Seminar: Thought without Language

Catalog description

In this seminar we will tackle key topics in cognitive science through the lens of comparative and developmental psychology. Human infants in the first year of life and nonhuman animals share an important attribute: they both lack language. What type of thought is possible without language? What can we learn about the human mind by studying animal and infant cognition? We will explore topics such as concepts and categories, metacognition, numerical cognition, helping and sharing, and understanding other minds using empirical papers. The course will be heavily discussion-based and students will be required to give multiple short presentations and write one paper.