Thursday, November 27, 2025

Retirement party for Jo-Anne LeFevre, John Logan and Adelle Forth – in pictures

Congratulations!!! Our event was attended by 60+ faculty and staff; the view wasn't the best thanks to the fog but the conversation and tributes were great! Not to mention our Lemon Buttercream cake and chocolate cupcakes!                            ... More

Monday, November 24, 2025

Summer 2026 Contract Instructor Opportunities

Please review the attached Contract Instructor Opportunities Ad noting the application deadline of January 9,... More

Tuesday, November 18, 2025

Nov 19th Colloquium:

For the last Colloquium of the Fall 2025 semester, we invite you all to join us for a Writing Group.  When: November 19th, 15:00 - 17:00 Where: DT2203 only Looking for motivation to write? Come to our writing group! Bring your ideas (and your laptop or notebook). You can work quietly, share feedback in small... More

Monday, October 27, 2025

Oct 29th Colloquia: From Cog Sci to Career

Our Colloquia on October 29th will be a Panel Discussion with three Alumni discussing their journey from Cognitive Science to their career. Join on campus (DT 2203) from 3:00 - 4:00 or Zoom... More

Friday, October 17, 2025

Cognitive Science mentioned in MacLean’s 2026 Uni rankings

  Carleton was ranked 4th in Canada in Maclean's 2026 Comprehensive category! Each ranked University was highlighted with its own info page and Cognitive Science was mentioned in Carleton's... More

Thursday, October 9, 2025

Cog Sci Master’s student Theo Pana awarded a 2025 Vector Scholarship in Artificial Intelligence

Theo Pana has just starting his master’s program in Cognitive Science after completing his Bachelor of Cognitive Science with a Concentration in Computation here at Carleton. He will focus his research on modeling human cognition with AI systems to better understand the mind. Vector Institute awards up to $2.1 million in scholarships to... More

Thursday, October 2, 2025

Rebecca Merkley’s UNESCO working paper published

Rebecca Merkley is part of a broad initiative with UNESCO called the Global Alliance on the Science of Learning for Education. As background research to assist in drafting UNESCO's 2024 Global Report on Early Childhood Care and Education:The right to a strong foundation, she was commissioned to write a brief on the evidence supporting... More

Wednesday, October 1, 2025

Experiencing Nature – Minding the Brain podcast

In their latest edition of Minding the Brain, Jim Davies and Kim Hellemans interview Dr. John Zelenski and paddleboarder & author Dan Rubinstein about the benefits of being out in... More

Thursday, September 25, 2025

Cog Sci Colloquium – Oct 1st – Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI)

Join us on October 1, 15:00 – 16:00, for our next colloquium on Generative aritifical intelligence (GenAI) with Dr. Jim Davies. Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) can improve one’s scientific output in terms of quality and speed. In this talk, Dr. Jim Davies will discuss some current GenAI tools and how to use them effectively... More

Thursday, September 18, 2025

Cog Sci Colloquium – Sept 24th — How to Make Neurons Compute and Control

Join us on Sept. 24, 15:00 - 16:00 for our next Colloquium "How to Make Neurons Compute and Control: Report from the Summit on Neuromorphic Adaptive Programming (SNAP)". Everyone is welcome and you can join on campus (DT2203) or Zoom (https://carleton-ca.zoom.us/j/96979364539) Scroll down to Meet our Panelists! For more information, see:... More

Friday, September 12, 2025

Cog Sci Colloquium – Sept 17 – Applying for Scholarships

Applying for scholarships? Join us on September 17th, 15:00-16:00 (during the CU Cog Sci Colloquium) for a Tri-Council Scholarship Workshop! All are welcome! In this workshop, Dr. Muldner will answer questions about the scholarships, as well as provide tips on writing a research statement. Note that the Ph.D. Tri-Council deadlines (NSERC, SSHRC,... More

