Extended cognition is the view that mental processes and mind extend beyond the body to include aspects of the environment in which an organism is embedded and the organism's interaction with that environment. Cognition goes beyond the manipulation of symbols to include the emergence of order and structure evolving from active engagement with the world. As described by Mark Rowlands, mental processes are:
This contrasts with the view of the mind as a processing center that creates mental representations of reality and uses them to control the body's behaviour. The field of extended cognition focuses upon the processes involved in this creation, and subsumes these processes as part of consciousness. Which is no longer confined to the brain or body, but involves interaction with the environment. At a 'low' level, like motor learning and haptic perception, the body is involved in cognition, but there is a 'high' level where cultural factors play a role. This view of cognition is sometimes referred to as 'enaction' to emphasise the role of interplay between the organism and its environment and the feedback processes involved in developing an awareness of, and a reformation of, the environment.