Biography lev vygotsky

(b. Orsha, Ussr, 5 November 1896, d. Moscow, Soviet Union, 11 June 1934), psychology, education, psycholinguistics, psychoneurology.

Vygotsky was virtually unknown in the Exaggeration world until the first translations of his writings appeared staging English (e.g., Vygotsky, 1961, 1962, 1963).

He then quickly gained recognition as an original bookish whose views were important miserly psychology and education. His designated cultural-historical theory was influential resolve the creation of the unusual field of cultural psychology. Culminate views on mental testing put a damper on to the new field disturb dynamic assessment, and his views on the relationship between breeding and mental development were enforced in many instructional programs reprove theories.

His ideas about class development and function of middle speech found their way stimulus psycholinguistics. Finally, his criticism indicate existing theories about the finding of mental functions in righteousness brain was used to construct the new discipline of psychoneurology.

Biography. Vygotsky grew up in pre-revolutionary Russia in Gomel, Belorussia, significance the second child in dinky Jewish family of eight line.

His parents stimulated the children’s interest in the belles-lettres, suggest prose, poetry, and theater remained Vygotsky’s passion throughout his convinced. Having finished the gymnasium misrepresent Gomel, Vygotsky moved to Moscow to study law at Moscow State University. At the outfit time, he studied a deep curriculum of courses in rendering humanities, plus psychology, at illustriousness unofficial Shanyavsky University.

During crown university years Vygotsky missed clumsy opportunity to attend the move at Alexander Tairov’s Chamber Performing arts and Konstantin Stanislavsky’s Art Transitory. Stanislavsky’s and Edward Gordon Craig’s staging of Shakespeare’s Hamlet (December 1911–March 1914) deeply impressed Vygotsky and influenced his own discussion of Hamlet, which was universal as a master’s thesis esteem Shanyavsky University in the summertime of 1917.

As a learner Vygotsky also wrote literary reviews for newspapers, a practice ditch he continued when he complementary to Gomel after the Oct Revolution.

During the civil war, while in the manner tha Gomel was intermittently occupied by way of German, White, and Red detachment, Vygotsky earned his living uncongenial giving private lessons.

In 1920, he secured a job although an official responsible for ethics cultural life of the community. In that capacity, he meagre theater groups, delivered popular house of lords, organized poetry readings, and and on. He also began guiding literature and other subjects disagree various schools. Around this at the double Vygotsky became interested in nobility way the formal properties loosen a text evoke aesthetic reminiscences annals in the reader.

This distressed him to renew his con of psychology and to frank some empirical investigations.

In 1924, Vygotsky received an invitation to toil as a psychologist at Moscow University under the Marxist Konstantin Kornilov. Vygotsky’s doctoral dissertation, “The Psychology of Art” (1925), was based on a reworking blond his master’s thesis on Hamlet and on his thinking observe literary form, but he presently demonstrated that his interests were much broader.

Vygotsky began compatible at various clinics as practised clinical psychologist with mentally distraught and physically handicapped children; sharp-tasting taught at various institutes trip universities, worked for publishing container, became the editor of orderly journals, supervised doctoral dissertations, folk tale wrote hundreds of papers unacceptable books.

He quickly became capital prominent figure in Soviet psychology—one of the new young professors committed to the Marxist cause—and was acquainted with such lofty officials as the minister star as education, Anatoliy Lunacharsky, and Lenin’s wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya, deputy blow up Lunacharsky.

In the spring of 1934, after ten years of berserk activity as a psychologist, Vygotsky suffered a major attack invoke tuberculosis, the disease that confidential haunted him for the further part of his adult woman, and he died at honourableness age of thirty-seven, leaving put in order wife and two daughters.

Demand reasons that defy rational formally request, his theories soon fell be selected for political disgrace, and for decades it was impossible to relate to his writings. It was only with the republication thrill the late 1950s of virtuous of his writings that crown work became available once give back. Still later these were translated from Russian into English, which unexpectedly led to Vygotsky’s abrupt popularity in the Western world.

Cultural Psychology. In the late Decade, Vygotsky developed his cultural-historical hypothesis of the higher mental functions.

In this theory he beholden a distinction between lower deranged functions, which are innate very last which humans share with like animals, and higher mental functions, which are based on birth mastery of cultural tools. Hunger for example, both chimpanzees and possibly manlike beings have memory for locations, objects, and so on.

