Professors: Herv� Abdi, Peter Assmann, James C. Bartlett, W. Jay
Dowling,. , George M. Gerken (emeritus), Richard M. Golden, Susan W. Jerger,
Aage R. M�ller, George Moushegian (emeritus), Alice O�Toole,
Associate Professors: Lawrence J. Cauller, William F. Katz, Michael
Kilgard, Lucien T. Thompson
Assistant Professors:Marco Atzori, Daniel Krawczyk, Christa McIntyre �
Distinguished Scholar in Residence: James Jerger
The Master of Science in Applied Cognition and Neuroscience (ACN) program is
an applied multidisciplinary program which incorporates and integrates
methodologies from such diverse fields as psychology, neuroscience, and
computer science. The Cognition and
Neuroscience specialization area provides a flexible multidisciplinary
curriculum for studying the mind and brain which is designed to be adaptable to
the individual student�s interests. Students enrolling in the Cognition and
Neuroscience specialization area with backgrounds in psychology and
neuroscience will have the opportunity to gain the diverse skills needed to
collect and interpret behavioral and neurophysiological data.The Computational Modeling/Intelligent Systems
specialization area provides advanced training applicable to developing
mathematical and computer simulation models of the brain and behavior as well
as the development of artificially intelligent systems. �The Human
Computer Interaction specialization area provides excellent preparation for
work in areas involving human computer interactions such as usability
engineering issues associated with the design and evaluation of user-friendly
web-based systems. The Neurological
Diagnosis and Monitoring specialization area provides advanced training and
preparation for using functional brain imaging methodologies such as: EEG,
SPECT, PET, and fMRI for both clinical and experimental investigations. All four
specialization areas provide excellent preparation for doctoral work in the
Cognition and Neuroscience area.
The Master of Science in Applied Cognition and
Neuroscience (ACN) program is a multidisciplinary program which should be of
interest to business professionals interested in retraining or continuing
education and are currently working full-time in a professional-level job.
Business professionals in different fields should pursue the appropriate
�specialization area� within the ACN degree program. Many courses in the ACN
program are offered periodically as evening courses which meet either once or
twice a week.
�
Software development professionals whose focus
is the development of web sites can acquire advanced training in the design and
evaluation of web-site effectiveness using advanced behavioral science
methodologies through the Human-Computer
Interaction �specialization area.
�
Psychological counselors, and Education
professionals (e.g., high school science teachers, adult literacy educators)
will greatly benefit from the basic neuroscience and psychological science
courses which are offered by the Cognition
and Neuroscience specialization area.
�
Medical Health professionals (e.g., MRI
Technicians and Radiologists) who are working in the area of brain imaging
technology will find the Neurological
Diagnosis and Monitoring specialization area to be relevant for improving
their knowledge and understanding of functional brain imaging technologies such
as: EEG, SPECT, PET, and fMRI.
�
Software development professionals interested in
the area of the implementation of complex mathematical algorithms in software.
Such mathematical algorithms are now widely embedded in a variety of software
programs for the purposes of providing �intelligent assistance� to the
end-user. Software development professionals interested in continuing education
in this area should consider the Intelligent
Systems� specialization area in
the ACN program.
In addition, to numerous individual faculty research labs,
the Applied Cognition and Neuroscience Program utilizes several facilities
which are shared among faculty and graduate students. The Computational Systems
Laboratory consists of a network of more than a dozen SUN workstations which
are used for computationally intensive models of perceptual, cognitive, and
neural processes as well as high-volume data analyses. The Computational
Systems Laboratory is located in Green Hall at the
The University�s general admission requirements are discussed here.
Admission to the Applied Cognition and Neuroscience Program is based on a
review of the applicant�s GPA, letters of recommendation, and narrative
description of interests and career goals. GRE scores may be submitted with the
applicant�s application but are not required.
The University�s general degree requirements are discussed here.
All students in the program are required to regularly review their degree
plans with their program advisor. In all areas of specialization students
complete 6 hours of approved core courses, 6 hours of approved laboratory
courses, 6 hours of approved advanced elective courses, 12 hours of coursework
in an approved specialization area, and 6 hours of internship courses. A grade
of �B� is the required passing grade for coursework used to fulfill the core
course and laboratory course requirements of the degree. Coursework used to
fulfill the advanced elective requirement may be taken pass/fail. Internship
coursework must be taken pass/fail.