Tuesday, September 2, 2025

Welcome to all our incoming students

To all our incoming students, welcome to the Department of Cognitive Science! We hope you are ready to explore, ask questions, and engage. Best wishes for a great... More

Thursday, July 31, 2025

Jim Davies in Nautilus about Moral Motivations

Lots of studies have looked at moral behavior, but few have looked at moral motivations. In this article in Nautilus magazine, Jim Davies reports on a huge study of almost a million individuals across multiple countries that found that people report being motivated more by helping others than more self-oriented motivations like gaining reputation.... More

Thursday, July 17, 2025

Jim Davies collaborates with musician Dr. Jesse Stewart and poet Jamaal Amir Akbari

Jim Davies participated in a project with musician Dr. Jesse Stewart and poet Jamaal Amir Akbari exploring cross-media improvisation. Over a series of several sessions, the three participants improvised in real time: Davies with calligraphy, Stewart with percussion, and Akbari with poetry. The result was a paper, which includes links to the... More

Monday, July 7, 2025

Is social media good for mental health or not?

The latest two episodes of Minding the Brain are now out. Jim Davies interviews Dr. Kim Hellemans and Dr. Andrea Howard in front of a live... More

Friday, July 4, 2025

PhD Student Brendan Conway-Smith Co-Authors Article in the Hill Times on Canada’s AI Strategy

Cognitive Science PhD student Brendan Conway-Smith recently co-authored an article in The Hill Times addressing Canada’s evolving artificial intelligence (AI) strategy. Here is the link to the article: AI action plan: rewiring government for public good - The Hill... More

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

A.I. Challenge Podcast

Kathleen Fraser of National Research Council and Mary Kelly were invited as panelists at Carleton’s 2025 Challenge Conference on AI on May 13. While at the conference, Fraser and Kelly were interviewed by Carleton’s journalism students as part of the AI Challenge Podcast. Listen to the podcast... More

Monday, June 16, 2025

Congratulations Graduates!

Congratulations to the Class of 2025! Follow this link for details of the Departments' convocation ceremonies... More

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Departmental TA Award Winners

Akshaya Kirithy Baskar is the recipient of the 2024-25 Cognitive Science Teaching Assistant Award! Akshaya was selected "in recognition of her dedication as a tutorial leader for the honours seminar. Her ability to foster  discussions,  explain complex concepts, and provide supportive guidance during office hours significantly enhanced our... More

Thursday, May 22, 2025

NSERC $6,000 Student Research Awards

Congratulations to Leah Marshall, one of two Cog Sci undergrad students who were awarded funding to further their research. Leah, under the supervision of Dr. Jo-Anne LeFevre, investigates how preschool-aged children understand number and quantity. She started this project as part of her honours thesis work and is excited to continue building on... More

Friday, May 16, 2025

New paper published on perceptions of ethics and AI

Zoe Roy-Stang's undergraduate research project has been published as an open access journal article with Jim Davies. This paper looks at a variety of human biases in thinking and explores how these biases might influence people's perception of the risk and dangers of advanced artificial intelligence. It also suggests remedies for these biases to... More

Thursday, May 15, 2025

Carleton Challenge Conference explores the AI Paradox

Read the article published in the Carleton Newsroom where our own Mary Kelly participated in a panel discussion on ethics, policy, bias, governance and risks involved with AI. Left to right: Carleton cognitive science researcher Mary Kelly, Assistant Secretary of the Artificial Intelligence Secretariat in the Privy Council Office Jordan Zed,... More

Monday, May 12, 2025

Contract Instructor Opportunities for Fall 2025 – Winter 2026

Contract Instructor opportunities for Fall 2025 and Winter 2026 are now open for application with a May 30, 2025 deadline. All courses are in-person. CI Ad for Fall 2025 and Winter... More

Wednesday, April 16, 2025

TikTok’s Cookie Challenge–Why do Some Children Share?

