Intersection Point

Sixteen years ago, the newly-formed UCSD Department of Cognitive Science, the first of its kind in the world, welcomed its first graduate students. The graduate program's mission has been to train researchers in the study of intelligent activity - whether carried out by humans, machines, or social groups - using a multidisciplinary approach informed simultaneously by current knowledge about the brain, behavior, and computation. While this mission remains steadfast, some practical aspects of doing research in cognitive science have changed since those formative days.

One such change has been a continued explosion of knowledge in each of cognitive science’s contributing disciplines. This is the result of various advances including: the development of functional brain imaging; the sequencing of the human genome and the discovery of alleles associated with variation in cognition and behavior; the diffusion of digital videography, allowing fine-grained analyses of motor and social behaviours; and enormous increases in the power of computational systems to store and process information. This accumulation of new knowledge has accentuated more than ever one of the "special burdens" for researchers in such an interdisciplinary field - namely, "to be knowledgeable in and sympathetic to a large variety of fields and techniques" (as pointed out by the Introduction to the new Department in the 1989 UCSD Catalog). The challenge of keeping up to date with important findings is exacerbated by the sheer increase in volume of new literature - for example, by one estimate the number of scientific journals increased from 2,800 in 1960 to 6,800 in 1995. Amidst this ballooning of scientific knowledge the challenge of integrating the contributions of neuroscience, psychology, anthropology, linguistics, artificial intelligence, and philosophy into one cohesive multidisciplinary field is more daunting than ever.

This burden has become manifest in a variety of forms. At recent meetings of the Cognitive Science Society, for instance, attendees may have noticed a strong division between computationally- and behaviorally-minded researchers, few venturing outside their respective symposia (neuroscientists are generally absent from CogSci meetings). One of CSO's editors was surprised to find his old friend, an AI professor, on the final day of CogSci 2004 - the meeting had been so compartmentalized that they had not seen each other in two full days of presentations.

Nowhere is the burden more apparent than in our graduate curricula. Cognitive science students face the challenge of integrating a mixture of techniques, theories, and findings, whose potential interrelationships may not be immediately apparent from their primary sources. Moreover, the skills necessary for successful research in any of cognitive science's sub-disciplines have limited applicability to others – for example, a student who is gifted at designing neuroimaging experiments may struggle with cognitive semantics.

The expanding breadth of our field is also apparent in the current issue of CSO. We imagine that the intersection of readers who find both articles interesting and relevant may be small. Even as our journal seeks to "represent the diversity of ideas floating in our highly variegated field of cognitive science, as too often the lines that have traditionally partitioned its sub-disciplines begin to form impenetrable barriers" (as set forth in the inaugural Letter from the Editors), we wonder whether we are truly succeeding in breaking these barriers.

The burdens of our multidisciplinary approach do not simply disappear by gathering cognitive scientists into a unifying department, organizing conferences, or showcasing diverse findings in an online journal. Rather, special efforts must be undertaken to make research in the various sub-disciplines more accessible to one another.

One such integrative effort, currently in development at UCSD, is the incorporation of "Datablasts" into departmental gatherings. These quick (<20min), refreshing talks are intended to inform a general audience about current ideas and practices within our far-ranging field. Since Datablasts are presented at department-wide functions, students and professors are exposed to research outside their regular circuit of lab meetings and lecture series, in an informal and interactive setting.

Another, more light-hearted channel that may facilitate communication across our sub-disciplines is introduced in this edition of CSO: Cognitive Science Movies. This index of over 100 popular films encompasses a wide variety of cognitive science themes. Movies, having universal appeal, may serve as starting grounds for discourse between traditionally segmented areas. Starting this quarter, the UCSD Cognitive Science Department will also be hosting Movie Nights, intended to foster more integration and community within our multidisciplinary program.

However, even the most valiant institutional efforts to unify cognitive science's burgeoning subject matter will not lift the burden from its individual researchers. We are each responsible for upholding the multidisciplinary torch, to seek and to appreciate research outside our familiar avenues, and to make special efforts at learning new experimental and observational techniques.

We hope that CSO, as a forum "representing the diversity of ideas" in cognitive science, reminds us of our "special burdens," but more importantly, provides our readership with the opportunity to become better-informed multidisciplinary thinkers.