Web Site of the Program

Head of Program : Hüseyin Oktay (Data Science)

Associate Program Heads: Lucas Thorpe (Philosophy), Güneş Ünal (Psychology)

Executive Committee : : İnci Ayhan (Psychology), Ümit Atlamaz (Linguistics), Lucas Thorpe (Philosophy), Emre Uğur (Computer Eng.), Güneş Ünal (Psychology)

Professors : Yağmur Denizhan (Electrical & Electronics Eng.), Gülcan Erçetin (Foreign Language Education), Burak Güçlü (Biomedical Eng.), Tunga Güngör (Computer Eng.), Mehmet Yiğit Gürdal (Economics), Berna Kılınç (Philosophy), A.C. Cem Say (Computer Eng.), Stephen Voss (Philosophy)

Associate Professors : İnci Ayhan (Psychology), Elena Guerzoni (Linguistics), Esra Mungan (Psychology), Mine Nakipoğlu (Linguistics), Arzucan Özgür (Computer Eng.), Deniz Tahiroğlu (Psychology), Lucas Thorpe (Philosophy), Emre Uğur (Computer Eng.), Güneş Ünal (Psychology)

Instructors : Elif Canseza Kaplan*

Assistant Professors : Ümit Atlamaz (Linguistics), Başak Aydemir (Computer Eng.), Nazik Dinçtopal (Foreign Language Education), Arhan Ertan (International Trade), Ena Hodzik (Translation & Interpreting Studies), Suzan Üsküdarlı (Computer Eng.), H. Birkan Yılmaz (Computer Eng.)

, • Adjunct

The Master of Arts Program in Cognitive Science aims at introducing the students to the investigation of cognitive processes of various dimensions. It is offered through the cooperation of the Computer Engineering, Linguistics, Philosophy and Psychology Departments/disciplines.

To fulfill the requirements of the M.A. program, students must complete a minimum of 26/32 credits of course work and submit a thesis supervised by their academic advisor. The course work consists of three courses in each of the two areas selected by the student, plus two free elective graduate courses. In the second year, students are expected to write a thesis on a topic that involves the two areas in which they specialized in their first year.

The advisor of the program oversees the selection of courses by the student and the course list for each semester is finalized upon the advisor’s consent.

Each student is expected to take a maximum of eight undergraduate courses in their remedial year in preparation for the program. Four of those courses, one from each disipline, are taken in the first semester of the remedial year. In the second semester, students are expected to select two areas for specialization and take two courses in each of these areas. Those students who hold a Bachelor’s degree in any one of the four disciplines must choose two areas out of the remaining three. An additional requirement for the remedial year is that students take COGS 500 Introduction to Cognitive Science. If any of these courses (or their equivalent) were already taken by the student, those course requirements can be waived by the consent of the advisor.

The courses and their distributions in terms of the semester during the academic year are as follows:

 MASTER OF ARTS PROGRAM IN COGNITIVE SCIENCE

REMEDIAL

PROGRAM

 

*Students are to choose two disciplines out of the available four, when they enter the program as their specialization areas for the remedial year. Those two have to be different from the one in which they obtained their Bachelor’s degree.

**The two areas at the graduate level do not have be the same as those at the remedial year. That is, if the sudent was a graduate of one of the disciplines represented in the program, then s/he may choose that discipline as one of the areas at the graduate level.

COURSES

REMEDIAL COURSE LIST
Computer Engineering
CMPE 150 Introduction to Computing
       or an equivalent programming course
CMPE 210 Fundamentals of Object Oriented Programming
CMPE 220 Discrete Computational Structures
CMPE 300 Analysis of Algorithms
CMPE 350 Formal Languages and Automata Theory
CMPE 480 Introduction to Artificial Intelligence

Linguistics
LING 111 Introduction to Language & Linguistics
LING 300 Morphology
LING 301 Phonology
LING 302 Syntax

Philosophy
PHIL 131 Logic I
PHIL 222 Philosophy of Science
PHIL 232 Scientific Thought
PHIL 273 Epistemology
PHIL 284 Free Will and Determinism
PHIL 301 Problems in Contemporary Philosophy
PHIL 342 The problem of Perception
PHIL 372 Philosophy of Language
PHIL 375 Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 380 Philosophy of Action
PHIL 402 Ego
PHIL 420 Advanced Philosophy of Science
PHIL 421 Theories of Rationality
PHIL 422 Mind and Cognition
PHIL 480-498 and PHIL 48A- 49Z Special Topics in Philosophy
PHIL 499 Individual Study

