Dr. Bradley Richards
bradrich@yorku.ca
Office Location:  N822 Ross Building
Phone Number:  TBA
Office Hours:  Mondays, 12:30-2:30 (or by
appointment)

This capstone seminar for students in their final year of the COGS Honours BA program aims to deepen students’
understanding of important issues in cognitive science and the interdisciplinary methods that are used to address them.
We will approach this end in two ways. First, as a class we will discuss a range of readings that address important and
controversial issues in contemporary cognitive science. These discussions will be integrated with this year’s
Cognitive
Science Speaker Series, which features prominent cognitive scientists from around the world. We will attend these
talks as well as meet separately with the speaker for an exclusive group discussion. On the day of a talk, the first hour
of our class meeting will be dedicated to a group discussion with the guest speaker. The second and third hours will
consist of the talk and Q&A that is open to all members of the York Cognitive Science Community. Students are
expected to attend and participate throughout. Second, over the course of the year each student will pursue an original
research project, focusing on a specific controversy of their own choosing. This project will culminate in a substantial,
original, interdisciplinary research paper that attempts to make progress on the controversy. The projects are expected
to engage with relevant literature and make empirically informed arguments (though students are not expected to
conduct original experimental research). At the end of each semester, our classroom will transform into a mini-
conference, where students present their work to the rest of the class.

TBA

Class Participation
• 6 Reflections Wednesdays 9am 20%
• 12 follow-ups per term Fridays 5pm 10%
Research Project
• Research Proposal Sept. 30th
3%
• Research Preview Nov. 4th
7%
• Presentation 1 Nov. 23rd
or Nov. 30th
5%
• Initial Research Paper Submission (3.5k-4k words) Dec. 16th
15%
• Revision Plan Mar. 3rd
5%
• Presentation 2 Mar. 29th
or Apr. 5th
10%
• Final Revised Paper Apr. 14th 25%

Tentative Schedule
Fall 2022
September 7th-Introduction to the Course
September 14th-Readings
• Pinto, Y., Neville, D. A., Otten, M., Corballis, P. M., Lamme, V., de Haan, E., Foschi, N., & Fabri, M.
(2017). Split brain: divided perception but undivided consciousness. Brain : a journal of neurology, 140(5),
1231–1237.
• Schechter, Elizabeth. (2018). Subjects of Experience and Subjective Perspectives. Self-Consciousness and
"Split" Brains: The Minds'. Oxford University Press.
• Schechter, Elizabeth (2015). Partial Unity of Consciousness: A Preliminary Defense. In David J. Bennett, and
Christopher S. Hill (eds), Sensory Integration and the Unity of Consciousness. MIT Press.
September 21st-Speaker:
Elizabeth Schechter (University of Maryland)
“Unity of Consciousness: Split Brain and Subjects of Experience”
September 28th-Readings TBA
October 5th-Speaker:
Patrick Cavanagh (York University)
“Visual Perception: Attention and Perceptual Crowding”
October 12th-READING WEEK - NO CLASS MEETING
October 19th-Readings
• Brown, C. L., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2021). Characteristics and consequences of co-experienced positive
affect: understanding the origins of social skills, social bonds, and caring, healthy communities.
Current
Opinion in Behavioral Sciences,
39, 58-63.
• Fredrickson, B. L., & Joiner, T. (2018). Reflections on positive emotions and upward spirals.
Perspectives on
Psychological Science,
13(2), 194-199.
October 26th-Speaker:
Barbara Frederickson (UNC at Chapel Hill)
“"The Goods in Everyday Love: Implications for Individuals and Communities"
November 2nd-Readings
• Egan, A. (2008). Seeing and believing: perception, belief formation and the divided mind. Philos Stud 140,
47–63.
• Jenkin, Z. (2022). Perceptual learning and reasons‐responsiveness.
Noûs.
November 9th-Speaker:
Zoe Jenkin (Washington University)
“Encapsulated Failures”
November 16th-Individual Meetings
November 23rd-Presentations
November 30th-Presentations

Winter 2023
January 11th-Readings TBA
January 18th-Speaker:
Bill Kowalsky (York University)
“Probabilistic Perception”
January 25th-Readings:
• Maoz, U., Yaffe, G., Koch, C., & Mudrik, L. (2019). Neural precursors of decisions that matter—an ERP
study of deliberate and arbitrary choice.
Elife,
8, e39787.
• Seth, A. K. (2018). Consciousness: The last 50 years (and the next).
Brain and neuroscience advances,
2,
2398212818816019.
February 1st-Speaker:
Liad Mudrik (Tel Aviv University)
“Taking a neuroscientific-philosophical approach in studying free will and consciousness”
February 8th-Readings TBA
February 15th-Speaker:
Morgan Barense (University of Toronto)
“Neuropsychology: Memory and Perceptual Representation”
February 22nd-READING WEEK - NO CLASS MEETING
March 1st-Readings TBA
March 8th-Speaker:
John Krakauer (Johns Hopkins University)
“Action”
March 15th- Debrief and Writing Workshop
March 22nd-Individual meetings
March 29th-Presentations
April 5th-Presentation

TBA