Home » Undergraduates » Cognitive Science Major

Degree Requirements

Requirements for Cognitive Science Major

The cognitive science major is a bachelor of science degree consisting of 26 credit hours of required courses as well as a minimum of 18 credit hours in a concentrated field of study. (Some concentrations require more than 18 credit hours.)  In addition, all students must complete the University requirements for a bachelor of science degree as well as the requirements specified by the College of Arts & Sciences. These requirements can be found here:  University and College General Education Requirements for Cognitive Science Majors.

Required Courses (26 hours/credits)

  • Students must earn a C- or higher in all of the courses within the major, including those that make up the concentration.
  • Students may not take courses pass/fail unless the course is graded solely on a pass/fail basis.
  • Credits may be counted only once toward a degree.
  • Students majoring in Cognitive Science and minoring or majoring in Linguistics may not use the same courses to count towards both, with the exception of LING 101.
  • Double majors -- who are taking a B.S. and a B.A. or those who are majoring across colleges -- no longer need to take 30 extra credits to complete both degrees.
  • Students may not take 600-level courses and have them count towards the B.S. degree in Cognitive Science.
  • To assisst students with curricular planning, please download and complete the "Progress and Planning Form for the Cognitive Science Major" and return to Dr. Andreasen via email (robina@udel.edu) in Microsoft Word format.

 
All of the Following:

CGSC 100
 		First Year Experience  Take first semester Freshman Year 1 credit
CGSC 170
 		Introduction to Cognitive Science
Take early in major
 3 credits
CGSC 485
 		Seminar in Cognitive Science
Take Sr or late Jr year
 3 credits
LING 101
 		Introduction to Linguistics
 Take first semester in major
 3 credits
PSYC 100
 		General Psychology Take first semester in major
 3 credits
PSYC 314
 		Brain & Behavior (X-listed w/CGSC314) Prereq: C- or better in PSYC100
 3 credits

Approved Substitutions for PSYC 314, One of the Following:  CGSC 410, CGSC 420, OR PSYC 340.  If you elect one of these, contact your Dr. Andreasen (robina@udel.edu) so that she can submit the appropriate paperwork.

Note:  As of Fall 2011, students in the Cognitive Psychology Concentration may not make these substitutions.  They must take PSYC 314.

One of the Following:

BISC 104
 Principles of Biology with Laboratory   4 credits
BISC 207 Introductory Biology I
   4 credits

One of the Following:

CISC 103
 Intro. to Comp. Sci, Web Applications
   3 credits
CISC 108 Introduction to Computer Science I   3 credits
CISC 181 Introduction to Computer Science II
Prereqs: CISC106 or CISC108 3 credits
 

Coreqs: MATH115, MATH117, MATH171,   MATH221, or MATH241
CISC 280 Program Development Techniques  Prereq: CISC220 3 credits
    Coreqs: MATH221 or MATH241  
Approved Substitutions for CISC 103 by approval of Dr. Andreasen
 

THESE SUBSTITUTIONS HAVE CHANGED, SO PLEASE READ CAREFULLY

  • LING 267: Science of Language is an acceptable substitute for CISC 103.
  • Associate of Arts Program: Students from this program may substitute the course that transfers as CISC 101 for CISC 103 or LING 263 for CISC 103.
  • As of Fall 2012, students in the Speech Pathology Concentration may no longer substitute CGSC 433: Intro to Acoustic Phonetics for CISC 103.
  • Speech pathology students who entered prior to Fall 2012 have the option of being grandfathered into the old system or they can choose to complete the requirements under the new system. 
Old System Requirements:  10 courses (30 credits) in the speech pathology concentration. These include CGSC 376, CGSC 378, CGSC 379, CGSC 380, LING 253, CGSC 433, CGSC 496, LING 403, LING 480, and either LING 462 or PSYC 344.
BUT, students can waive the CISC requirement with CGSC 433: Acoustic Phonetics.
 

New System Requirements: 9 courses (27 credits) in the speech pathology concentration.  These include CGSC 376, CGSC 387, CGSC 379, CGSC 380, LING 253, CGSC 433, CGSC 496, either LING 403 or LING 480, and either LING 462 or PSYC 344.
But students must complete the CISC requirement.  This can be completed by taking one of the CISC courses listed above or by taking LING 267: Science of Language.

One of the Following:

PHIL 205 Logic
   3 Credits
MATH 201 Introduction to Statistical Methods I Prereq: College Algebra 3 Credits
MATH 205 Statistical Methods Prereq: MATH210 or MATH230 3 Credits
PSYC 209 Meaurement and Statistics Prereq: PSYC 100 & one basic math course 3 Credits

Note:  Approved substitutions for PSYC 209 include MATH 202, MATH 205, SOCI 301 or STAT 200 (STAT 200 must be taken on campus or transferred from another college; the Psych department does NOT accept AP Statistics credit).

Concentration Requirement

In addition to completing the required courses listed above, students must complete a minimum of 18 additional credit hours in a concentrated area of study.  (Some concentrations may exceed 18 hours.) Possible concentrations include...

  • Animal Minds, Human Minds
  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Computational Modeling
  • Language Development
  • Linguistics
  • Mathematical and Logical Foundations of Cogntive Science
  • Speech and Language Pathology

A list of of the requirements fore the above concentrations can be found by following this link:  CGSC Concentrations

Printer Friendly Copies of Advising Forms

Questions?   Please contact the Director of Undergraduate Studies ...

Dr. Robin O. Andreasen, Associate Professor

Department of Linguistics & Cognitive Science

Email:  robina@udel.edu