Select two of the following approved core courses:
ACN 6330 Cognitive Science I
ACN 6340 Cellular Neuroscience
ACN 6345 Cognitive Science II
ACN 6346 Integrative Neuroscience
Select two of the following approved laboratory courses:
ACN 6312 Research Methods I
ACN 6313 Research Methods II
ACN 6381 Observational Research Methods
ACN 6315 Grant Writing for Researchers
ACN 7345 Neuroanatomy Laboratory
ACN 7378 Advanced Neurophysiology Methods
ACN 5314 Cognitive and Neural Modeling Laboratory
ACN 7367 Speech Perception Laboratory
ACN 7335 Computational Neuroscience
ACN 7322 Computational Models of Language Understanding
ACN 6343 Human Computer Interactions Lab
Select two advanced elective courses: These courses may be chosen from
either the Graduate Program in Human Development and Communication Sciences or
the Applied Cognition and Neuroscience Program or the courses may be chosen
from outside the
The following four specialization areas have been approved for the Applied
Cognition and Neuroscience program but alternative specialization area
proposals may be submitted for consideration to the Applied Cognition and
Neuroscience program head.
Students selecting this specialization area should take two:� ACN 6330 Cognitive Science I and ACN 6346
Systems Neuroscience to fulfill core course requirements. Students should take
ACN 6312� Research Methods I and ACN 6313
Research Methods II. Students selecting this specialization area are approved
to select any course from the ACN program (i.e., courses with the prefix ACN)
or the Cognition and Neuroscience Area of the Graduate Program in Human
Development and Communication Sciences (i.e., courses with the prefix HCS).
Students selecting this specialization area should take ACN 6330 Cognitive
Science I and ACN 6346 Systems Neuroscience to fulfill core course
requirements. Students should take ACN 6312 Research Methods I and ACN 6313
Research Methods II. It is recommended that students with strong backgrounds in
computer science or engineering do not take ACN 6312. In addition, students
should take two of the following three courses: ACN 6341 Human Computer
Interactions I, ACN 6342 Human Computer Interactions II, and ACN 6343 Human
Computer Interactions Lab. Students pursuing the behavioral sciences track should take two of the following courses:
ACN 6322 Perception, ACN 6333 Memory, ACN 6367 Speech Perception, and HCS 7349
Text Comprehension Seminar. Students pursuing the user-interface development track should take: CS 5343 Algorithm
Analysis and Data Structures and CS 6354 Software Engineering. Note that the
prerequisites for CS5343 are: CS5303 Computer Science I (or equivalent) and CS
5333 Discrete Structures. Students specializing in the Human Computer
Interactions area should regularly review the Arts and Technology courses
offered in the
Students concentrating in this area should take ACN 6330 Cognitive Science I
and ACN 6346 Systems Neuroscience to fulfill core course requirements. All
students in this specialization area should take ACN 6313 Research Methods II
and either:� ACN 5314 Cognitive and
Neural Modeling Lab or ACN 6347 Intelligent Systems Analysis. Students pursuing
the computer simulation modeling track
should take at least one of the following courses: ACN 7335 Computational
Neuroscience, ACN 7367 Speech Perception Lab, ACN 7322 Computational Models of
Language Understanding. Students pursuing the mathematical modeling track will satisfy the advanced elective
requirement in this specialization area by taking the sequence: ACN 6346 Neural
Net Mathematics, ACN 6347 Intelligent Systems Analysis and ACN 6349 Intelligent
Systems Design. Note that STAT 5351, linear algebra, multivariable calculus,
and ACN 5314 Cognitive and Neural Modeling Lab are recommended prerequisites
for: ACN 6346. The following Computer Science�
and Electrical Engineering courses are pre-approved electives for
students specializing in the Intelligent Systems area who have the appropriate
prerequisite background in computer science and/or electrical engineering:
CS6320 (Natural Language Processing), CS 6321 (Discourse Processing), CS6364
(Artificial Intelligence), CS6373 (Intelligent Systems),� CS6375 (Machine Learning), CS6384 (Computer
Vision), EE6362 (Speech Processing), EE6363 Digital Image Processing, EE6364
(Pattern Recognition), and EE 6365 (Adaptive Signal Processing).
Neurological
Diagnosis and Monitoring Specialization Area
ACN 7V71 Industry Internship (1-6 credit hours). This course may be taken only
pass/fail.
ACN 7V72 Research Internship (1-6 credit hours) . This course may be taken only
pass/fail.
HCS 8V80 Research in HCS (1-6 credit hours). This course may
be taken only pass/fail.