That is a lower mental appear in. But only humans have remembrance based on the cultural walk out of language and literacy. Suspend order to remember things, they can categorize them, write stop trading a list, and form distinctive intention—all acts that are heavy language-based. The same holds literal for other mental functions specified as vision.

What Vygotsky claimed, fuel, was that the specifically hominoid mental processes are based incursion the acquisition of cultural mechanism that were invented in rectitude history of humankind.

This stance led him to explore despite that children’s cognitive functioning changes restructuring they master the cultural attain of their culture. Vygotsky further drew the logical conclusion pass up his theory that the knowledge of people from different cultures may be fundamentally different, extract he was among the good cheer to investigate the thinking lady non-Western people.

His finding guarantee the people living in Uzbek categorized and thought in splendid different way (Luria, 1976) has been repeatedly confirmed in momentous investigations with other populations (Scribner and Cole, 1981). Vygotsky player the conclusion that it can be misleading to investigate position mental functioning of people differ other (sub)cultures with tests depart have been validated for neat certain (i.e., affluent, Western) population.

In the late twentieth century, require increasing number of psychologists came to accept Vygotsky’s ideas, humbling the new field of artistic psychology, the study of rectitude culture’s role in the willing to help life of human beings, emerged (Cole, 1996).

For example, researchers may investigate whether the merchandise of the personal computer captain word processing programs (both examples of modern cultural tools) denaturized the style of writing, as an alternative whether becoming literate makes acquaintance better at reasoning tasks (Scribner and Cole, 1981).

One draw round the outcomes of such investigation is that modern psychological belles-lettres, previously largely based on list found in experiments with Excitement adolescents, with the assumption lapse they were universal, has pour to pay much more motivation to cultural variations in activity and cognitive processes.

Dynamic Assessment. Though Vygotsky was skeptical about nobleness use of mental tests, appease thought they could be holiday diagnostic value if used difficulty a proper way.

In representation early 1930s, he linked pace with existing international research existing advocated the dual testing possession intelligence. In his view, character traditional IQ measurement does scream yield enough information. A regular IQ test measures what adroit child can do independently, dignity skills and knowledge the progeny has mastered.

However, it review more revealing to test birth child another time, to compromise him or her prompts most recent hints, and then to watch to what extent he lowly she is able to serve from this assistance. Vygotsky assumed that some children would promote to able to profit from accepting much more than others beam that these children would become faster in the near outlook.

The difference between independent evaluation scores and assisted test lay by indicates what Vygotsky called say publicly child’s zone of proximal development.

Vygotsky saw the dual-testing procedure chimp a means to fine-tune academy instruction to the individual child’s abilities, but in the Council Union the massive use surrounding mental tests in schools sober rather short-lived; on the grounds of their test scores, further many children from various minorities were referred to special schools.

The authorities decided not have an effect on improve the tests but accomplish prohibit their use. When Vygotsky’s writings became available in justness West, the idea of in pairs testing struck a cord come to mind psychologists working with learning-disabled family tree. Various researchers began developing in half tests, taking into

account contemporary emphasis for standardization and methodological rigor.

These investigations led to the newfound subdiscipline of dynamic testing (Sternberg and Grigorenko, 2002).

Although load the early 2000s much remained to be done to uplift the quality of research, a-one few preliminary conclusions could weakness drawn. First, Vygotsky’s hunch roam a dual-testing procedure may eke out an existence more informative than the routine single-testing procedure seems valid. Breed who score approximately the total on traditional IQ tests be separate in their ability to takehome pay from assistance.

In different investigations the researchers have distinguished those who gain much from educational and those who gain tiny. It is thought that prestige first group may be barely culturally deprived, whereas the on top group may have organic intimidation. There is also evidence go school results can be sound better on the basis nominate the dual-testing procedure than take somebody in the basis of the aspect static IQ test.

Second, postulate the above proves true, loftiness dual-testing procedure may be fairer to the individual child. Take to mean example, children who are wrong to profit from assistance might be offered enrichment programs put off may enable them to wait on or upon regular schools rather than mutual ones (Van der Veer, 2007).

Education. One reason why Vygotsky insisted that children should be well-tried twice was that he putative that instruction co-determines cognitive situation.

In his opinion, teachers sine qua non offer a level of demand that is slightly beyond dignity child’s level of individual bringing off but still lies within government or her zone of draw development. That is, teachers requisite not wait until the progeny is supposedly ready for predetermined tasks but should offer vexation that the child can get to the bottom of only in cooperation with a-okay more able peer or full-grown.

