DEPARTMENT OF COGNITIVE SCIENCES

3221 Social Science Plaza B; (949) 824-3771
Michael D'Zmura, Department Chair

Undergraduate Program

Graduate Program

Courses

The Department of Cognitive Sciences is committed to the investigation of the abstract, complex structures that underlie human cognition: language, thought, memory, learning, sensorimotor integration and perception. The main areas of research strength within the Department are visual and auditory perception, experimental psychology, cognitive psychology, mathematical psychology, and cognitive neuroscience.

Undergraduate Program

University Requirements: See pages 57-62.

School Requirements: See page 452.

Departmental Requirements for the Major in Psychology

School requirements must be met and must include 18 courses (70 units) as specified below:

A.   Psychology 9A, B, C.

B.   Two introductory courses (eight units) in the social sciences chosen from Anthropology 2A or 2B, Economics 1, Linguistics 3, Political Science 6A, 6B, or 6C, Sociology 1, or, by petition, one or two quarters of Social Science H1E, H1F, or H1G, when topic is not psychology.

C.   A one-quarter course and laboratory in experimental psychology or research methods selected from Psychology 112A and 112LA, 112G and 112LG (requires 112F and 112LF as prerequisites), 112M and 112LM, or 112P and 112LP. (Psychology 112F and 112LF were previously numbered 115A and 115LA.).

   NOTE: These courses have as prerequisites Psychology 9A, B, C and one year of mathematics/statistics (see course listings). These prerequisites are strictly enforced. Psychology 112A, 112LA are the first quarter of a multi-quarter sequence that satisfies the upper-division writing requirement and allows students to plan and conduct research projects. Students taking these courses should plan to continue in them through at least the second quarter. Students who intend to fulfill the upper-division writing requirement in some other way should consider taking Psychology 112M, 112LM, or 112P, 112LP to fulfill the laboratory requirement.

D.   Four upper-division Psychology core courses are required (16 units). These courses are designated with the ending number "0" and include the following: Psychology 120A, 120D, 120H, 120P, 130A, 140C, 140L, 140M, 160A.

E.   Seven additional courses (four or more units each) with emphasis in psychology, distributed as follows:

1.   No more than one of the seven may be lower-division. Psychology 7A, 11E, 46A, 56L may not be used to fulfill this requirement.

2.   Three of the upper-division courses used to satisfy requirements D and E must be taken from one of the following modules: Psychology 110-119 (Research Methodologies), 120-129 (General Psychology), 130-139 (Perception and Sensory Processes), 140-149 and 150-159 (Learning and Cognition and Semiotics and Language combined), 160-169 (Cognitive Neuroscience), and 170-179 (Interdisciplinary Studies).

3.   Certain courses offered in the School of Biological Sciences and the School of Social Ecology may be used in partial satisfaction of this requirement. A total of three of these courses (12 units) may be used in this way with a maximum of two from either of these Schools.

   The courses that may be used in this way are those in the Department of Cognitive Sciences' course listings numbered Psychology 127, 147, and 177, as well as Psychology and Social Behavior P109 (same as E108U), P121D, P134H, P164S (same as C105), and Biological Sciences D137, E174, N110, N159.

4.   No more than two of the courses (each of four or more units) may be numbered 190-199.

NOTE: Psychology majors are strongly encouraged to take Biological Sciences 1A-B and 35 in satisfaction of the natural sciences portion of the breadth requirement (Category II). Furthermore, it is strongly recommended that students who intend to pursue postbaccalaureate work in psychology take the Psychology 112A-B-C sequence. Most psychology graduate programs require statistics (which, at UCI, may be satisfied by taking Psychology 10A-B-C or Social Science 10A-B-C), but some require calculus (which, at UCI, may be satisfied by taking Mathematics 2A-B).

Honors Program in Psychology

The two-year honors program in Psychology is open to selected juniors who are majoring in Psychology. It provides thorough grounding in research methods and culminates with the opportunity for basic research in some area of psychology under faculty supervision. The program has a limited number of openings and seeks to attract outstanding students who plan to undertake postgraduate education in some field of the psychological sciences. Admission to the program is based on a formal application that is normally submitted in the spring quarter of the sophomore year. Applicants should have an overall grade point average of at least 3.2 and a grade point average of at least 3.5 in psychology courses, although this requirement may be waived in unusual cases.

During the junior year, students who participate in the program are expected to enroll in Honors Experimental Psychology (H111A-B-C), and in the fall quarter of the Honors Seminar in Psychology (H101A). As seniors, following successful completion of these junior-year requirements, Psychology honors students are enrolled in the Honors Seminar in Psychology (H101B-C) in the fall and spring quarters. Participants in the honors program are expected to complete course work beyond the breadth requirement in one or more of the following areas: biological sciences, mathematics, computer science, physical science, linguistics, philosophy. The honors seminar may be used to satisfy two of the courses required by Part E of the Psychology major requirements. To graduate with Honors in Psychology, a student must successfully complete the requirements for the B.A. degree in Psychology with an overall grade point average of 3.2 and a grade point average of at least 3.5 in Psychology courses. In addition, Honors students must successfully complete a senior honors thesis as part of the senior-year course work.