Rebecca Merkley and Liza Kawaji have an article published in The Conversation which includes several humourous videos. "The cookie challenge is one of the latest trends to go viral on TikTok. In the challenge, parents test how willing their child is to share a cookie. Typically, two adults and one young child each have... More

Friday, April 11, 2025

Sleeping well?

Jim Davies is interviewed in The Charlatan, Carleton's student newspaper, about the effectiveness of sleep podcasts. Published April 1, 2025. Like a kid again Graphic: Alisha Velji, the... More

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Rebecca Merkley wins 2025-26 Early Career Research Award

These grants are designed to support the development of research programs by newer faculty in FASS. Awardees will be required to use the funds to prepare and submit a formal application as the Principal Investigator (Applicant) for a major external grant, preferably to a Tri-Agency (SSHRC, NSERC, or CIHR) program, within two years of... More

Thursday, April 3, 2025

Why do we love April Fool’s day pranks?

Jim Davies talks about why we love pranks so much on this April Fool's day episode of CFRA's Ottawa at Work with Patricia Boal. Time 59:00 to 1:06. Aired April 1, 2025.... More

Tuesday, April 1, 2025

Minding the Brain: Cognitive and Brain Science

Minding the Brain Cognitive Science professor Jim Davies along with Neuroscience professor Kim Hellemans interview each other about brain and mind topics related to their backgrounds and research. Minding the Brain is an award-winning science podcast that translates scientific topics in a way anyone can listen to and find meaningful. Follow this... More

Monday, March 31, 2025

Minding The Brain- – Interview with author Cat Bohannon about her book Eve

This latest episode of Minding the Brain is about the evolution of females. Jim & Kim interview Cat Bohannon about her book Eve:How the Female Body Drove 2000 Years of Human Evolution. Listen at: https://mindingthebrainpodcast.com/2025/03/01/the-evolution-of-women-with-cat-bohannon-84/ Or watch the video... More

Monday, March 24, 2025

Jim Davies interviewed on CBC Ottawa Morning re the use of AI in education

  Jim Davies and Julian Daher (of the Ottawa Catholic School Board) are interviewed by Rebecca Zandbergen on CBC Ottawa Morning (March 7, 2025) to talk about the promises and dangers of integration of generative artificial intelligence into school curricula. 10m. Listen at:... More

Tuesday, March 18, 2025

Cognitive Science Spotlight

Calling all prospective students! Discover what it means to study Cognitive Science at Carleton University. Meet professors, current students, and visit three labs to better understand the program and opportunities it offers. This event features an introductory workshop that provides a glimpse into the intriguing research of Professor Jim Davies... More

Thursday, March 6, 2025

Newly released article in Cognitive Development

A newly released article entitled Early Number Acquisition in Bilingual Children was authored by Taeko Bourque; Rebecca Merkley; Pierina Cheung; and Daphne Ang. "The current study investigated whether knowledge of number words in one language predicted knowledge of those same number words in another language." To view a PDF of the English summary... More

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

Uzma Khan, Cog Sci Grad Administrator, awarded King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025)

Our own Uzma Khann was awarded the prestigious King Charles III Coronation Medal (2025) in recognition of outstanding dedication to community service. This esteemed honor celebrates her efforts in supporting local food banks, raising awareness about cancer and diabetes, advocating for women’s shelters, and providing aid to flood victims in... More

Tuesday, March 4, 2025

The Ethics of AI with Mary Kelly and Shane Hewitt – check out this recent podcast!

Earlier this month, Dr. Mary Kelly discussed the ethics of A.I. with Shane Hewitt and the Nightshift: Listen... More

Friday, February 28, 2025

2025 Carleton Cognitive Science Student Conference

2025 Carleton Cognitive Science Student Conference April 10, 2025, at 12:00 PM to 4:30 PM Location: Nicol Building Cost: Free About This Event The central aim of our conference is to provide a venue for graduate students in all areas of cognitive science–at both the Master’s and Ph.D. level–to present and receive feedback on... More