Cognitive Science Major Information: Old Catalogs
Cognitive Science Major Requirements- 2019-21 Catalog
FOUR Lower-Division Courses to Declare the Cognitive Science Major
- Calculus: AM 11A/ECON 11A, MATH 11A, MATH 19A, or MATH 20A; OR Tests: AP Calculus AB score of 4+, AP Calculus BC score of 3+, or CLEP Calculus score of 60+
- Programming: ECE 13, CSE 13S, CSE 20 (or test-out), or CSE 30 (former UCSC courses also approved: CMPS 5C or 5J or 5P or 12A, or CMPE 13/L)
- Statistics: PSYC 2 (Introduction to Psychological Statistics), or STAT 5, or STAT 7 & 7L; OR AP Statistics score of 4+
- PSYC 20: Cognition: Fundamental Theories
All courses required to declare the major must be taken for a letter grade. Students must have a GPA of 2.8 or higher in the required courses (use a GPA calculator to determine your eligibility). Follow the instructions to declare the Cognitive Science major on this page.
SEVEN Upper-Division Courses
PSYC 100: Research Methods in Psychology (must be taken at UCSC)
*PSYC 100 is a prerequisite for all other Upper-Division Psychology Courses
THREE Upper-Division Core Cognitive Science Courses:
Choose 3 from the following:
- Perception (PSYC 120 or 121)
- Neuroscience (PSYC 123)
- Language (PSYC 125)
- Memory (PSYC 129)
THREE Additional Upper-Division Cognitive Science Electives:
Choose 3 from the following:
- Any of PSYC 120-139 (i.e., the "Cognitive Series"; PSYC 139 courses are senior seminars)
- PSYC 103, Adult Development and Aging
- PSYC 104, Development in Infancy
- PSYC 105, Children's Thinking
- PSYC 112, Moral Development
- PSYC 116, Communication Tech, Culture, and Human Development
- PSYC 119E, World of Babies (senior seminar)
- PSYC 119F, Language Development (senior seminar)
- PSYC 119P, Children and Technology (senior seminar)
- PSYC 140F, Mind, Society, and Culture
- PSYC 147A/LGST 147A, Psychology and Law
- PSYC 179E, Psychology of Emotion (senior seminar)
- PSYC 179F, The Path to a Science of Dreaming (senior seminar)
- PSYC 181, Psychological Data Analysis
- PSYC 194B, Advanced Cognitive Research
- PSYC 195A, Senior Thesis
- PSYC 204-252, Graduate cognitive courses, by petition
NOTE: One of the above Upper-Division Cognitive Science Electives must also be a senior seminar.
FOUR Interdisciplinary Elective Courses
Interdisciplinary Electives
Students must complete four interdisciplinary electives from lists of courses pre-approved by the Psychology Department. The electives fall into four Emphasis Groups: Evolution; Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction; Linguistics; Philosophy. Three of the four electives must be selected from the same Emphasis Group. Students are responsible for planning their course of study to complete any necessary prerequisites for electives they wish to take.
Group 1: Evolution
Group 2: Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction
Group 3: Linguistics
Group 4: Philosophy
Choose from an approved list.
NOTE: 8 upper division courses are required for the major. If you do not take 1 Upper-Division Interdisciplinary Elective course, you will need to take an additional Upper-Division Cognitive Science Elective.
Cognitive Science Major Requirements- 2014-18 Catalog
Lower-Division Requirements:
PSYC 2, Introduction to Psychological Statistics (or AMS 5 or AMS 7/L)
PSYC 20, Introduction to Cognitive Psychology
Calculus (one of AMS 11A, MATH 11A, 19A or 20A)
Computer Programming (one of CMPE 13/L, CMPS 5C, 5J, 5P, 12A)
Upper-Division Requirements:
PSYC 100, Research Methods in Psychology (7 credits)
Core Courses — students must complete three of the following:
- Perception (PSYC 120 or 121)
- Neuroscience (PSYC 123)
- Language (PSYC 125)
- Memory (PSYC 129)
Cognitive Psychology Electives - students must complete three additional upper-division Psychology courses from the following list. One of the core courses that is not used to satisfy the core courses requirement may be used to satisfy this requirement:
Any of PSYC 120-139 (i.e., the "Cognitive Series")
PSYC 104, Development in Infancy
PSYC 105, Children's Thinking
PSYC 119E, World of Babies
PSYC 119F, Language Development
PSYC 119P, Children and Technology
PSYC 181, Psychological Data Analysis
PSYC 194B, Advanced Cognitive Research
PSYC 195A, Senior Thesis
PSYC 204-252, graduate cognitive courses, by petition
Interdisciplinary Electives — students must complete four interdisciplinary electives from lists of courses pre-approved by the Psychology Department. The electives fall into four groups: Evolution; Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction; Linguistics; Philosophy. Three of the four electives must be selected from the same group. Students are responsible for planning their course of study to complete any necessary prerequisites for electives they wish to take. Possible sequences of interdisciplinary courses, including prerequisites, are given below.
Group 1: Evolution
Group 2: Artificial Intelligence and Human-Computer Interaction
Group 3: Linguistics
Group 4: Philosophy
See the 2nd page of the Cognitive Science Major Worksheet for current list of approved interdisciplinary electives.
Senior Comprehensive Requirement
UCSC requires that every student satisfy a senior exit/comprehensive requirement prior to graduation. Cognitive Science students will satisfy this requirement by receiving a passing grade in either a cognitive seminar (PSYC 139A-G, PSYC 119E, F, P), or research experience (PSYC 194B, Advanced Cognitive Research, or PSYC 195, Senior Thesis).
Students who elect to use PSYC 194B or PSYC 195 to satisfy the senior comprehensive requirement, will still need to complete a senior seminar to satisfy the DC requirement
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