160121 VO Introduction to Cognitive Psychology for Linguists (2015W)

The course is aimed at giving a comprehensive introduction to cognitive psychology (and, more broadly, to cognitivism), with special emphasis on general issues relevant to linguistics.
Some historical roots, key concepts, methodologies, fundamental approaches and hot issues which characterise this science of (human) mind will be explored. The topics therefore will include, among others, the followings: kinds of explanation in cognitive psychology/science; the concept of internal (mental) representations; kinds of representations and forms of knowledge; levels of description/explanation; the relationship between neuroscience, computer modelling, psychology and linguistics; core views on mental architecture; debates on the origins of knowledge; analogies and dis-analogies between language and other domains of knowledge; the problem of human consciousness in cognitive psychology/science.
Discussing these issues we shall use human linguistic capacities and their various explanations as recurring examples.