tools of several different disciplines: philosophy, psychology, linguistics, computer science, neuroscience, and various social sciences. This expectation is reflected in a demanding curriculum that moves from a broad introductory survey course ( COG SCI 1 ), to a six-course distribution requirement covering the philosophy of mind, cognitive psychology, linguistics, computational modeling and artificial intelligence, neuroscience, and various social sciences. After fulfilling their distribution requirement, students have the opportunity to concentrate further study in one of these six fields, and to complete an honors thesis.

Learning Goals for the Major

By the end of their undergraduate careers, cognitive science majors are expected to understand and critically evaluate:

1. Research and theory in cognitive psychology, including perception, attention, learning, memory, reasoning, problem-solving, judgment, and decision-making.
2. Research and theory in linguistics, with special attention to the relation between language and thought.
3. Various approaches to artificial intelligence, and the computational modeling of cognitive processes.
4. The biological bases of cognitive functions, as uncovered by cognitive neuroscience.
5. Classic and contemporary work on the philosophy of mind, including the mind-body problem, mental causation, freedom of the will, and the nature of consciousness.
6. The sociocultural context of individual cognition, including the social construction and organization of knowledge, cultural differences in cognition, the history of information, etc.

Skills

We also expect that students will have acquired the following skills for lifelong learning and effective citizenship:

1. Formulating a well-organized argument supported by evidence.
2. Effectively written, spoken, and graphical communication.
3. Problem-solving in cognitive science and its constituent fields.
4. Applying critical thinking skills in new and complex situations.
5. Using probability and statistics in reasoning.
6. Understanding the social implications of theory and research in cognitive science for responsible professional, civic, and ethical behavior.

Major Map

Major maps are experience maps that help undergraduates plan their Berkeley journey based on intended major or field of interest. Featuring student opportunities and resources from your college and department as well as across campus, each map includes curated suggestions for planning your studies, engaging outside the classroom, and pursuing your career goals in a timeline format.

Use the major map below to explore potential paths and design your own unique undergraduate experience: