2025-2026 Catalog

COGS 262 Culture, Identity, and Cognition

This course will examine the multifaceted relationship between culture and cognition. How do our cultural and environmental contexts shape our perceptions, knowledge, and behaviors? How do specific aspects of a culture change the ways in which people acquire, store, and process information? What is the relationship between culture, our experiences, and our social identities? To what extent do our beliefs and knowledge structures vary across populations? In this course, students will explore these questions and more using the tools of cognitive science. Topics will include conceptual development, knowledge organization, causal reasoning, cultural transmission, morality, trust, and cooperation.

Credits

4 units

Prerequisite

COGS 101 or permission of instructor

Core Requirements Met

  • Mathematics/Science