Learning Disability and the Extended Mind

AI Extenders and the Ethics of Mental Health

“…By now, numerous authors have described how the EMT can improve either how we understand, assess, or treat mental and behavioral disorders though few have focused specifically on the kinds of intelligent assistive technologies that we have termed 'AI extenders'. [28][29][30][31][32][33] In this section we will review some of this work.…”

“…In doing so, these tests often disregard the real-life circumstances of the individual, which may involve the use of tools that make essential contributions to their cognitive functioning. [31][32][33] As a result, test scores can skew the picture of how 'well' a patient is really doing and what they are really capable of. Hence, even if a patient has a cognitive impairment with a neuro-explanation, this might not impair their functioning in everyday life.…”

“…Researchers working on cognitive impairment in various domains have drawn distinctions between different kinds of rehabilitative strategies, 34,35 which several extended mind theorists have employed to help draw out the difference between the internalist and externalist views on treatment. 31,33 "Restorative" strategies aim to directly address an individual's cognitive impairment by restoring their ability to perform tasks in just the same way that a non-impaired individual would. "Compensatory" strategies, on the other hand, attempt to circumvent impairment by helping the individual perform the same tasks but in different ways, namely by using assistive technologies.…”

Overcoming deadlock: Scientific and ethical reasons to embrace the extended mind thesis

“…Finally, King (2016) offers yet another reason to favor the extended account: that adopting the embedded account commits one to problematic views about the cognitive capabilities of learning disabled individuals, while the extended account avoids these commitments. Researchers working on learning disabilities draw a distinction between two kinds of strategies aimed at addressing learning that, according to King, roughly maps on to the distinction between restorative and compensatory strategies discussed in the previous section.…”

“…In the first place I appeal to the scientific values of simplicity, usefulness, and explanatory power, to argue that our best scientific theory of the mind will include extended mental states. In the second place, reviewing the literature, I appeal to three ethical reasons to prefer the extended view: it better protects against harm to the mind Levy (2007a,b); it better accounts for compensatory rehabilitation as a way of repairing the mind (Drayson and Clark, forthcoming); and it offers a better assessment of the capacities of learning disabled individuals (King 2016). All of these reasons, especially taken together, I argue provide some support for preferring the extended mind thesis to the rival embedded mind thesis.…”