Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree with a Major in Cognitive Sciences

Program Learning Outcomes for the BA Degree with a Major in Cognitive Sciences 

Upon completing the BA degree with a major in Cognitive Sciences, students will be able to:

  1. Understand cognitive science as an interdisciplinary field and demonstrate the ability to synthesize key knowledge, theories, methods, research, and other elements from many related disciplines and bring these interdisciplinary elements to bear on problems or questions in the cognitive sciences. 
  2. Demonstrate a breadth of knowledge of the key issues, questions, and perspectives at stake in the multiple disciplines that contribute to the study of the cognitive sciences. 
  3. Achieve a depth of knowledge in one core area of the cognitive sciences – linguistics, neuroscience, philosophy, or psychology – and develop a knowledge base in that discipline, as well as an understanding of the theories, methods, and research approaches in that discipline. 
  4. Demonstrate the advanced critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate multiple theories or methods from a variety of related disciplines and choose which to apply to a particular problem or question in the cognitive sciences, as well as the advanced critical thinking ability necessary to evaluate the validity of research results that purport to address the same problem or question, but with different results. 
  5. Demonstrate the ability to communicate original research or research by other scholars effectively and at a college level in written and oral formats. 

Requirements for the BA Degree with a Major in Cognitive Sciences   

For general university requirements, see Graduation Requirements. Students pursuing the BA degree with a major in Cognitive Sciences must complete: 

  • A minimum of 15 courses (45-49 credit hours, depending on course selection) to satisfy major requirements.
  • A minimum of 120 credit hours to satisfy degree requirements.
  • A minimum of 6 courses (18 credit hours) taken at the 300-level or above.
  • A maximum of 4 courses (12 credit hours) from study abroad or transfer credit. For additional program guidelines regarding transfer credit, see the Policies tab. 
  • The requirements for one area of specialization (see below for areas of specialization). When students declare the major in Cognitive Sciences, students must additionally identify and declare one of five areas of specialization, either in:

Because of the common core requirements, it is possible for students to change their area of specialization at any time, even after initially declaring the major. To do so, please contact the Office of the Registrar.

The courses listed below satisfy the requirements for this major. In certain instances, courses not on this official list may be substituted upon approval of the major’s academic advisor, or where applicable, the department's Director of Undergraduate Studies. (Course substitutions must be formally applied and entered into Degree Works by the major's Official Certifier.) Students and their academic advisors should identify and clearly document the courses to be taken.

Summary

Total Credit Hours Required for the Major in Cognitive Sciences 45-49
Total Credit Hours Required for the BA Degree with a Major in Cognitive Sciences 120

Degree Requirements

Core Requirements
Cognitive Science Methods Core Course
CSCI 340METHODS OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE3
Computer Science Core Course
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING COMPUTATION
COMP 130
COMPUTATIONAL THINKING
INTRODUCTION TO GAME PROGRAMMING IN PYTHON
COMPUTER APPLICATIONS IN PSYCHOLOGY
Advanced Computing Core Course
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
THEORETICAL NEUROSCIENCE: FROM CELLS TO LEARNING SYSTEMS
ALGORITHMIC THINKING
MACHINE LEARNING FOR DATA SCIENCE
INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING
COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS
INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE
INTRODUCTION TO NEUROENGINEERING: MEASURING AND MANIPULATING NEURAL ACTIVITY
INCOMPLETENESS, UNDECIDABILITY, AND COMPUTABILITY
COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF COGNITIVE PROCESSES
INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL MACHINE LEARNING
Linguistics Core Course
Select 1 course from the following:3
INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF LANGUAGE
LANGUAGE, THOUGHT, AND MIND
INTRODUCTION TO SEMANTICS
Neuroscience Core Course
Select 1 course from the following:3
CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF THE NEURON
COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE: EXPLORING THE LIVING BRAIN
FUNDAMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE SYSTEMS
NEUROLINGUISTICS
THEORETICAL NEUROSCIENCE: FROM CELLS TO LEARNING SYSTEMS
NEURAL COMPUTATION
Philosophy Core Course
Select 1 course from the following:3
THE SCIENCES OF THE MIND
MATHEMATICAL LOGIC
PHILOSOPHY OF MIND
Psychology Core Course
PSYC 203INTRODUCTION TO COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY3
Advanced Psychology Core Course
Select 1 course from the following:3
MEMORY
PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE
PSYCHOLOGY OF PERCEPTION
REASONING, DECISION MAKING, PROBLEM SOLVING
Statistics Core Course
Select 1 course from the following:3-4
STATISTICAL METHODS-PSYCHOLOGY
QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS FOR THE SOCIAL SCIENCES 1
ELEMENTARY APPLIED STATISTICS
AP/OTH CREDIT IN STATISTICS
INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICS FOR BIOSCIENCES
PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS
PROBABILITY AND STATISTICS FOR DATA SCIENCE
Area of Specialization 2
Select 1 from the following Areas of Specialization (see Areas of Specialization below):9-13
Computation
Linguistics
Neuroscience
Philosophy
Psychology
Elective Requirements 3
Select 2-3 elective courses from the other Areas of Specialization or from the following additional approved electives:9-10
SUPERVISED RESEARCH IN COGNITIVE SCIENCES
HONORS PROJECT
BEHAVIORAL ECONOMICS
INTRODUCTION TO ENGINEERING DESIGN
HISTORY OF SENSATION
Total Credit Hours Required for the Major in Cognitive Sciences 45-49
Additional Credit Hours to Complete Degree Requirements *40-44
University Graduation Requirements *31
Total Credit Hours120

