3.0

credits

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Humans are a fundamentally social species with amazing capabilities beyond that of any other biological or artificial system. Yet the cognitive and neural computations underlying our vast social abilities are largely unknown. Advances in machine learning and naturalistic neuroscience paradigms are revolutionizing the way cognitive scientists study social cognition. This course will explore new research in computational social cognition, drawing from topics in development, artificial intelligence, and cognitive neuroscience. Our goal is to understand the motivation, methodology and implications of recent research. The class will be heavily focused on social vision, but will also explore other aspects of social cognition including theory of mind and moral reasoning. This is a discussion-based class that will consist primarily of reading and discussing primary research articles, as well as student-led presentations. While there will not be any hands-on computational exercises, a background in both cognitive neuroscience and computational methods are important to understanding the readings and other course material.