About Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences
Cognitive & Linguistic Sciences is the study of how the mind works -- a dynamic interdisciplinary approach to the investigation of the nature and origins of thought and language. Cognitive scientists seek answers to fundamental questions about the mental processes: How is it that we can learn and remember? Sense the world around us? What is the relationship between the mind and the brain? How has evolution shaped the mind? Could a computer think? Linguistics is the study of questions relating the structure, history, philosophy, and psychology of language: What are the properties of languages and how are they acquired? How did language evolve and how have languages changed over time? How is language organized in the brain?
Answers to these questions are found by using techniques and expertise from a number of different disciplines including psychology, linguistics, computer science, philosophy, and cognitive neuroscience. Despite differences in methods of investigation, cognitive scientists have a commitment to a set of ideas: that the mind is a function of the brain, that thinking is a kind of computation, that language and cognition can best be understood as a set of specialized processes and representations. More recently, greater attention has been given to the impact of evolution on thought and language.
How is cognitive and linguistic sciences different from neuroscience?
Students may wonder how the cognitive and linguistic sciences major differs from the neuroscience major. The answer is that they are related but distinct disciplines. Both disciplines are committed to understanding how the mind works but the subject matter, emphasis, and methodology is different in the two fields. Neuroscientists are interested in any and all aspects of the brain, which can lead them to study questions that deal with the molecular and cellular levels of analysis: e.g., What are the electrical properties of neurons? How do neurons communicate? They may also investigate questions involving cognitive functions and their localization in the brain: e.g., In what part of the brain are memories stored? How do the two hemispheres differ in the way they process language?Cognitive scientists, however, do not work at the molecular, cellular, or chemical levels of analysis. Many cognitive scientists study questions about mental processes that don't involve direct study of the brain at all. For example, they may do experiments to discover what children know about grammar or word meaning without also investigating the underlying brain processes involved. Or they may be involved in simulating language use on computers as a way to understand how humans use language. Others may be involved in a more philosophical inquiry into the nature of meaning and what humans could know about it.
If you aren't sure whether you want to be a cognitive and linguistic sciences major or a neuroscience major, you may want to take some courses in both majors to see which approach is best suited to your interests. Wellesley College does not offer a major specifically in cognitive neuroscience; however, courses in cognitive neuroscience can be taken as part of either major. Advisors in both majors are available to assist you in making these decisions.
