Computation and Cognition: The Probabilistic Approach

Computation and Cognition: The Probabilistic Approach
Course Number(s): 
Psych 204, CS 428
Instructor(s): 
Noah Goodman
School(s): 
Stanford University

Semester: 

  • Fall 2018

Course Level: 

  • Graduate, Undergraduate
Class Days/Times: 
Tue 1:50pm to 2:50pm
Thu 1:50pm to 2:50pm
Location: 
380-380X
Prerequisite(s): 
Basic probability theory, computer programming
Course Website: 
Course Description: 

This course introduces the probabilistic approach to cognitive science, in which learning and reasoning are understood as inference in complex probabilistic models. Examples are drawn from areas including concept learning, causal reasoning, social cognition, and language understanding. Formal modeling ideas and techniques are discussed in concert with relevant empirical phenomena.

Resource(s):

  • N. D. Goodman and J. B. Tenenbaum (electronic). Probabilistic Models of Cognition. http://probmods.org
  • N. D. Goodman and A. Stuhlmüller (electronic). The Design and Implementation of Probabilistic Programming Languages. http://dippl.org