Cognitive Science

Test 1 / 1999

Created: 2/28/99

Instructions: Due at 9:30, thursday, March 4. We will not have class that day.

Use the CS main page as the source for your answers. You may submit your answers as hard copy or as e-mail (either as straight e-mail or as a Word attachment).

Answers should be legible (i.e., not hand written), complete, thoughtful, and articulate. You may consult with me via e-mail as you develop your answers (probably a good strategy).

1. Describe the history of cognitive science. Briefly discuss the classic questions in philosophy which now interest cognitive science. Then, fast forward to the 20th century. When does cognitive science emerge? What disciplines does it use as a foil? What are the disciplines which have contributed to cognitive science. Predict the future of cognitive science (i.e., the next 50 years).

2. Why is Alan Turing a central figure to the rise of cognitive science? What was his MAIN contribution? Describe it. Do you think we have met his challenge yet? Why or why not.

3. Pretend you can do anything you want. Describe and assemble the necessary parts to create and maintain an organism in a typical terrestrial habitat. What parts did you pick and how did you assemble them? Why?

4. What is representation? Why is it so important to CS? Give three examples of representations. Finally, discuss the representations inherent in the design of GUI (graphical user interface) computers. How do you see GUI computers changing in the future?

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