Welcome to the Cognitive Science Program
at The University of Connecticut
About the Cognitive Science Program
Cognitive science is the study of how intelligent beings (including people, animals, and machines) perceive, act, know, and think.
It explores the process and content of thought as observed in individuals, distributed through communities, manifested in the structure and meaning of language, modeled by algorithms, and contemplated by philosophies of mind.
Its models are formulated using concepts drawn from many disciplines, including psychology, linguistics, logic, computer science, anthropology, and philosophy, and they are tested using evidence from psychological experiments, clinical studies, field studies, computer simulations, and neurophysiological observation.
Congratulations to our 2019 CogSci Majors!
Congratulations to our 2019 CogSci Majors!
Congratulations to our 2019 CogSci Majors!
Upcoming Events
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Sep
25
Philosophy Brown Bag Series: Lynch12:15pm
Philosophy Brown Bag Series: Lynch
Wednesday, September 25th, 2019
12:15 PM - 01:15 PM
Storrs Campus MAN 002 (Basement Lounge)
This week: Michael Lynch, "Truth and Democratic Virtue"
A series of informal talks by philosophy faculty and graduate students. For a description and how to sign up, see http://philosophy.uconn.edu/brown-bags/.Contact Information: Lionel Shapiro, lionel.shapiro@uconn.edu
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Sep
25
Social Psychology Program Talk: Dr. Mina Cikara, Harvard University2:00pm
Social Psychology Program Talk: Dr. Mina Cikara, Harvard University
Wednesday, September 25th, 2019
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Storrs Campus BOUS 162
Talk Title: Leveraging choice architecture to alter social preferences
Stereotypes and associated emotions drive discriminatory behavior across numerous consequential contexts. These biases against marginalized social groups have important implications for real-world social decisions, including hiring, voting, health, and housing decisions. Psychologists have traditionally studied how people evaluate different ethnic and cultural groups (and their members) in isolation, but in the real world people commonly make judgments and decisions over sets of people. For example, hiring decisions involve the assessment of multiple candidates at once. Across a series of experiments, we harness insights from computational models of decision-making to examine whether choice set construction—or choice architecture—can be used to influence decision-makers' preferences in consequential social decisions. I will review several findings including a combination of field data and lab experiments to examine the effect of alternatives, or decoys, on social evaluations and decisions in hiring and election contexts.Contact Information: Felicia Pratto, felicia.pratto@uconn.edu
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Sep
25
Social Psychology Division Talk: Dr. Mina Cikara 2:00pm
Social Psychology Division Talk: Dr. Mina Cikara
Wednesday, September 25th, 2019
02:00 PM - 03:00 PM
Storrs Campus Bousfield, Room 162
You are invited to a Social Psychology Division talk by Dr. Mina Cikara from Harvard University on Wed. Sept 25 and 2 pm in Room 162, BOUS.
Her talk title and abstract follow.
Leveraging choice architecture to alter social preferences
Stereotypes and associated emotions drive discriminatory behavior across numerous consequential contexts. These biases against marginalized social groups have important implications for real-world social decisions, including hiring, voting, health, and housing decisions. Psychologists have traditionally studied how people evaluate different ethnic and cultural groups (and their members) in isolation, but in the real world people commonly make judgments and decisions over sets of people. For example, hiring decisions involve the assessment of multiple candidates at once. Across a series of experiments, we harness insights from computational models of decision-making to examine whether choice set construction—or choice architecture—can be used to influence decision-makers' preferences in consequential social decisions. I will review several findings including a combination of field data and lab experiments to examine the effect of alternatives, or decoys, on social evaluations and decisions in hiring and election contexts.Contact Information: Felicia Pratto
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Sep
25
Psychology Colloquium-Dr. Nicole Landi3:30pm
Psychology Colloquium-Dr. Nicole Landi
Wednesday, September 25th, 2019
03:30 PM - 05:00 PM
Storrs Campus Bous A106
Neurobiological Basis of Individual Differences in ReadingContact Information: psychology@uconn.edu
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