In this paper, we argue that the intentionality at play in skilled performance is not only inherently normative but also inherently affective. We take a radically embodied approach to the mind in which we conceive of cognitive agents as sensorimotor systems moved to maintain their biological and sociocultural identity, whose perception is direct and occurs in terms of affordances. Within this framework, we define skilled performance as the enactment of action and perception patterns in which the agent is intentionally oriented towards specific features in the environment. We propose that (i) skillful intentionality is guided by normative constraints involving the material and social conditions of the agent but is ultimately determined by the intrinsic purpose of maintaining the agent's identity, and (ii) skilled intentionality is inherently affective because it is a specific occurrence arising from a general sense of care to maintain one's identity which is realized by orienting oneself towards the right aspects of the environment in the right way. Skilled performance thus requires agents to establish a normative and affective intentionality towards aspects of their material environment. We show that, since sociocultural practices shape human identities, sociocultural practices play a crucial role in shaping human intentionality of skilled performance both in their normative and affective dimensions. Maintaining a human identity, we argue, amounts to routinely carrying out activities that form a historical pattern which is shared with and recognized by others.

Autism Spectrum Disorders have been defined as a group of developmental conditions that affect the capacity to interact with the physical and social environment, among others. A core feature of autism is the presence of restricted and repetitive behaviors that vary in complexity, form, and frequency throughout life history. These core features have traditionally been defined as impairments that interfere with communication competence. From an embodied approach, however, these actions could be seen as characteristic ways of interacting with the world. In this sense, we take an enactive and embodied approach to cognition in which we conceive cognitive agents as sensorimotor systems whose perception-action occurs in terms of affordances. This framework provides an integrative view of autism considering affectivity, perception, action, exploration, and interaction within a complex and dynamic dimension. Following this, we propose different applications based on embodied, intercultural, and feminist epistemologies, to understand and participate with autistic and cognitively diverse populations. The change in theoretical and methodological paradigms within embodied cognitive science towards autism and other cognitive diversities and how they engage with the world can lead to more comprehensive, integrative, and bioethical approaches.

En la primera parte de este trabajo se da cuenta de ciertas demarcaciones que surgen cuando entendemos la cognición de una manera situada, sobre todo en una postura ecológica. Para ello, pretendo explicar brevemente las implicaciones de hablar de cognición situada, además de comprender la separación entre las visiones extendida y enculturada de la cognición, explicando en términos ontológicos y epistémicos las consecuencias que conlleva el hablar de los sistemas cognitivos en uno u otro sentido. En la segunda parte se propondrá como herramienta epistémica y ontológica a la afordancia para explicar fenómenos que se dan precisamente en estas fronteras difusas entre los sistemas cognitivos y el ambiente, explicando algunas posturas respecto a ella y decantándonos por una postura relacional por su aplicación para fenómenos cognitivos, particularmente la percepción y la cognición social.

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