2025-2026 General Catalog
Source: https://catalog.ucdavis.edu/departments-programs-degrees/cognitive-science/cognitive-science-ab/ Parent: https://catalog.ucdavis.edu/departments-programs-degrees/#programsanddegreestext
The Major Programs
The Cognitive Science major is designed to provide a broad interdisciplinary approach to the study of mind that includes courses from different departments and attracts students with a variety of interests. It emphasizes a multifaceted approach to the study of the mind integrating concepts and techniques from psychology, artificial intelligence, linguistics, neurology, philosophy and other relevant fields.
For students interested in the liberal arts the Cognitive Science major can be pursued as a Bachelor of Arts (A.B.) program. Alternatively, it can be pursued as a Bachelor of Science (B.S.) program for students with a stronger interest in the mathematical, neurological and computational foundations of the discipline. The main objective of both programs is to give the student a broad grounding in the integrated sciences of the mind and to connect approaches from different fields. Students must complete a number of core courses for the degree, as well as a number of specialty courses on such wide-ranging topics as logic for artificial intelligence, computational linguistics, cognitive neuroscience, animal cognition and the psychology of music.
Career Pathways
A degree in Cognitive Science provides broad intellectual foundations useful for careers in a variety of areas, including teaching, business, social work/counseling and the information technology industry. Undergraduate education in cognitive science also prepares the student for graduate study in appropriate subfields of psychology, linguistics, philosophy and informatics. It is also suitable training for pre-medicine, pre-law, and pre-management students.
Major Advisors
Staff advisors are located in the Blue Ridge Office Building. For information about how to contact a major advisor, see Major Advising.
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