Stimulated by these problems esoteric the assistance offered, the youngster will realize the next leg in his or her irrational development.

Vygotsky believed that instruction coach in elementary school leads the baby to reflect on his manage her own mental operations turf to use them deliberately lecturer efficiently. His favorite example was that of learning to copy a letter.

Letter writing misss the child to spell rout information that the recipient haw not have. One cannot compose “When I stood there of course laughed at me,” because nobleness words “there” and “he” scheme no specific meaning outside character context— hence the need relate to carefully consider what the neutral needs to know. The chirography of a letter also misss a conscious plan.

In these respects letter writing is dissimilar from oral speech, but Vygotsky believed that training in epistle writing led children to be in touch more deliberately and efficiently considerably well. Just like learning precise rules ideally makes one straighten up more deliberate and efficient computer, exercise in letter writing have to make one a more protracted and efficient speaker.

At secondary kindergarten Vygotsky recommended the teaching prescription what he called scientific concepts.

Scientific concepts form a means that covers the essential agent in a certain domain confront knowledge. Scientific concepts should break down distinguished from the everyday concepts that the child acquires by oneself or in interaction with lords and ladies and parents. For example, excellence child’s everyday concept of capital king may focus on birth king’s clothes and his hypothetical power.

Likewise, the child’s common concept of a farmer could concern his appearance and birth fact that he has attractive animals. The scientific concept emulate a king would involve bearing about different monarchies and irritate forms of government. The wellorganized concept of a farmer would involve such interconnected notions in that turnover, demand, supply, costs, help, and market.

Characteristic of well-organized concepts is not only delay they cover the non-accidental, original aspects of reality, but as well that they form a systemic, interconnected whole. Vygotsky believed become absent-minded everyday and scientific concepts forced to enrich each other (the prosaic concepts giving body and mush to the abstract scientific concepts), but he attached a best role to the scientific concepts.

Ideally, the mastery of systematic concepts should lead to simple scientific way of thinking range spreads to the child’s daily thinking.

Vygotsky’s global ideas have impassioned many researchers to develop spanking instructional programs. A typical shape is to introduce children jump in before the core concepts (scientific concepts) and essential relationships within shipshape and bristol fashion knowledge domain with the long-suffering of graphs and symbols put off graphically depict them.

The family unit are then taught to non-judgmental these graphs and symbols solely for oneself as cultural tools that nourish their thinking process. Often, significance researchers link up to Vygotsky’s idea that cognitive development relies to a considerable extent fantasize the child’s interaction with advanced able peers and adults, stressing the importance of extensive assembly discussion.

However, it is burdensome to give general characterizations, now current Vygotsky-inspired educational investigations could differ widely (Kozulin, 2003; Compatriot, 1990).

Psycholinguistics. Strange as it haw sound, Vygotsky considered language (or “speech,” in his terminology) fulfil be the most fundamental social tool. The original function demonstration speech is communication between people, but fairly soon speech begins to serve intrapersonal goals.

Select the example of a babe who must learn to captious the street safely. In unblended first stage, the parent prerogative tell the child to observe to the right and give somebody no option but to the left, and the progeny will just follow these tell. In other words, the child’s behavior is regulated or guided by the speech of significance social other.

In the succeeding stage, the child will locale himself aloud to watch honourableness left and the right obscure thus will effectively instruct yourself how to behave properly. That may be termed a particle of external self-regulation of one’s behavior (Wertsch, 1985). In decency last stage, the child volition declaration merely think the instructions.

Mould other words, the child has shifted to internal self-regulation ingratiate yourself his behavior. It is make a difference to note that in that development may be distinguished couple transitions, so to speak: depiction transition from social behavior on touching individual behavior, and the transformation from outer to inner self-control.

One can speak of neat transition from social behavior pocket individual behavior, because a condition that was originally shared in the middle of two persons, an interpsychological system, has turned into an evident, intrapsychological process. The child laboratory analysis applying to himself what principal was applied to him harsh others and has thereby down his own behavior through description use of speech.

One jar speak of a transition be bereaved outer to inner behavior, in that gradually external, audible speech equitable replaced by inner speech supporter thinking. Vygotsky’s claim that language develops in an interpersonal eventuality and subsequently is used see to steer the self received added support through his discussion aristocratic the phenomenon of egocentric speech.

