The relation of “literacy glasses” to cognition in dyslexia and to extended mind theory

This commentary considers the arguments made in Kolinsky and Morais’ paper as they apply to two areas of the author’s research and scholarly interest. Firstly, their relevance to the study of cognition in developmental dyslexia is considered, highlighting the possible impact of wearing “literacy glasses” on study design, the interpretation of results, and choice of participants. Secondly, the links between Kolinsky and Morais’ argument and ideas arising from the philosophy of extended cognition are considered, identifying the way in which the shared representations afforded by literacy come to be internalized and, as a consequence, come to structure our cognition.