Faculty of Social Sciences Cognitive Science

Offered As:	Major	Minor
URL:	https://psychology.hku.hk/undergraduate/	https://psychology.hku.hk/undergraduate/
*Open to students of other Faculties:	Yes	Yes
Credits:	72	36
What is it about?	Cognitive Science is the scientific study of the mind and mental phenomena. For example, what is consciousness? Do other animals have language? Could a computer ever think? What is mental imagery? Answering these questions relies upon an interdisciplinary perspective, and so Cognitive Science adopts methodologies from computer science, psychology, philosophy, linguistics, and neuroscience. Students who take this major will be exposed to research in all these disciplines, and will integrate results from across the different approaches in order to more fully understand the complexities of the mind and the brain. A core aspect of the programme is to ensure that students learn skills from different research traditions; for example, a Cognitive Science student could be expected to learn how to run psychological experiments, apply formal linguistic analysis, or critique a philosophical argument. In doing so, this program will develop students who have a variety of formal intellectual skills, and can bring those skills to bear on a range of issues in our increasingly technological world. Students with a Major in Cognitive Science will also be able to act as a bridge between those who are technically skilled and those who seek to understand technology, by placing formal computational analysis within the context of human thought and behaviour.
Offering Faculty/ Department/ School/Institute	Department of Psychology

Pre-requisite requirements and/or other conditions for declaring the major/minor	Major: (i) PSYC1001*; AND (ii)any one from COMP1117/LING1000/LING2034/PHIL1012; AND (iii)2 pre-requisite courses at introductory level from the following units (not more than one from the same discipline): COMP2113/COMP2119/COMP2120/COMP2121/COMP2396; or GEOG1002/GEOG1003/GEOG1005/GEOG1012/GEOG1016/GEOG1017/GEOG1020/GEOG1021; or LING1004/LING2004/LING2009/LING2050/LING2056; or PHIL1034/PHIL1068; or POLI1003 or PSYC1004 or SOCI1001/SOCI1003; or SOWK1001/SOWK1002/SOWK1004/SOWK1011/SOWK1012/SOWK1014/SOWK1015; or SINO1003 Minor: (i) PSYC1001*; AND (ii)any one from COMP1117/LING1000/LING2034/PHIL1012 *Should there be an overlap of introductory courses for the two majors, candidates will be exempted from such requirements for cognitive science major/minor and are required to make up any credit shortfall arising from such double-counting by taking advanced disciplinary electives listed in the cognitive science syllabus For details, please check with Department of Psychology.
Career opportunities	For details, please check with Department of Psychology, Faculty or CEDARS (Careers & Placement)
Further information	https://psychology.hku.hk/undergraduate/
Contact	Telephone: 3917 5867 (Ms. Lau) 3917 7139 (Ms. Luo) Email: ugpsyc@hku.hk

* Note: Students pursuing curricula with major / minor programme(s) must complete at least one major programme from their home Faculties upon graduation. Disclaimer: The information mainly applies to students admitted in 2024-25 and thereafter. For students from different cohorts, the information is only for reference. Please check with Faculty/offering department for details. The pre-requisite requirements / conditions are subject to changes by Faculties from time to time, and students are advised to check with their Faculty Office in case of doubt.