Psychology
PSY 228 Cognitive Psychology
PSY 233 Life-Span Development: Biological and Cognitive Processes
PSY 271 Introduction to Neuroscience: Brain and Behavior
PSY 301 Research Methods in Social Sciences I
PSY 304 Experimental Psychology
PSY 326 Human Memory
PSY 327 Sensation and Perception
PSY 48A-Z Selected Topics in Psychology


AREA/ELECTIVE COURSE LIST
Computer Engineering
CMPE 530 Mathematical Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence
CMPE 537 Computer Vision
CMPE 540 Principles of Artificial Intelligence
CMPE 544 Pattern Recognition
CMPE 545 Artificial Neural Networks
CMPE 561 Natural Language Processing
CMPE 58K Special Topics in Computer Eng.: Bayesian Statistics and Machine Learning
CMPE 565 Autonomous Robots
CMPE 532 Speech Processing
CMPE 630 Intelligent Control

Linguistics***
LING 400 Phonology in the 20th Century
LING 406 Language and Identity
LING 408 Language and Gender
LING 453 Introduction to Discourse Analysis
LING 461 Brain and Language
LING 501 Aspects of Phonology
LING 502 Issues in Government Phonology
LING 512 Morphological Analysis
LING 522 English-Turkish Contrastive Grammar and its Application
LING 541 Syntactic Theory
LING 553 Discourse Analysis
LING 480-499 Special Topics in Linguistics
LING 580-599 Topics in Linguistic Theory

Philosophy
PHIL 505 Theory of Knowledge
PHIL 580-588, 591-599 Special Topics in Philosophy
PHIL 590 Directed Study
PHIL 644 Philosophy of Action
PHIL 648 Philosophy of Language
PHIL 652 Philosophy of Mind
PHIL 674 Topics in the Philosophy of Science
PHIL 676 Topics in Logic
PHIL 682 Freedom and Determinism

Psychology
PSY 501 Advanced Research Methods I
PSY 502 Advanced Research Methods II
PSY 521 Advanced Cognitive Psychology
PSY 528 Memory
PSY 531 Advanced Developmental Psychology
PSY 532 Cognitive Development
PSY 588-591 Special Topics in Cognitive Psychology


*** Those students who have selected Linguistics as one of the areas at the second year, are required to include “LING 501 Aspects of Phonology” or “LING 541 Syntactic Theory” as one of the three courses they must select from among the courses offered in this area.

OTHER COURSES

COGS 500 Introduction to Cognitive Science
COGS 579 Graduate Seminar in Cognitive Science


COURSE DESCRIPTION

COGS 500 Introduction to Cognitive Science (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 6
(Bilişsel Bilime Giriş)
Introduction of basic concepts, approaches and issues in the field of cognitive science to increase the awareness of the students to the questions raised in the disciplines of computer science, linguistics, philosophy and psychology; focus on the interaction of these disciplines in approaching the study of the mind; specialization on topics central to cognitive science such as the nature of mental representation, reasoning, perception, language use, learning as well as other cognitive processes of humans and other intelligent systems.

COGS 579 Graduate Seminar (0+1+0) 0 Pass/ Fail ECTS 3
(Lisansüstü Seminer)
The widening of students' perspectives and awareness of topics of interest to cognitive science through seminars offered by faculty, graduating thesis students, and invited guests from industry, government, business, and academia. 
 
COGS 580-599 Special Topics in Cognitive Science (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Bilişsel Bilimde Özel Konular)
Study of selected topics in cognitive science, focusing on areas not covered in other graduate courses.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

COGS 690 M.A. Thesis ECTS 60
(Yüksek Lisans Tezi)

CMPE 530 Mathematical Fundamentals of Artificial Intelligence (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Yapay Zekanin Matematiksel Temelleri)
Signal terminology. Empirical modeling and approximation. Probability concept and signal characteristics for classification. Random processes and decision making. Fundamentals of learning. Optimization theory in classification. Information theory and fuzzy concept applications.

CMPE 532 Speech Processing (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Konuşma İşleme)
Man-machine communication. Speech models and representations. Speech synthesis. Speech coding. Speech Recognition. Dynamic Time Warping and Hidden Markov Models. Neural networks for speech processing. Speech enhancement.

CMPE 537 Computer Vision (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Yapay Görme)
Image formation. Early processing: low-level vision and feature extraction. Boundary detection. Region growing. Texture. Motion. Two-dimensional and three-dimensional representation. High-level vision: learning and matching.

