COGNITIVE SCIENCE

Module History of COGNITIVE SCIENCE

• STORIA DELLE SCIENZE COGNITIVE
  

  The course aims to provide critical knowledge around the history of cognitive science and the relationship between genetics and cognitive performance.

  The module is organised in three parts:
  

  1. The first is devoted to the epistemological assumptions of scientific knowledge and in particular of studies devoted to the life sciences.
  

  2. The second deals - through a historical and critical path - with the stages that led from the birth of cognitive sciences to the "naturalisation of mind and behavioural performance".
  

  3. The third part is devoted to a critical analysis of the main studies and theories concerning "genetic determinism" and the behaviour/gender/culture relationship.
  

  The overall sense of the course is thus marked by three general questions: what are the epistemological prerequisites for judging that a phenomenon is 'scientifically proven'? What are the main historical and theoretical milestones that have demonstrated a relationship between the behaviour of organisms and their anatomical and physiological structures? If an individual's organic structures are due to its genetic make-up, does its behavioural performance also depend on genes?
  

  To these questions, the course will not provide certain answers since the debate - at least on its most frontier aspects - is still ongoing; it will, however, provide critical tools and knowledge in order to be able to more consciously judge the theoretical aspects and possible practical and/or therapeutic actions related to the questions posed above.
  

Lectures with slide projections and classroom discussions.

Should the teaching be delivered in a blended mode or at a distance, due to the Covid emergency, the necessary changes may be made to the previously stated programme in order to comply with the syllabus set out in the syllabus.

• HISTORY OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE
• Attendance is recommended. The lectures allow a better grasp of the topics covered and the general idea that holds the different themes together. They also provide useful references and digressions. Since the lectures are organised in such a way as to answer questions, they generally generate a dialogue between the participants that helps to assimilate the topics, making study easier and more profitable.

• HISTORY OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE
• 1. The importance of a critical and epistemological approach to the study of the mind.
• 2. The naturalisation of cognitive processes. Evolution by natural selection.
• 3. Instincts, behavioural modules and optimisation models.
• 4. Genetics of inheritance mechanics, neo-Darwinism, population genetics and sociobiology.
• 5. The case of altruism: kin selection, reciprocity and individual strategies, game theory.
• 6. The evolutionary function of emotions.
• 7. The primacy of genetics?
• 8. Limits of genetic reductionism and evolution in 4 dimensions. The brain constructing itself.
• 9. Genes and culture. Gender diversity and conflict: from seductive strategies to yield maximisation.

Handouts and slides provided by the lecturer (pdf)

Oral. In accordance with the general terms of the integrated course "Cognitive Science".

The learning assessment may also be conducted electronically, should the conditions require it.

• HISTORY OF COGNITIVE SCIENCE
• 1. What are optimisation models?
• 2. What is a 'perceptron' and what are its basic characteristics?
• 3. How does the T.O.T.E. model work?
• 4. How does alternative splicing work?