Sample Programs — Psychology Majors

GENERAL	GRADUATE SCHOOL TRACK	HONORS
Freshman
Psych. 9A, B, C	Psych. 9A, B, C	Psych. 9A, B, C
2 Intro. Soc. Sci.	Humanities Core	Humanities Core
ICS 10A or 10B or 21	Math. 2A-B-C	Math. 2A-B-C
6 Breadth
Sophomore
3 quarters Statistics1	3 quarters Statistics1	3 quarters Statistics1
3 Core2	3 Core2	3 Core2
6 Breadth/Electives	2 Intro. Soc. Sci.	2 Intro. Soc. Sci.
	ICS 21	ICS 21
	3 Breadth	3 Breadth
		Apply to Honors in spring
Junior
1 Core2	1 Core2	Psych. H111A-B-C
3 Module/upper-division Psych	3 Module/upper-division Psych	Psych. H101A
4 Breadth/Electives	4 Breadth/Electives	1 Core2
Select one of the following:	Select one of the following:	2 upper-division Psych. courses
Psych. 112A-B-C and 1 upper-div. Psych	Psych. 112A-B-C and 1 upper-div. Psych
Psych. 112F-G and 2 upper-div. Psych	Psych. 112F-G and 2 upper-div. Psych
Psych. 112M or 112P and 3 upper-div. Psych.
Senior
9 Electives	9 Electives	8 Electives
Select one of the following:	2 Psych. 199	Psych. H101B-C
2 Psych. 199 and Psych. 190	1 Psych. 190	2 Psych. 19
3 upper-division Psych.

Sample Program — Transfer Psychology Majors

Junior	Senior
Psych. 9A, B, C	1 Core2
3 quarters Statistics1	3 Module/upper-div. Psych. courses
ICS 10A or 10B or 21	1 Elective
2 Intro. Soc. Sci.	Select one of the following:
3 Core2	Psych. 112A-B-C and 3 upper-div. Psych. courses
	Psych. 112F-G and 4 upper-div. Psych. courses
	Psych. 112M or 112P and 5 upper-div. Psych. courses

¹Either Psychology 10A-B-C or Social Science 10A-B-C, with Psychology 10 recommended for those planning to attend graduate school in Psychology.
²Psychology core course, an upper-division course with the ending number "0."

Psychology Minor Requirements

Requirements for the minor in Psychology are met by taking seven or eight psychology courses (28 or 32 units) as specified below:

A.   Psychology 7A (for the 28-unit minor) or 9A, B, C (for the 32-unit minor).

B.   Three upper-division Psychology courses chosen from the following core courses in Psychology: 120A, 120D, 120H, 120P, 130A, 140C, 140L, 140M, 160A.

C.   For students who take Psychology 7A, three additional psychology courses (four or more units each) no more than one of which is a lower-division course. For students who take Psychology 9A, B, C, two additional upper-division Psychology courses (four or more units each). Psychology 190-199 cannot be used to fulfill this requirement.

D.   In addition, the School mathematics and computer science requirement (School requirement A) must be satisfied.

Graduate Program

GRADUATE STUDY IN THE COGNITIVE SCIENCES

The Department of Cognitive Sciences offers a Ph.D. degree program in Psychology, with a specialization in cognitive science, to prepare students for research and teaching careers in academia, industry, and government. The emphasis is on modern techniques of experimentation and theory construction. Special attention is given to providing hands-on research experience and equipping students with sophisticated mathematical and computing skills. The Department has 26 faculty; two are members of the National Academy of Sciences, and many serve as editors or editorial board members of leading professional journals, and as members of NSF and NIH study panels. Many Cognitive Sciences faculty are also members of UCI's Institute of Mathematical Behavioral Sciences, and the Department is generally regarded as one of the world's leading centers for mathematically oriented research in cognitive psychology. The Department is also allied closely to the School's Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. Some Cognitive Sciences faculty participate in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program. See the School of Biological Sciences section of the Catalogue for information about this graduate "gateway" program.

