Cognitive Science

What is Cognitive Science?

Cognitive science is a field that studies information phenomena related to the mind and brain, such as perception, learning, memory, thinking, language, and concepts. What these phenomena have in common is that they can all be considered forms of intelligent information processing.

These traditional research subjects also belong to related fields such as psychology, neuroscience, philosophy, and linguistics. What distinguishes cognitive science is the pursuit of natural scientific and mathematical precision in modeling phenomena. The connection between cognitive science and artificial intelligence and computer science has traditionally been closer than in related fields.

Research is based on empirical natural scientific research methods, such as behavioral experiments and neuroscience methods, as well as computational and mathematical modeling.

Read more: What is Cognitive Science? – a comprehensive introduction to the field.

Big Questions

Cognitive science also includes many big questions at the intersection of philosophy of mind, philosophy of psychology, and philosophy of AI:

How does the picture of the external world formed by the human brain differ from objective physical reality? What is their relationship?
How are consciousness and mental contents realized in the neurophysiological and computational mechanisms of the brain?
How has human evolution led to the human brain developing to process information in this particular way?
Where do the limits of human mind or machine cognition lie? Do completely insurmountable limits even exist?

How does cognitive science differ from psychology? Read the comparison between cognitive science and psychology.

History

Cognitive science began as a joint educational program of several disciplines in the late 1980s. It has since developed into an independent discipline through the following stages. For broader historical context, see History of Cognitive Science.

Timeline

1988 The cognitive science program is established. The first cognitive science students (n = 5) begin in the Faculty of Arts.
1988 Simpleksi ry, considered a predecessor of Intelligenzia, is founded.
1991 The first cognitive science Master's graduate, Patrick May, graduates.
1994 Intelligenzia becomes a registered association.
1997 The cognitive science professorship is established at the Department of Psychology. It is the first of its kind in Finland.
2004 The Faculty of Behavioral Sciences is established; cognitive science moves to the new faculty.
2016 Admission of major students is suspended during the curriculum reform.
2017 Cognitive science moves back to the Faculty of Arts.
2018 Cognitive science moves to the Department of Digital Humanities.
2019 The Faculty Council decides to establish a cognitive science Master's study track.
2020 Cognitive science can be studied as a major in the LingDig programme.

"What on Earth is Cognitive Science?" Video Series

In the "Mitä kummaa on kognitiotiede?" (What on Earth is Cognitive Science?) seminar series organized by Intelligenzia, researchers in the field present their work and perspectives on cognitive science. The videos below (in Finnish) provide a comprehensive picture of what cognitive science is in practice.