Admission Notice for 2020-21
- This is a notification for all those who have appeared for COGJET 2020 and have received their performance card. Please indicate if you intend to pursue Masters in Cognitive Science at Centre of Behavioural and Cognitive Sciences (CBCS), University of Allahabad by sending an email along with Application Form to Mr. Puneet Kumar, Administrative Officer puneet@cbcs.ac.in.
- We will have the interviews for the Masters program in Cognitive Science at CBCS.
- Dates for interview will be announced shortly.
- There will be no shortlisting of candidates based on the COGJET scores. All applicants will be called for interview.
We will get back to you with more information soon.
Syllabus and Reading List
Part I questions will be approximately at the same level as the CAT (Common Admission Test) for admission to management programs.
The syllabus and reading list for each section in Part II is given below. The resources in the suggested reading lists contain much more material than required by the syllabus. Study only the relevant parts. Also, note that other equally good resources are available in print and digital form and you can use those as well.
Elementary mathematics and basics of computation:
Basics of sets, relations, recurrences, simple combinatorial problems.
Matrices and basic matrix algebra.
Calculus: limits, extrema, simple differentiation and integration, integration as area under the curve.
Elementary probability theory, conditional probability, Bayes theorem, random variables, simple discrete and continuous distributions, expectation, mean, variance, median, percentiles.
Elementary Boolean algebra, number representation and conversion.
Programming: variables, types, declarations, assignment, conditionals, iteration, recursion, functions. (Familiarity with programming and pseudo code is needed but specific programming language questions will not be asked.)
Elementary data structures (arrays).
Basic algorithms like searching, sorting, HCF, LCM, prime finding, similar number based algorithms.
Reading list:
TH Cormen, CE Leiserson, RL Rivest, C Stein, Introduction to Algorithms, 3rd Ed., MIT Press, 2009. (Indian edition is available).
C Hamacher, S Vrosenic, S Zaky, Computer Organization, 5th Ed. McGraw Hill 2011. (Indian edition is available).
Elementary psychology and basics of hypothesis testing:
Basic neuroanatomy. Physical layout of the brain, names of important components and their functions, e.g. cortex, cerebellum, brainstem etc.
What is a neuron? Structure, components, action potentials, synapses etc.
What is the nervous system? Nerves, receptors, connectivity, speed, structure etc.
Psychophysics: absolute and difference thresholds, Weber’s law, Fechner’s Law.
Learning: Associative and non-associative learning, Pavlovian conditioning, Hebbian learning.
Memory: modal model of memory, working memory, phonological loop, visuo-spatial sketchpad, central executive), types of memory (explicit, implicit), memory inhibition effects, e.g. blocking, interference etc. Long-term memory: encoding, retrieval, forgetting.
Visual perception: basics of colour, depth and motion perception, perceptual constancy, and principles of perceptual organization.
Basics of hypothesis testing (e.g. t-test, chi-square, ANOVA), significance, p-value, error types, power and size effects.
Reading list:
Clifford Morgan, Richard King (2017) Introduction to Psychology. 7th Edition. McGraw Hill.
Stangor (2010). MIT – Introduction to Psychology (Open Source – free to download on the internet)
David G. Myers. 2017. Psychology. Macmillan Indian Edition.
Cohen, B.H. (2014) Explaining Psychological Statistics. 4th Ed. John Wiley & Sons.
Mangal, S.K. (2004) Statistics in Psychology and Education. 2nd Ed. Prentice Hall India.
If you want any information or have any problem/clarification specifically about CBCS, please mail to puneet@cbcs.ac.in (Mr. Puneet Kumar) or call on 09005591336. You can also mail Mr. Ishan Singhal (ishan.s@cbcs.ac.in) especially from a student-related perspective.