CMPE 540 Principles of Artificial Intelligence (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Yapay Zekanın Prensipleri)
General problem solving methods in artificial intelligence. Search methods. Production systems. Games and heuristics. Knowledge representation. Artificial Intelligence Languages.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

CMPE 544 Pattern Recognition (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Örüntü Tanıma)
Bayes decision theory. Parametric and nonparametric methods. Linear discriminant functions. Higher order discriminants with emphasis on artificial neural network-based learning methods. Unsupervised learning and clustering. Case study: Vision.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

CMPE 545 Artificial Neural Networks (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Yapay Sinir Ağları)
Introduction to cognitive science. Parallel, distributed problems. Constraint satisfaction. Hopfield model. Supervised vs. unsupervised learning. Single vs. multi-layer perceptrons. Static vs. dynamic network architecture. Comparison of neural approaches with parametric and nonparametric statistical methods. Neural network applications.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. 
 
CMPE 561 Natural Language Processing (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Doğal Dil İşleme)
Levels of natural language processing: morphological, syntactic and semantic analysis. Transformational grammars. Affix grammars and 2-level representation and processing. Transition networks and ATN parsing. Meaning and interpretation. Applications: intelligent interfaces, text processing aids, machine translation, natural language understanding.
Prerequisite: CMPE 540 or consent of the instructor.

CMPE 565 Autonomous Robots (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Özerk Robotlar)
Robotic hardware: Sensors, actuators. Review of control methods. Intelligent control approaches. Learning. Planning. Robotic architectures: classical, reactive, behavior-based, hybrid. Multi-agent systems.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

CMPE 58K Special Topics in Computer Eng.: Bayesian Statistics and Machine Learning  (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Bayesçi İstatistik ve Yapay Öğrenme)
Machine learning approaches using Bayesian statistics. Graphical models, directed and undirected models, learning and inference, Hidden Markov models, Linear Dynamical systems, Kalman filtering and smoothing, message passing algorithms, Junction Tree, factor graphs, sum-product, hierarchical Bayesian modeling, Expectation-Maximisation, Variational Approximation texhniques.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.

CMPE 630 Intelligent Control (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 8
(Akıllı Denetim)
Review of control concepts. Definition of intelligent control. Knowledge representation and search methods. Expert systems for control. Fuzzy logic control. Neural networks and control. Evolutionary algorithms and control. Intelligent control architecture. Intelligent control applications.
Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor. 
 
LING 400 Phonology in the 20th Century (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 5
(20. Yüzyılda Sesbilim)
Development of key notions in phonology from the beginning of structuralism to modern generative models. Discussion of the scientific background and the philosophical underpinnings of phonological theory. Comparison of various phonological theories and their central tenets.
Prerequisite: LING 301 or consent of the instructor. 
 
LING 406 Language and Identity (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 5
(Dil ve Kimlik)
Exploring the use of language in the construction of selves and identities and in the formation of social relationships; different approaches, methodologies, and findings from related fields including sociolinguistics, pragmatics, discourse studies, and cultural studies.
Prerequisite: LING 111 or consent of the instructor.

LING 408 Language and Gender (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 5
(Dil ve Toplumsal Cinsiyet)
Exploring connections between language use and gender/sex systems. Introduction to a variety of sociolinguistic concepts such as style, dialect, speech community. Conversation analysis and politeness theory.
Prerequisite: LING 111 or consent of the instructor.

LING 453 Introduction to Discourse Analysis (3+0+0) 3 ECTS 5
(Söylem Çözümlemesine Giriş)
Analysis of the organization and structure of discourse in both written and spoken texts. Examining text structure in terms of cohesion and coherence, rhetoric and genre features as well as the grammatical components of discourse such as sentence structure, information structure and prosody.
Prerequisite: LING 111 or consent of the instructor.

LING 461 Brain and Language (3+1+0) 3 ECTS 5
(Beyin ve Dil)
Overview of language and cognition with particular focus on evolutionary bases of language. Nature/usage based accounts of its emergence; brain sites relevant in linguistic processing, comprehension; First language acquisition.
Prerequisite: LING 111.

LING 501 Aspects of Phonology (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Sesbilim: Çeşitli Yaklaşımlar)
Various theoretical approaches to phonology and the application of these approaches are considered. Issues concerning the phonological structure of languages are investigated with data from individual languages.
Prerequisite: LING 301 or consent of the instructor.

LING 502 Issues in Government Phonology (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Yönetim Sesbiliminde Konular)
Discussion of central notions of Government Phonology, and of the technical aspects of the theory. Comparison of the standard model to some of its descendants as well as to other current models of phonology. Recent developments in the sub-theories of Government Phonology.
Prerequisite: LING 501 or consent of the instructor 
 
LING 512 Morphological Analysis (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Biçimbilim İncelemeleri)
Aspects of morphological structures in linguistic analysis and various theoretical approaches to the subject. Issues concerning the morphological structure of languages are investigated with data from particular languages.
Prerequisite: LING 301, 302 or consent of the instructor

LING 522 English-Turkish Contrastive Grammar and its Application  (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(İngilizce-Türkçe Karşıtsal Dilbilgisi ve Uygulaması)
A detailed analysis and comparison of English and Turkish structure at the phonological, morphological and syntactical levels, followed by analysis of written and textual material.
Prerequisites: LING 301, 302, ENGL 201, TK 204 or consent of the instructor.