Footnotes and Additional Information

Areas of Specialization

Students must complete the requirements as listed for one of the following areas of specialization as offered by the Cognitive Sciences major. A total of 6 courses (minimum of 18-19 credit hours, depending on course selection) must be taken in the area of specialization and elective requirements. See footnoteabove.

Area of Specialization: Computation

To fulfill the remaining Cognitive Sciences major requirements, students pursuing the Computation area of specialization must complete:

  • a minimum of 3 courses (9-12 credit hours, depending on course selection) from the Computation area of specialization
  • 2 courses (6-7 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization outside Computation (from Linguistics, Neuroscience, Philosophy, Psychology or from approved elective coursework (listed above))
  • 1 course (3-4 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization (including Computation) or from approved elective coursework (listed above)
Select 9-12 credit hours from the following:
BIOE 380 / ELEC 380 / NEUR 383INTRODUCTION TO NEUROENGINEERING: MEASURING AND MANIPULATING NEURAL ACTIVITY3
CMOR 415 / ELEC 488 / NEUR 415THEORETICAL NEUROSCIENCE: FROM CELLS TO LEARNING SYSTEMS3
CMOR 416 / ELEC 489 / NEUR 416NEURAL COMPUTATION3
COMP 182ALGORITHMIC THINKING4
COMP 330TOOLS AND MODELS FOR DATA SCIENCE3
COMP 440 / ELEC 440ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE4
COMP 447 / ELEC 447INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER VISION3
COMP 450 / ELEC 450 / MECH 450ALGORITHMIC ROBOTICS4
COMP 498 / ELEC 498 / MECH 498INTRODUCTION TO ROBOTICS3
DSCI 302INTRODUCTION TO DATA SCIENCE TOOLS AND MODELS3
DSCI 303MACHINE LEARNING FOR DATA SCIENCE3
ELEC 382 / NEUR 382INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE3
ELEC 432MOBILE BIO-BEHAVIORAL SENSING3
ELEC 475LEARNING FROM SENSOR DATA3
ELEC 478INTRODUCTION TO MACHINE LEARNING3
ELEC 483MACHINE LEARNING AND SIGNAL PROCESSING FOR NEURO ENGINEERING3
PHIL 357INCOMPLETENESS, UNDECIDABILITY, AND COMPUTABILITY3
PSYC 430COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF COGNITIVE PROCESSES3
STAT 413INTRODUCTION TO STATISTICAL MACHINE LEARNING3

Area of Specialization: Linguistics

To fulfill the remaining Cognitive Sciences major requirements, students pursuing the Linguistics area of specialization must complete:

