Postgraduate Course: Concepts and Categorisation (PSYL11005)
Course Outline
| School | School of Philosophy, Psychology and Language Sciences |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 10 |
| Home subject area | Psychology |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | This course aims to provide a high level of understanding about how humans, as language machines, categorise their experiences from the world around them. The course will cover questions such as how similar objects are categorised as the same or different concepts (e.g., are penguins and canaries more different than they are similar?) and whether similar types of objects (e.g., all fish) might be tagged with linguistically similar names. We'll also ask how categories are encoded at basic levels in the brain using evidence from anomic patients (who might be unable to name fruit, for example, but not animals). Finally, we'll consider how the brain creates abstract linguistic representations for concrete sensory experiences. We'll look at how categories pertaining to the senses are likely retrieved by re-activation of those same sensory regions in the brain (e.g., does merely thinking of food-names activates regions involved in taste perception?). We'll also consider cases of synaesthesia, where this sensory-conceptual categorisation gives rise to overt sensory perception during reading (e.g., tasting food in the mouth when reading food-names). |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | No |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| An advanced understanding of research in concepts and categorisation. |
Assessment Information
| One 2500 word assignment and satisfactory course presentation |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Not entered |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Not entered |
| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Julia Simner
Tel: (0131 6)50 3450
Email: |
Course secretary | Miss Toni Noble
Tel: (0131 6)51 3188
Email: |
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