LING 541 Syntactic Theory (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Sözdizimi Kuramı)
Analysis of the syntax of natural languages within the framework of generative grammar. Current issues relevant to this particular theory of grammar are considered.
Prerequisite: LING 302 or consent of the instructor.

LING 553 Discourse Analysis (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Söylem Çözümlemesi)
Discourse analysis as an interdisciplinary approach to language use in social context. Discussion of different theoretical frameworks, social theories and methods used in discourse analysis. Readings in current research topics.

LING 480-499 Special Topics in Linguistics (3+1+0) 3 ECTS 5
(Dilbilimde Özel Konular)
Study of selected topics in linguistics, focusing on areas not covered in other undergraduate courses.
Prerequisite: LING 111 or consent of the instructor.

LING 580-599 Topics in Linguistic Theory (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Dilbilim Kuramında Konular)
Extensive reading, discussion and research on topics selected by the instructor.
Prerequisites: LING 301, 302 or consent of the instructor. 
 
PHIL 505 Theory of Knowledge (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Bilgi Kuramı)
A comprehensive survey of one or a number of chosen problems such as the nature, limit and source of human knowledge, truth, skepticism, foundationalism and holism, justification, theories of perception, criteria of knowledge and its classification. 
 
PHIL 580-588, 591-599 Special Topics in Philosophy (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Felsefede Özel Konular)
Study of special topics in philosophy not covered in other courses at the master's level.

PHIL 590 Directed Study (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Yönlendirilmiş Çalışma)
Reading and research on a topic of interest chosen by the student and approved by the instructor.

PHIL 644 Philosophy of Action (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Edim Felsefesi)
An examination of theories concerning the analysis of human action, intention, describability of action and its ontic consequences, reasons and causes, differences between voluntary and merely intentional action, freedom of the will and responsibility.

PHIL 648 Philosophy of Language (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Dil Felsefesi)
A detailed examination of various aspects of contemporary philosophy of language. Theories of meaning, reference, sentential form, the relation of meaning to truth, topics such as mental representation, speech acts, and the ontological dimensions of meaning.

PHIL 652 Philosophy of Mind (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Zihin Felsefesi)
An in depth study of recent developments in the philosophy of mind such as behaviorism, central-state materialism, functionalism, problems of supervenience, representation and content.

PHIL 674 Topics in the Philosophy of Science (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Bilim Felsefesi Konuları)
An in-depth study of some of the major issues and controversies in the philosophy of science.

PHIL 676 Topics in Logic (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Mantık Konuları)
An examination of one or more topics such as modal logic, many-valued logic, free logic and the like, and philosophical problems that arise in connection with them.

PHIL 682 Freedom and Determinism (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 10
(Özgürlük ve Determinizm)
An examination of the problem of human freedom and determinism in relation to action and intention, taking into consideration the metaphysical and/or moral implications. 
 
PSY 501 Advanced Research Methods I (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 8
(İleri Araştırma Yöntemleri I)
General survey of social science research techniques. Experimental and non-experimental research designs. Measurement theory, reliability and validity. Sampling theory and designs. Overview of statistical evaluation procedures.

PSY 502 Advanced Research Methods II (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 8
(İleri Araştırma Yöntemleri II)
Data collection and scaling procedures. Multivariate analysis techniques; regression analysis, factor analysis and related procedures. Complex experimental procedures. The writing of research reports.

PSY 521 Advanced Cognitive Psychology (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 8
(İleri Bilişsel Psikoloji)
An in-depth analysis of advanced topics in human cognitive processes underlying perception, mental imagery, short- and long-term memory, language comprehension, decision making, problem solving and skilled performance, including both theory and basic experimental findings.

PSY 528 Memory (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 8
(Bellek)
An examination of historical and contemporary theoretical approaches in the field of memory; evaluation of empirical findings, including implications for memory related disorders.

PSY 531 Advanced Developmental Psychology (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 8
(İleri Gelişim Psikolojisi)
An in-depth survey of classical and current issues in developmental psychology with reference to theory and empirical research.

PSY 532 Cognitive Development (4+0+0) 4 ECTS 8
(Bilişsel Gelişim)
An overview of both classical and recent theories of cognitive development discussed in the light of empirical findings.

PSY 588-591 Special Topics in Cognitive Psychology (2+0+4) 4 ECTS 8
(Bilişsel Psikolojide Seçilmiş Konular)
Readings and/or research on special topics in cognitive psychology.