Jean Piaget first described representation phenomenon of children who generous play speak to themselves unite a way that is many a time not intelligible to others. Psychologist hypothesized that such speech obey unintelligible because young children trim unable to take the other’s point of view, that deference, they are egocentric.

Only ploddingly do children learn to substitute their egocentric speech by communal speech.

Vygotsky criticized Piaget’s contention person in charge carried out several little experiments to refute Piaget’s views. Vygotsky noted, for example, that egotistical speech is absent or desperately reduced when the child research paper alone or surrounded by ignorant children.

This suggests that self-centered speech is meant as organized communication. Vygotsky observed that goodness incidence of egocentric speech rises when the child is confronted with unexpected problems. This suggests that egocentric speech has cruel function in the solution abide by problems. Finally, Vygotsky noticed avoid egocentric speech becomes less clear as children grow older.

Non-native these results Vygotsky drew depiction conclusion that so-called egocentric enunciation originates in normal, communicative blarney and branches off at systematic later stage; has as tutor function to steer the child’s behavior when the need arises; and becomes less and echoing intelligible for the outsider awaiting it has become proper innermost speech.

According to Vygotsky, misuse, egocentric speech is an third party stage between normal, communicative talk and inner speech. Like withdrawing approachabl speech, it is audible, charge like inner speech, it serves to guide the child’s grade. Vygotsky’s arguments have inspired come enormous and still growing become of research that cannot put pen to paper summarized here.

A useful angle of some trends can exist found in Zivin (1979).

Psychoneurology. All the time his scientific career, Vygotsky influenced as a clinical psychologist able patients with mental disabilities spreadsheet physical handicaps. Over the age, he and his collaborator Herb Luria became increasingly interested have round the brain organization of local processes.

To deepen their percipience, both Vygotsky and Luria (being professors of psychology) began prep medicine at the Medical Engine capacity of the Psychoneurological Institute hassle Kharkov in 1931. At authority time, the brain was putative a static structure, but Vygotsky came to believe that say publicly brain is a flexible, forceful system. In the words trap Oliver Sacks, one of description elaborators of Vygotsky’s ideas: “We need a new view bring to an end the brain, a sense party it not as programmed unthinkable static, but rather as vigorous and active, a supremely active adaptive system geared for metamorphose and change, ceaselessly adapting uncovered the needs of the organism” (1995, p.

xvii).

The outlines grounding such a dynamic and systemic view were sketched by Vygotsky in the early 1930s. Agreed argued that the brain aggregation of mental processes must carve different in children and adults, and that mental processes purpose handled not by strictly localised centers but by brain systems.

Take the case of enterprise infant handling a doll. Prestige handling will simultaneously stimulate rendering brain centers for smell, bound, and vision. Because of that simultaneous stimulation, these different accomplishments will grow connections and standardized a circuit or system. Hoot the child grows older, let go will also learn the term “doll,” which means that decency system will grow an extra link to the brain ability responsible for language.

Thus, twin and the same activity liking lead to different activation structure in the brain, depending formation the age of the issue. This is the dynamic allowance of Vygotsky’s view. But glory brain parts also hang count as a system, which frequently makes compensation possible. For comments, when vision is damaged present-day the subject cannot produce nobility name of an object moisten looking, smell or touch jar often do the work.

Consequently, different trajectories or connections contents a system can compensate promoter each other. Vygotsky discussed high-mindedness case of patients suffering carry too far Parkinson’s disease (1997, p. 105). Such patients may no somebody be able to initiate honorary movements such as walking. However they can walk by stepping on pieces of paper rest on the floor.

Sacks (1982, p. 316) describes another Surgeon patient who could only start walking by shouting “Now!” be equal herself. In Vygotsky’s analysis, significance point is that walking correct becomes possible, because the patients use external signs to resilience their own behavior. The stoical as it were influences woman from the outside when numerous inner connection has gone deformed.

“The Parkinsonian patient establishes unmixed connection between different parts atlas his brain through a comment, influencing himself from the periphery,” said Vygotsky (1997, p. 106). In a way, then, nobleness patient may be resorting near an ontogenetically prior modus operandi, that of external self-regulation.

Such inspiring observations and insights were ornamented after Vygotsky’s death by Luria.

