Cognitive abilities have been invoked to do much work in externalist epistemology. An ability condition (sometimes in conjunction with a separate, anti-luck condition) is seen to be key in satisfying direction-of-fit and modal stability intuitions which attach to the accrual of positive epistemic status to doxastic attitudes. While the notion of ability has been given some extensive treatment in the literature (especially John Greco, Alan Millar and Ernest Sosa), the implications for these abilities being particularly cognitive ones has been given less attention. To rectify this oversight, I examine the debate over the nature of cognition from philosophy of cognitive science, paying particular attention to the debate between defenders of internalist theories (Fred Adams, Kenneth Aizawa and Rob Rupert) and externalist theories (so-called “extended mind” positions). Armed with substantive accounts of cognition, I argue that the epistemological externalist’s obligation to repudiate epistemological internalism forces her to adopt some sort of externalist account of cognition.

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Proponents of the Extended Mind Thesis (EMT) argue that the mind literally extends into the world because mental states literally extend into the world. But the arguments presented in favour of these claims are compatible with a much weaker conclusion, expressed as the Extended Machinery of Mind Thesis (EMMT) that secures only the extension of the enablers of mental states. What is required is a mark of the mental that can settle the constitutive versus enabling issue. Both sides of the debate accept non-derived content as a necessary condition on a state‘s being mental but this cannot settle the constitution versus enabling issue, meaning the debate has stagnated because there are no decisive moves left to make. Thus, the strongest move for the EM theorist to make is to reject non-derived content as the mark of the mental and seek an alternative. Because enactivism rejects the representational view of mind then if it can be made to work as an account of mentality it offers promise with regard to the formation of a new mark of the mental on which a genuinely interesting EMT can be based.

The reductionist tenets of the biomedical model of mental illness generate research methods and clinical practices that neglect significant cultural elements of mental illness. The biomedical model is reductionist because it assumes a view of the mind that lends itself to biological reductionism. Developing a more holistic model of mental illness requires replacing the accepted view of mind with a new one. In this paper, research demonstrating the significance of culture to mental illness will be reviewed in order to illuminate the flaws of the biomedical model. The extended mind theory will be analyzed and discussed as a potential basis for the development of a new paradigm within psychiatry, one which transcends the reductionist tendencies of the biomedical model.

Theories of Extended Mind have evolved in waves to reach the present state of disagreement with regard to whether or not external artefacts become part of the mind when used for memory purposes. A four-step approach has been used to address and resolve this disagreement. First, a new component for models of mind which provides a saliency function is provided. This saliency function corresponds to computational elements found necessary in large mainframe computer systems for handling rich data environments. Second, there is introduced a Computational Model of Memory containing the new component which models the operation of human memory. The Computational Model of Memory contains four interoperative elements including the new component, short-term memory, long-term memory, and a cross-reference associator. Third, the work of Marcin Milkowski is drawn upon to obtain a general method of assessing a computational model’s well-formedness, and the method is applied to prove the adequacy of the Computational Model of Memory. According to Milkowski’s schema, the model satisfies most criteria for a well-formed computational model, including in particular a separation between conceptual elements of the model, and constitutive elements of the model, which while explicitly related, are required to subsist at separate logical conceptual levels. Fourth, the Computational Model of Memory is applied to outstanding arguments in Extended Mind to clarify and resolve several of these arguments. The model serves to highlight where the nature of the disagreement depends upon a category error of reference, and further resolves a key disagreement by demonstrating that the mind may treat external artefacts as an alternative realizable constitutive element of short-term and long-term memory.

[pt] Com o objetivo de contribuir para as reflexões filosóficas acerca da presença das tecnologias digitais na educação, e da própria relação humana com essas tecnologias, a pesquisa procura apresentar as principais ideias da Tese da Mente Estendida desenvolvida pelo filósofo e cientista cognitivo Andy Clark. As proposições desse autor, que contrastam com o dualismo cartesiano - uma vez que unem o cérebro, o corpo, o ambiente e as tecnologias como partes constitutivas da cognição humana - situam-se no universo temático das novas abordagens cognitivas, conhecidas como os 4Es da cognição. À luz das teses analisadas, são desenvolvidos debates teóricos envolvendo as proposições de Clark e as de seus críticos, e apresentados possíveis impactos no âmbito da educação. / [en] Seeking to contribute to the philosophical thinking concerning digital technologies in education, and the very own human relationship with these technologies, this research pursues to introduce the central ideas contained in the Extended Mind Thesis developed by the philosopher and cognitive scientist Andy Clark. This author s propositions, in contrast to the Cartesian dualism - since he endorses the brain, the body, the world and the technologies as constituent parts of the human cognition - are located in the thematic universe concerning the new cognitive approaches known as the 4Es. In the light of these theses, theoretical debates were developed involving the conceptions of Clark and his critics, and, as a result, potential impacts in the scope of education are pointed out.

Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T00:35:31Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T12:13:07Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T14:22:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T14:31:58Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T14:37:46Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-28T19:04:29Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-11-30T18:58:22Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-12-04T14:43:24Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Submitted by BRUNO TENORIO COELHO null (brcoelh00@gmail.com) on 2017-12-05T14:11:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Dissertação-Bruno-final.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Satie Tagara (satie@marilia.unesp.br) on 2017-12-07T17:47:44Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 coelho_bt_me_mar.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-12-07T17:47:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 coelho_bt_me_mar.pdf: 518219 bytes, checksum: 1bcc2b6a8cdcaa2a2fda145866f37b1c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-09-25 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / A hipótese da mente estendida afirma não existir um limite identificável para os processos cognitivos, e que por vezes, eles se estendem para o ambiente. Irei neste trabalho inicialmente detalhar os argumentos que sustentam a hipótese, expondo casos onde o uso recorrente de ferramentas e tecnologias acabam se tornando um extensão do corpo. Detalho a cognição incorporada e situada, programa de pesquisa de teor revisionista que dá base para a hipótese, e questiona diretamente os pressupostos da ciência cognitiva tradicional, nomeadamente, de um agente epistêmico passivo que processa e manipula representações. Em seguida, apresento objeções que foram levantadas contra a hipótese, assim como possíveis respostas a estas objeções. Por fim, apresento uma defesa da hipótese a partir de evidências empíricas presentes na pesquisa em psicologia ecológica. / The extended-mind hypothesis states that there is no identifiable limit for cognitive processes, and that sometimes the mind extend into the environment. In this paper I will first detail the arguments that support the hypothesis, exposing cases where the recurrent use of tools and technologies end up becoming an extension of the body. I detail the embodied and situated cognition research program, who has a revisionist content that provides the basis for the hypothesis, and questions directly the presuppositions of traditional cognitive science, namely, a passive epistemic agent that processes and manipulates representations. Then I present objections that have been raised against the hypothesis, as well as possible answers to these objections. Finally, I present a defense of the hypothesis based on empirical evidence in ecological psychology research.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:13:06Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 1684.pdf: 1154750 bytes, checksum: 1633dff45db74e09b4b96af809718c99 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007-11-07 / The cyborg theme, concerning the combination of organisms and machines, has been extensively explored recently. In this text, the theme is once again discussed, first, through a brief historical overview and, then, through a shift in the paradigm, proposed by the philosopher of mind Andy Clark, known as Extended Mind or Activ Externalism: it s not necessary for a man to have implants or chips in his body, to receive a transplant or to use wearable computers to gain the status of cyborg. The human being is naturally a cyborg, because it has always incorporated tools that extend the mind. Therefore, there is a redefinition of the notion of mind, which frees it from the limits of the skull and extends it to the limits of human action, involving body, brain and world. The brain carries the fate of controlling this material mind, upon which its existence depends / O tema do ciborgue, da mistura dos organismos com as máquinas, tem sido bastante explorado nos dias atuais. Neste texto, o tema volta a ser discutido, primeiramente, através de um breve panorama histórico e, em seguida, através de uma quebra de paradigma, proposta pelo filósofo da mente Andy Clark, conhecida como Mente Estendida ou Externalismo Ativo: não é necessário que o humano porte implantes, chips, submeta-se a transplantes ou use computadores vestíveis para que ganhe o estatuto de ciborgue. O ser humano é, naturalmente, ciborgue, pois incorpora, desde sempre, ferramentas que ampliam sua mente. Portanto, há uma redefinição do conceito de mente, que a liberta dos limites da caixa craniana e a estende até os limites da ação humana, abarcando corpo, cérebro e mundo. Ao cérebro é dado o papel de controlador dessa mente material, de cuja existência ela depende

Poor mathematics performance in South African schools is of national concern. An attempt to gain insight into the problem prompted a study into the possibility of a relationship between visual perceptual skill and mathematic ability. A theoretical review revealed that inherent limitations of traditional psychological theories hinder an adequate explanation for the possible existence of such a relationship. The theory of situated cognition seems to be better suited as an explanatory model, and simultaneously clarifies the nature of both visual perception and mathematics. A small exploratory study, with a sample of 70 Grade 6 learners, provided empirical evidence towards the plausibility of the relationship. Specifically, it proved the hypothesis that visual perceptual skill positively correlates with scholastic mathematics achievement. The results of the study, interpreted within the situated cognitive framework, suggest that a conceptual emphasis in mathematics education – as opposed to a factual emphasis – might improve mathematic ability, which may credibly reflect in scholastic performance. / Psychology / M. Sc. (Psychology)

Poor mathematics performance in South African schools is of national concern. An attempt to gain insight into the problem prompted a study into the possibility of a relationship between visual perceptual skill and mathematic ability. A theoretical review revealed that inherent limitations of traditional psychological theories hinder an adequate explanation for the possible existence of such a relationship. The theory of situated cognition seems to be better suited as an explanatory model, and simultaneously clarifies the nature of both visual perception and mathematics. A small exploratory study, with a sample of 70 Grade 6 learners, provided empirical evidence towards the plausibility of the relationship. Specifically, it proved the hypothesis that visual perceptual skill positively correlates with scholastic mathematics achievement. The results of the study, interpreted within the situated cognitive framework, suggest that a conceptual emphasis in mathematics education – as opposed to a factual emphasis – might improve mathematic ability, which may credibly reflect in scholastic performance. / Psychology / M. Sc. (Psychology)