IST 402.001:
Cognitive Science in the context of
Information, Security, and Data Science
Cognitive Science promises to solve the greatest mystery
of our age. The brain holds the key to how we perceive
the world, learn from our experiences, make the right
decisions and communicate with others. Understanding the
constraints and peculiarities of what it means to be human
is key to creating technology that successfully interacts with
and amazes people.
About the Instructor
Dr. David Reitter
Reitter’s research interests
lie in computational
cognition. His field develops
models of human cognition
that describe how humans
communicate and how they
make decisions. These
models explain some of the
most fascinating human
abilities: verbalizing and
spreading information
within a vast network of
social contacts. The human
cognitive system is uniquely
suited to communication,
and these abilities are
crucial to the intelligence
emerging from human
communities.
Spring 2017
IST 402.001
Schedule #: 12830
Tuesday & Thursday
6:00 — 7:15 p.m.
208 IST Building
Prerequisites:
IST 210 and IST 220
The course will have four major components. 1) Perception: from
optical illusions to drug-induced impairments. 2) Memory and attention:
Why can we drive and talk, but not drive and text? 3) Higher-order
cognitive function such as language and planning, as it relates to
Artificial Intelligence. 4) Decision-making under uncertainty, as it is
affected by cognitive biases (why are we afraid of plane crashes, but
not of heart disease?). This module connects heavily to questions
of security and risk, as the field examines human behavior under
situations of limited knowledge.
The course draws from a range of fields: neuroscience, social
sciences, psychology and economics. It makes extensive use of
audiovisual experiments, patient videos, functional brain imaging data
and real-world examples.
Students will develop an understanding of the scientific method in this
course: how do we formulate hypotheses that support or contradict
existing theories? How do scientists design experiments to test these
hypotheses? We are going to look at many pieces of evidence to
shape our idea of the architecture of the mind. Behavioral experiments
observe human speed, accuracy and decision-making while doing
assigned tasks. Neurophysiological evidence uses brain imaging
and other techniques to observe the brain’s internal function. Clinical
evidence looks at functional deficitis in cases where, e.g., tumors or
violent injuries have destroyed specific parts of the brain.
IST 402, Cognitive Science in the context of Information, Security and
Data Science will require some reading (textbook) and studying outside
of class time. Participants do not need detailed technical knowledge,
but they do require intellectual breadth and a willingness to engage in
the classroom.