Cognitive Archaeology Degree Plan

Cognitive archaeology is a multidisciplinary field that draws primarily upon concepts and theories from psychology and anthropology to reach a broader understanding of archaeological artifacts and the minds of their makers. This discipline also applies concepts and theories from other fields such as the neurosciences, neuropsychology, linguistics, evolutionary theory, behavioral genetics, and philosophy. Cognitive archaeology considers the origins and adaptive evolutionary purposes of cognitive processes and capabilities, including concept formation, spatial cognition, social cognition, language, symbolic structures, working memory, and many others.

Students interested in cognitive evolution.

Knowledge of psychology includes an overview of general psychology and its major paradigms (e.g., psychoanalytic, behaviorism, humanism, cognition, and evolutionary psychology), statistics and research methodology, abnormal psychology, biopsychology, and learning and cognition.

Knowledge of archaeology will include its biological foundations, cognitive evolutionary archaeology, archaeology’s history and current practice, and a field practicum.

ANTH 2250/PSY 2250/ID 2250 Introduction of Cognitive Archaeology (required - 3 credit hours).