  • a minimum of 3 courses (9 credit hours) from the Linguistics area of specialization
  • 2 courses (6-7 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization outside Linguistics (from Computation, Neuroscience, Philosophy, or Psychology, or from approved elective coursework (listed above))
  • 1 course (3-4 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization (including Linguistics) or from approved elective coursework (listed above)
Select 9-12 credit hours from the following:
LING 200 / ANTH 200INTRODUCTION TO THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF LANGUAGE3
LING 300LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS3
LING 301PHONETICS3
LING 306LANGUAGE, THOUGHT, AND MIND3
LING 309 / PSYC 309PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE3
LING 315 / PSYC 315INTRODUCTION TO SEMANTICS3
LING 320ORIGINS AND EVOLUTION OF HUMAN LANGUAGE3
LING 325 / PSYC 325LANGUAGE ACQUISITION3
LING 397SPEECH AND HEARING SCIENCE3
LING 400LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS II3
LING 401ANALYSIS OF SOUND PATTERNS3
LING 409SPECIAL TOPICS 13
LING 411 / NEUR 411NEUROLINGUISTICS3
LING 419MULTILINGUALISM3
LING 430COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS3
Footnotes and Additional Information 

Area of Specialization: Neuroscience1

To fulfill the remaining Cognitive Sciences major requirements, students pursuing the Neuroscience area of specialization must complete:

  • a minimum of 3 courses (9 credit hours) from the Neuroscience area of specialization
  • 2 courses (6-7 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization outside Neuroscience (from Computation, Linguistics, Philosophy, or Psychology, or from approved elective coursework (listed above))
  • 1 course (3-4 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization (including Neuroscience) or from approved elective coursework (listed above)
Select 9-12 credit hours from the following:
BIOS 385CELLULAR AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF THE NEURON3
BIOS 442MOLECULES, MEMORY AND MODEL ANIMALS: METHODS IN BEHAVIORAL NEUROSCIENCE3
NEUR 362 / PSYC 362COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE: EXPLORING THE LIVING BRAIN3
NEUR 380 / PSYC 380FUNDAMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE SYSTEMS3
NEUR 382 / ELEC 382INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTATIONAL NEUROSCIENCE3
NEUR 383 / BIOE 380 / ELEC 380INTRODUCTION TO NEUROENGINEERING: MEASURING AND MANIPULATING NEURAL ACTIVITY3
NEUR 411 / LING 411NEUROLINGUISTICS3
NEUR 415 / CMOR 415 / ELEC 488THEORETICAL NEUROSCIENCE: FROM CELLS TO LEARNING SYSTEMS3
NEUR 416 / CMOR 416 / ELEC 489NEURAL COMPUTATION3
PSYC 366METHODS IN SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE3
PSYC 375NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE AND MEMORY3
PSYC 432BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR3
PSYC 487FUNCTIONAL HUMAN NEUROANATOMY3
Footnotes and Additional Information

Area of Specialization: Philosophy

To fulfill the remaining Cognitive Sciences major requirements, students pursuing the Philosophy area of specialization must complete:

  • a minimum of 3 courses (9 credit hours) from the Philosophy area of specialization
  • 2 courses (6-7 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization outside Philosophy (from Computation, Linguistics, Neuroscience, or Psychology, or from approved elective coursework (listed above))
  • 1 course (3-4 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization (including Philosophy) or from approved elective coursework (listed above)
Select 9-12 credit hours from the following:
PHIL 130THE SCIENCES OF THE MIND3
PHIL 230HUMAN MINDS3
PHIL 231ANIMAL MINDS3
PHIL 310MATHEMATICAL LOGIC3
PHIL 330PHILOSOPHY OF MIND3
PHIL 345THEORY OF KNOWLEDGE3
PHIL 357INCOMPLETENESS, UNDECIDABILITY, AND COMPUTABILITY3
PHIL 430ADVANCED TOPICS IN PHILOSOPHY OF MIND3
PHIL 431ADVANCED TOPICS IN THE SCIENCES OF THE MIND3

Area of Specialization: Psychology

To fulfill the remaining Cognitive Sciences major requirements, students pursuing the Psychology area of specialization must complete:

  • a minimum of 3 courses (9-10 credit hours, depending on course selection) from the Psychology area of specialization
  • 2 courses (6 credit hours) from any area of specialization outside Psychology (from Computation, Linguistics, Neuroscience, or Philosophy, or from approved elective coursework (listed above))
  • 1 course (3-4 credit hours, depending on course selection) from any area of specialization (including Psychology) or from approved elective coursework (listed above)
Select 9-13 credit hours from the following:
PSYC 308MEMORY3
PSYC 309 / LING 309PSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE3
PSYC 310PSYCHOLOGY OF AGING3
PSYC 321DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY3
PSYC 325 / LING 325LANGUAGE ACQUISITION3
PSYC 351PSYCHOLOGY OF PERCEPTION3
PSYC 362 / NEUR 362COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE: EXPLORING THE LIVING BRAIN3
PSYC 366METHODS IN SOCIAL COGNITIVE AND AFFECTIVE NEUROSCIENCE3
PSYC 370INTRODUCTION TO HUMAN FACTORS AND ERGONOMICS3
PSYC 375NEUROPSYCHOLOGY OF LANGUAGE AND MEMORY3
PSYC 380 / NEUR 380FUNDAMENTAL NEUROSCIENCE SYSTEMS3
PSYC 409METHODS IN HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION3
PSYC 411HISTORY OF PSYCHOLOGY3
PSYC 430COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF COGNITIVE PROCESSES3
PSYC 432BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR3
PSYC 441HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION3
PSYC 461REASONING, DECISION MAKING, PROBLEM SOLVING3
PSYC 462NON-TRADITIONAL INTERFACES3
PSYC 463MEDICAL HUMAN FACTORS3
PSYC 464USABILITY ASSESSMENT3
PSYC 470ENGINEERING PSYCHOLOGY3
PSYC 480ADVANCED TOPICS 13
PSYC 487FUNCTIONAL HUMAN NEUROANATOMY3
Footnotes and Additional Information 

Policies for the BA Degree with a Major in Cognitive Sciences

Transfer Credit 

For Rice University’s policy regarding transfer credit, see Transfer Credit. Some departments and programs have additional restrictions on transfer credit. The Office of Academic Advising maintains the university’s official list of transfer credit advisors on their website: https://oaa.rice.edu. Students are encouraged to meet with their academic program’s transfer credit advisor when considering transfer credit possibilities. 

Program Transfer Credit Guidelines

Students pursuing the major in Cognitive Sciences should be aware of the following program-specific transfer credit guidelines:

  • No more than 4 courses (12 credit hours) of transfer credit from U.S. or international universities of similar standing as Rice may apply towards the major.
  • Requests for transfer credit will be considered by the program director (and/or the program’s official transfer credit advisor) on an individual case-by-case basis.

Additional Information 

For additional information, please see the Cognitive Sciences website: https://cogsci.rice.edu/.

Opportunities for the BA Degree with a Major in Cognitive Sciences 

Academic Honors

The university recognizes academic excellence achieved over an undergraduate’s academic history at Rice. For information on university honors, please see Latin Honors (summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude) and Distinction in Research and Creative Work. Some departments have department-specific Honors awards or designations.

Honors Program in Cognitive Sciences  

Students with a 3.50 major GPA in Cognitive Sciences and 3.30 overall GPA may apply for the cognitive sciences honors program. Students in the honors program are expected to conduct an independent research project of either one or two semesters under the guidance of a member of the cognitive sciences faculty. Students who wish to enter this program should consult with prospective advisors during their junior year and submit a proposal by the end of the semester preceding the initiation of the project. Typically, this means submitting a proposal by the end of the junior year and beginning the project during the fall of the senior year. Proposal will be reviewed by both the supervisor and the program director. Students who undertake a two-semester project will be allowed to continue into the second semester only if their advisor judges that sufficient progress has been made during the first semester. At the end of a project, honors students are expected to submit a final paper to both their advisor and the program director and make an oral presentation to faculty and students. For more details, please contact the program director.

Independent Research

Majors may undertake supervised independent research by enrolling in CSCI 390 or the honors program. Students who wish to take CSCI 390 must complete a CSCI 390 contract and have it approved by their supervisor and the program director prior to the end of the first week of classes. All students taking CSCI 390 also must write a substantive research paper, which is to be submitted to both their advisor and the program director at the end of the semester, and presented in the Rice Undergraduate Research Symposium as a poster. (Copies of the contract form and instructions are available on the “forms” section of the cognitive sciences website.)

Additional Information 

For additional information, please see the Cognitive Sciences website: https://cogsci.rice.edu/.