CCSG Concordia Cognitive Science Group

About Us

CCSG provides a forum for communication, organization of events, and collaborative research and teaching for cognitive scientists in the Concordia Community. It was founded in November 2007 by Roberto de Almeida, Dana Isac and Charles Reiss.

Organizers

• Roberto de Almeida (Psychology)
• Dana Isac (Linguistics)
• Charles Reiss (Linguistics)

Concordia Participants by Program

Computer Science

• Sabine Bergler (Computational Linguistics, Knowledge Representation)
• Vašek Chvátal (Optimization, Computational Neuroscience)
• Leila Kosseim (Computational Linguistics)

Linguistics

• Madelyn Kissock (Phonology, Syntax, Acquisition)
• Mark Hale (Phonology, Syntax, Historical Linguistics)
• Daniela Isac (Syntax)
• Linnaea Stockall (Neurolinguistics, Psycholinguistics, Morphology)
• Alan Bale (Semantics)
• Charles Reiss (Phonology)

Philosophy

• Murray Clarke (Philosophy of Mind, Rationality Theory, Evolutionary Psychology)

Psychology

• Roberto de Almeida (Psycholinguistics, Cognitive Architectures)
• Rick Gurnsey (Vision, Computational Modeling of Visual Processes)
• Norman Segalowitz (Attention, Bilingualism)
• Aaron Johnson (Visual Perception, Computational Neuroscience)
• Michael von Grünau  (Perception)
• Diane Poulin- Dubois (Cognitive Development)
• Nathalie Phillips (Neuropsychology of Language and Memory)
• David Mumby (Neuroanatomy of Memory Systems)
• Peter Shizgal (Neural Basis of Motivation and Reward)
• Michael Conway (Social Cognition)
• Karen Li (Memory, Aging)
• J.-R. Laurence (Memory)
• Virginia Penhune (Motor Learning and Neural Plasticity)

Books by members

• The Modularity of Language: A Psycholinguistic Festschrift for Jerry Fodor
  De Almeida, R. G. (ed., in preparation). 
  (Under contract with MIT Press)
• The Phonological Enterprise
  Mark Hale and Charles Reiss
  (2008) OUP
• I-Language: An Introduction to Linguistics as Cognitive Science
  Daniela Isac and Charles Reiss
  (2008) OUP.
• The Traveling Salesman Problem
  by David L. Applegate, Robert E. Bixby, Vašek Chvátal, and William J. Cook
  (2007) Princeton University Press
• Historical Linguistics: Theory and Method
  Mark Hale
  (2007) Blackwell
  
  "The appearance of this book is one of the most exciting events in historical linguistics in many decades: the book is a stunning achievement." Sarah Thomason, University of Michigan
• The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Interfaces
  Gillian Ramchand and Charles Reiss (eds)
  (2007) OUP
• Reconstructing Reason and Representation
  by Murray Clarke
  (2004) MIT Press
• Lexical Semantics and Knowledge Representation
  James Pustejovsky and Sabine Bergler (eds)
  (1992) Berlin: Springer Verlag
• Linear Programming
  by Vašek Chvátal
  (1983) W. H. Freeman & Company

SIP Students

Although it is possible to study aspects of Cognitive Science within a single program or department, students can also design a graduate program in Cognitive Science in the context of the Cognitive Science Research Current of Concordia's Special Individualized Programs (SIP). An individualized program of study provides the possibility for research and graduate studies at both the master's (MA or MSc) and doctoral (PhD)  levels in areas not covered by existing graduate programs, or in areas that combine traditional disciplines. Multidisciplinary fields like Cognitive Science are particularly well-suited for SIP, which facilitates the formation of supervisory committees that span several departments, or even several faculties, at Concordia. A student with interest in language might work with linguists, psychologists and computer scientists, for example.

Several SIP MA students have gone on to PhD programs in Linguistics and Cognitive Science.

See the SIP page or contact us for details.

Events

• Postponed until further notice
  Professor Norbert Hornstein (University of Maryland)
  
  
• October 3 - 4, 2008 at Concordia
  Verb Concepts:
  Cognitive Science Perspectives on Verb Representation and Processing
  
  psychology.concordia.ca/verbconcepts
  
• Thursday, October 9, 2008 at 16:15-17:45 in H-411
  Professor Gary Marcus (New York University)
  Language as Kluge
  
  Download poster PDF
  

Recent Events

• May 9 - 10, 2008 at Concordia
  NAPhC5:
  Fifth North American Phonology Conference
  
  linguistics.concordia.ca/naphc5/
  
• Thursday, May 8, 2008 at 20:00 in H-1220
  Verena Gottschling (York University)
  Levels of perceptual content and visual images
  
  Download POSTER PDF | HTML
  

Cognition Lab Events

• Talks sponsored by the Psycholinguistics and Cognition Lab are announced on their webpage.

Linguistics Events

• Talks sponsored by the Linguistics Students Association are announced on their webpage.

Affiliated Labs / Research Groups

Computational Linguistics at Concordia (CLaC)

Concordia Linguistics Program

Concordia Cognition and Psycholinguistics Lab: Laboratory for the study of language representation, language processing, and the interface between language and other cognitive systems.

Concordia Vision Lab

See also labs of individual members

Concordia's Cognitive Science Reading Group

Courses

The following cog sci courses have been suggested as (potentially) open to students from outside of the home department. For example, a listed advanced philosophy course may welcome linguistics and psychology students. See the undergraduate and graduate calendars and course schedules at concordia.ca for official descriptions, as well as the links below. If you have trouble registering for a course, contact the professor directly for permission and to arrange waiver of prerequisites. Obvious introductory courses like Intro Linguistics and Intro Psychology are not listed here.

• Fall 2008: PHIL 425. Cognitive Science. Instructor Murray Clarke says "It is cross-listed as a Master's course. I will be looking at recent material on concepts, modularity, and nativism by authors such as Stich, Fodor, Carruthers, Cosmides and Tooby, Barrett, Samuels, and others. Last year I had a number of very good students from Psychology and Linguistics."
• Fall 2008: PSYC 725F/2LA. The Cognitive Neuroscience of Concepts and Categories: ''Special Topic" Graduate Seminar. Instructor Roberto G. de Almeida. Click here for syllabus.
• Winter 2009: PSYC 727D/4. Judgement and Decision: Cognitive, Behavioural & Neurobiological Approaches. Instructor Peter Shizgal will know in October if places remain for additional students. Click here for syllabus.
• Each term: LING 222. Language and Mind: The Chomskyan Program. The instructor this year is Alan Bale; the book is by Dana Isac and Charles Reiss.
• Some instructors of the Psychology courses Sensation and Perception 1 and 2 and Cognition 1 and 2 (PSYC 349, 350, 352, 353) have welcomed students without the standard prerequisites in the past. You should contact the appropriate professor for the course and term.

Contact

E-mail:

1. cogsci *AT* alcor *DOT* concordia *DOT* ca

Address:

1. Concordia Cognitive Science Group (CCSG)
2. Concordia University
3. c/o Charles Reiss
4. H663-21
5. 1455 de Maisonneuve W.
6. Montreal, QC H3G 1M8
7. Canada