▤Study Index ← Overview

Major Course Textbooks · Index

The Major Courses column of the University Plan · the five pillars of cognitive science

2026 first cohort · School of Education · B.Ed. · 149 credits

⚠️ This section is different from Maths and Programming, so let me be upfront:

The core cognitive science textbooks (Gazzaniga, Kandel, Sternberg, Sedivy and others) are almost all under copyright, with no legal free PDF. So this section is mainly my own original notes, alongside a few genuinely free, legally accessible resources (no pirated downloads).

One more thing I have to be honest about: most of what is in the notes is conceptual claims (e.g. "N400 reflects semantic integration"), and that kind of content cannot be verified with code — so I cannot give you the "it actually runs" guarantee that I can for the maths. I did verify the statistics parts; for everything else, please check against the textbook and the primary literature.

Roadmapfrom the official programme

Based on your programme's official curriculum (2026 first cohort). How the 149 credits break down, what is taught in each of the 8 semesters, and how to choose electives.

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Major Course Roadmap Chinese
The 149-credit structure · 23 required courses by semester · four threads · two options for the 16 elective credits · when the placements and the thesis fall
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Original noteswritten by me

Organised by the four pillars of cognitive science plus experimental methods. Each one flags where you need to check things yourself.

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General Psychology Chinese
Sem 1 · the foundation of every cognitive course · research methods (correlation ≠ causation) · signal detection theory · the three big corrections to memory (7±2 → about 4) · judgement and decision making
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Introduction to Linguistics Chinese
Sem 1 · BLCU's home turf · Saussure's four distinctions · the seven levels of language · phonetics / phonology / morphology / syntax / semantics / pragmatics · Hockett's design features
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Introduction to Second Language Acquisition Chinese
Sem 4 · the most central theory course in your major · acquisition vs learning · interlanguage · the critical period hypothesis · Krashen / Swain / Long · emergentism vs universal grammar
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Introduction to Cognitive Linguistics Chinese
Sem 4 · the anti-Chomsky position · conceptual metaphor (argument is war) · prototype theory · image schemas · construction grammar · iconicity in Chinese
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Philosophy of Education Chinese
Sem 4 · the four problem domains (knowledge / human nature / value / fairness) · rationalism, empiricism, pragmatism · Freire's banking model of education · Rawls' difference principle
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Educational Statistics Chinese
Sem 5 · the precise definition of a p-value · effect size · standard error vs standard deviation · seven statistical misuses · the applied version (theory is in the Math module)
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Language Testing & Assessment Chinese
Sem 5 · language ability is a multidimensional construct · CEFR / models of communicative competence · washback · rater reliability · Messick's validity argument
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Principles & Design of Intelligent Agents Chinese ↗ all hands-on
Sem 5 · the five components of a rational agent · five architectures · runnable Python examples included · LLM agents · the reward-shaping problem
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Curriculum & Instruction Chinese
Sem 6 · curriculum theory vs instruction theory · the hidden curriculum · six teaching principles · ADDIE instructional design · Bloom's six levels
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Educational Assessment (I & II) Chinese 4 credits
Sem 4–5 · reliability vs validity (the target analogy) · formative vs summative · difficulty and discrimination · IRT · what makes language testing hard
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Principles of Artificial Intelligence Chinese ↗ shared with the AI major
Sem 3 · four definitions of AI · the Turing test and the Chinese room · A* search · deduction / induction / abduction · overfitting · the three AI waves
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Language Pedagogy Chinese
Sem 3 · the history of teaching methods (grammar-translation → direct → audio-lingual → communicative → task-based) · the four components of communicative competence · the correction debate · the difficulty of teaching Chinese characters
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Introduction to the Learning Sciences Chinese
Sem 3 · the most directly relevant discipline to your major · situatedness and transfer · the three types of cognitive load · the expertise reversal effect · metacognition · design research
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Cognitive Neuroscience of Language Chinese
Sem 3 · the brain basis of language · the N400 / P600 double dissociation · Broca's vs Wernicke's aphasia · the dual-stream model · the neural basis of bilingualism · reading Chinese
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Introduction to Cognitive Science Chinese
Sem 2 · the course your major is named after · the six contributing disciplines · four research programmes compared (computationalism / connectionism / embodiment / dynamical systems) · Marr's three levels · the hard problem of consciousness
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Educational Psychology Chinese
Sem 2 · the four learning theories (behaviourist / cognitive / constructivist / humanistic) · negative reinforcement ≠ punishment · the overjustification effect · expectancy-value theory · reliability vs validity
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L
Modern Chinese Chinese
Sem 2 · BLCU's signature course · initials, finals and tones · tone sandhi rules (third tone, 不) · phono-semantic compounds · 的 / 地 / 得 · the 把 construction
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History of Chinese & Foreign Education Chinese
Sem 2 · Confucius vs Socrates · the two faces of the imperial exam · Herbart vs Dewey · the rise of the class-based school system · five debates that have run for two thousand years
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Principles of Pedagogy Chinese
Sem 1 · the first course of the degree thread · is vs ought · zone of proximal development · two orientations to educational aims · the interface with cognitive science
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Simon, *Cognitive* — chapter-by-chapter guide Chinese
One book covers three required courses (Intro to Cognitive Science / Cognitive Psychology / Principles of AI) · physical symbol systems · problem spaces · experts vs novices · reading route included
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Free online resourceslegal & free · needs internet

These are genuinely free and legally accessible (public institutions / open licences / author-posted). All links tested.

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Noba Project · free psychology modules
Expert-written modules covering cognitive, developmental and social psychology · good as an introduction
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Purves, Neuroscience 2nd ed (NCBI Bookshelf)
the full text of a neuroscience textbook, free · NIH's official platform · authoritative · can serve as your main neuroscience reference
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UTHealth · Neuroscience Online
Free online neuroscience textbook · chapter by system · from UTHealth · clear diagrams
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MIT OCW 9.13 · The Human Brain
MIT cognitive neuroscience course · lecture notes and assignments · free
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MIT OCW 9.00SC · Introduction to Psychology
MIT intro psychology · includes cognition and experimental methods · free
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OpenStax · Psychology 2e
CC-BY licensed textbook · free to read online (the official CDN blocks scripted downloads, but a browser can view or download it)
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Open Textbook Library · Psychology
An open textbook library run by the University of Minnesota · several free psychology textbooks
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OSF · Open Science Framework
Platform for preregistration, data storage and open code · used when you start doing research (pairs with the experimental methodology notes)
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Correctness self-checkre-runnable

Covers only the parts of the notes that can be verified computationally (the statistics). Conceptual content cannot be checked with code.

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自检脚本.py Chinese output
Statistical power · false-positive rate with small samples · multiple comparisons · the winner's curse (overestimated effect sizes)
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How to use: read the original notes to build the frame → then go deeper with the free online resources (Noba / Purves neuroscience) → use a textbook (you have to buy this one) for systematic study → read the primary literature to check the effects the notes describe.

What is special about this field: many "classic findings" in cognitive science were later corrected or overturned (working memory capacity, social priming, and so on). Read any claim and ask "has this been replicated?" — I stress this throughout the notes, and it is the single most important habit in this field.