Cognitive Science

Subject: Administered by the School of Computing in cooperation with the Departments of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Philosophy, and Psychology.
Plan: Consists of 93.00 units as described below.
Plan Code: COGS-S
Plan Code (with Professional internship): COGS-I
Program: The Plan, alone, or in combination with a Minor in another subject, and with sufficient electives to total 120.00 units, will lead to a Bachelor of Computing (Honours) Degree.

Note: Requirements for this program have been modified. Please consult the 2024-2025 Calendar for the previous requirements.

Option Lists

i. Linguistics

ii. Philosophy

iii. Psychology

3. Notes

A. Students with no programming experience should review the Introductory Courses paragraph included on the School of Computing overview page in the Calendar. 

B. As COGS is a multi-disciplinary subject, several first-year courses are required. With the exception of CISC 102/3.0 and CISC 121/3.0, 100-level courses may be deferred to later years depending upon the planned progression of subsequent courses. With approval of an advisor, COGS 100/3.0 may be taken in Year 2 of the Plan.

C. Many upper-year courses in CISC, LING, PHIL, and PSYC have prerequisites outside the courses required for COGS, and students should take this into account in planning for their optional and elective units. Not all upper-year courses are offered every year.

D. The Plan allows 27.00 units for elective courses. Many disciplines are narrowly focused, and electives are essential to allow students to broaden their education. In the case of COGS, the Plan is already very broad, and students are encouraged to use their electives to further pursue the area(s) of Cognitive Science in which they are most interested.

E. With the approval of the Undergraduate Chair, students who take CISC 500/6.0 working on a project directly related to Cognitive Science may count 3.00 units towards COGS_Computing.

F. Students completing the internship (COGS-I) will be required to complete 117.00 units towards their Bachelor of Computing degree and 9.00 units in COMP internship courses for a total of 126.00 units.

G. This Plan may not be combined with a Computing Minor (COMP-Y, COMP-Z), a Linguistics Minor (LING-Y), a Philosophy Minor (PHIL-Y), or a Psychology Minor (PSYC-Y). Please refer to Academic Program Regulation 3 for further information. 

H. A maximum of 6.00 units from courses offered by other Faculties and Schools may be counted toward the program and/or Plan requirements. This includes courses in BMED, COMM, GLPH, HSCI, LAW, NURS, and courses offered by Smith Engineering.

Cognitive Science Course Lists

The following lists may contain courses offered through other Departments. In accordance with Academic Regulation 2.6 (Access to Classes), students do not have enrolment priority in all of these courses. Access to these courses may only be made available during the Open Enrolment period, and then only if space permits.

CISC_Artificial_Intelligence

COGS_Computing

COGS_Linguistics

COGS_Philosophy

COGS_Psychology

NSCI_Options

STAT_Options

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Note that the unit weighting system in Smith Engineering differs from that in the Faculty of Arts and Science. Therefore, upon acceptance of any course from Smith Engineering, the unit weighting towards Arts and Science degree requirements shall be at the discretion of the Associate Dean (Academic). Usually, a one-term course shall count as 3.00 units and a two-term course as 6.00 units.