ADMISSION

In addition to meeting the general requirements for admission, applicants should have acquired a background in mathematics equivalent to at least one year of calculus. Advanced course work in some of the following fields is highly desirable: psychology, computer science, mathematics, physical sciences, biology, logic, and linguistics. Standard requirements for admission include Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores for tests taken within the past five years, official transcripts of all college course work, and at least three letters of recommendation. Applicants whose first language is not English must also take the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and achieve a score of 213 or higher on the computer-based exam or 550 or higher on the paper-based exam. As an alternative to the TOEFL, candidates for admission may submit scores from the Academic Modules of the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), in which case an overall minimum score of 7 is required, with a score of no less than 6 on any individual module. Applicants who are not citizens of countries where English is either the primary or dominant language as approved by the UCI Graduate Council and who apply for a teaching assistantship, must pass the Test of Spoken English (TSE), or the Speaking Proficiency English Assessment Kit (SPEAK) examination, with a score of 50 or more. The IELTS can serve as an alternative to the Test of Spoken English (TSE) when the applicant also scores 8 or higher on the "Speaking" module of the Test.

To receive full consideration for fellowship and assistantship awards, applications must be received by December 15. Late applications may be considered until July 1 on a space-available basis. Since the program starts in the fall quarter, students are not normally admitted in the winter or spring, though exceptions may be made. Application materials may be obtained by contacting the Social Sciences Graduate Office.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DOCTORAL DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY

Each student is expected to take two course sequences in the first year. These include a quantitative research methods sequence that covers the areas of probability, statistics, and experimental design (Psychology 203A-B-C). The second is a computational research methods sequence that covers programming for experiments and data analysis (Psychology 205A-B). Students must also enroll in a quarter-long proseminar course during the fall quarter of their first year (Psychology 202A). Suitable substitutes may be made with written approval of the Department's Director of Graduate Studies. Completion of the quantitative research methods sequence may be extended over two years if warranted by the background or needs of the student. Additional advanced course work in other fields relevant to the student's interests will supplement the required courses. Students are expected to enroll in the Cognitive Sciences Research Seminar (Psychology 201A-B-C) during all quarters in residence prior to passage of the advancement-to-candidacy examination.

In addition, each student must take at least four core elective courses prior to advancement to candidacy. These courses are drawn from the Core Elective module (Psychology 210-219). Students must also take at least three more courses prior to advancement to candidacy that are normally selected from at least two of the following six modules: Human Cognition (Psychology 220-229); Methodologies and Models (Psychology 230-239); Virtual Reality (Psychology 240-249); Human Performance (Psychology 250-259); Cognitive Neuroscience (Psychology 260-269); and Sensation and Perception (Psychology 270-289).

Each student is expected to carry out theoretical/empirical research during the first two years. By the end of the second year, each student should have completed a research project of a scope and nature that is potentially publishable in a professional journal. Every student is assigned a faculty advisor, and the advisor is responsible for assisting in the planning and other facets of the project. Students are required to present a talk to the Cognitive Sciences Research Seminar, based on their research project, by the end of the spring quarter of their second full year in the graduate program. (Another forum for the second-year talk may be substituted with the written approval of the Graduate Director.)

By the following fall quarter, students are required to write a paper based on their research project. The paper must be approved by the student's advisor and the Director of Graduate Studies.

At the end of each academic year the faculty of the Department meet to discuss and provide feedback on the progress of each student in the program.

Requirements for the M.A. Degree

NOTE: Although the Department does not have an M.A. program, students may earn an M.A. degree as part of the Ph.D. program.

The student must: (1) complete the required course work as outlined above; (2) present a talk and submit an approved paper, both based on empirical/theoretical research, as described above; and (3) fulfill a computer-programming language requirement by completing satisfactorily the computational research methods sequence Psychology 205A-B or by demonstrating proficiency in use of a programming language for cognitive sciences research as assessed by two faculty members and approved by the Graduate Director.

Requirements for Advancement to Candidacy

The requirements for advancement to candidacy are: (1) the student must meet the requirements listed above for the M.A. degree; (2) the student must, in addition, form a five-member faculty committee selected according to Graduate Studies policy. The committee will examine the student on a topic which is determined in consultation with the committee. A written document describing the student's work on this topic must be submitted to the committee prior to advancement. The student must demonstrate an understanding of the background and issues for the research topic and show sufficient preparation and creativity to undertake planning for a dissertation project (e.g., by describing a possible experimental design or outlining a possible theoretical development); and (3) students are required to advance to candidacy by the end of the fall quarter of their third year in the program.

Requirements for the Ph.D. Degree

The requirements for the Ph.D. degree are: (1) the student must formally present and defend a written dissertation proposal to a committee of at least three members selected according to Graduate Studies requirements. The dissertation proposal presentation may take place as part of the examination for Advancement to Candidacy, in which case, that five-member committee will approve the dissertation proposal; (2) the proposal must be approved prior to the final dissertation defense (usually at least three months before to allow time for the candidate to incorporate suggestions and changes required by the committee); (3) prior to the approval of the final version of the dissertation the student is expected to defend the dissertation in a public colloquium announced with at least one week's notice; and (4) all requirements for the Ph.D. degree must be fulfilled within three years after advancement to candidacy.

The normative time for advancement to candidacy is three years. The normative time for completion of the Ph.D. is five years, and the maximum time permitted is six years.