Mississippi State University’s department of psychology is offering a new program to students interested in cognitive science. MSU has offered a graduate program in cognitive science for almost a decade. The cognitive science certificate program was finally approved over the summer.
Stephen Klein, head professor of the department of psychology, said rather than getting a degree in cognitive science, students can now take a set of courses that will reward them with a certificate.
The new program is an attempt to bring together the psychology, computer science and engineering areas to form a core study.
“Cognitive psychologists study how people perceive their emotions and apply what they learned to real world problems,” he said.
Undergraduates will have the chance to take courses that will allow them to understand how the mind works and appreciate the applications.
It is the job of cognitive psychologists to tell engineers how to design a machine that would be usable to people.
Klein said this opportunity will give students marketable credentials and make them appear much more attractive to businesses.
Carrick Williams, assistant professor of the department of psychology, said the program encourages students to explore the questions cognitive science addresses from their own viewpoint.
“[The certificate is beneficial] for computer science majors who want to examine the idea of artificial intelligence, or a psychology major who wants to see how to make a computational model of a thought process,” Williams said.
The MSU faculty is trying to encourage students currently involved with the Social Science Research Center, Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems and the Institute for Neurocognitive Science and Technology to take part in the program, he said.
The new cognitive science certificate program is trying to emphasize the strengths and take students who would not normally branch out into other areas.
With the new program, students will get a broad perspective, which they can later use in either an industry or academic situation.
“I had a student in my class on sensation and perception who studied computer science,” Williams said. “He saw something in my lecture that motivated him in his own research.”
The program’s faculty wants to expose its students to one of the university’s strengths that they cannot learn about anywhere else.
Deborah Eakin, assistant professor for the department of psychology, said letting undergraduates and graduates know about the new program is a way to approach its beginning.
“My overall mission as a cognitive psychologist is to let people know that there is a different kind of psychology out there,” she said. “MSU is really good for this certificate because of the abundance in resources for interdisciplinary work.