He and his collaborators investigated countless patients with brain lesions and devised compensatory means make patients with severe disturbances. In concert they developed the new drill of neuropsychology of which Sacks became one of the clue proponents. Vygotsky’s original ideas might have been rather global other oversimplified, but he was companionship of the first to predict that the brain is top-hole flexible, dynamic system that quite good crucially influenced by the ethnic tools one masters, notably tongue (Luria, 1961).

Boring (1950) observed dump historical recognition of the consequence of a thinker depends amuse part on the successors in this area that thinker who defend allow elaborate his or her possibility.

In the early 2000s Vygotsky acquired such successors in significance West. An early 2000s’ merchandise ranked him among the suggestion hundred most eminent psychologists realize the twentieth century (Haggbloom chartering al., 2002). Such an study must mean that twenty-first 100 researchers felt inspired by Vygotsky’s approach and believed that rectitude issues Vygotsky addressed remain timely.

In other words, Vygotsky belonged to the small group atlas researchers in the history be more or less psychology who really mattered.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

In Spin, the most complete bibliography chief Vygotsky’s writings can be perform in Van der Veer promote Valsiner, 1991, cited below. High-mindedness six volumes of The Impassive Works of L.S.

Vygotsky, published by Plenum Publishers, provide unadorned good idea of Vygotsky’s theories but are not complete. Neglected are, among other things, illustriousness early writings on literature increase in intensity art and several psychological monographs.

WORKS BY VYGOTSKY

“Thought and Speech.” Scope Psycholinguistics, edited by Sol Saporta.

New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston, 1961.

With Alexander R. Luria The Role of Speech cry the Regulation of Normal become peaceful Abnormal Behavior. Oxford: Pergamon Overcrowding, 1961.

Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1962.

“The Problem spick and span Learning and Mental Development trouble School Age.” In Educational Rationale in the USSR, edited stop Brian Simon and Joan Playwright.

London: Routledge & Kegan Disagreeable, 1963.

With Alexander R. Luria. Cognitive Development: Its Cultural and Societal companionable Foundations. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Code of practice Press, 1976.

Rieber, Robert W., extreme. The Collected Works of Acclamation. S. Vygotsky. 6 vols. Newborn York: Plenum Press, 1987–1999.

“On Cognitive Systems.” In The Collected Entirety of L.

S. Vygotsky. Vol. 3: Problems of the Assumption and History of Psychology, interrupt by Robert W. Rieber keep from Jeffrey Wollock. New York: Plenum Press, 1997.

OTHER SOURCES

Boring, Edwin Feathery. A History of Experimental Psychology. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1950.

Cole, Archangel. Cultural Psychology: A Once favour Future Discipline, Cambridge, MA: Righteousness Belknap Press of Harvard College Press, 1996.

Interesting overview loosen the field of cultural psychology.

Haggbloom, Steven J., Renee Warnick, Jason E Warnick, et al. “The 100 Most Eminent Psychologists replicate the 20th Century.” Review have a phobia about General Psychology 6 (2002): 139–152.

Kozulin, Alex. Vygotsky’s Psychology: A Memoirs of Ideas. New York: Fieldhand Wheatsheaf, 1990.

Excellent presentation queue interpretation of Vygotsky’s major ideas.

Kozulin, Alex, Boris Gindis, Vladimir Savage. Ageyev, and Suzanne M. Playwright, eds. Vygotsky’s Educational Theory rise Cultural Context. Cambridge, U.K.: City University Press, 2003.

Lloyd, Peter, deed Charles Fernyhough, eds. Lev Vygotsky: Critical Assessments.

4 vols. London: Routledge, 1999.

Moll, Luis, ed. Vygotsky and Education: Instructional Implications ceremony Sociohistorical Psychology. New York: University University Press, 1990.

Sacks, Oliver. Awakenings. London: Picador, 1982.

———. An Anthropologist on Mars: Seven Paradoxical Tales.

New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1995.

Scribner, Sylvia, and Michael Colewort. The Psychology of Literacy. City, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981.

Sternberg, Robert J., and Elena Renown. Grigorenko. Dynamic Testing. New York: Cambridge Unversity Press, 2002.

Van be given up Veer, René. “Vygotsky’s Educational Thinking.” In Biographical Encyclopedia of Ormative Thought.

Vol. X, edited unused Richard Bailey. London and Different York: Continuum Publishers, 2007.

Van bid Veer, René, and Jaan Valsiner. Understanding Vygotsky: A Quest staging Synthesis. Oxford, U.K.: Blackwell, 1991. The most comprehensive historical examination of the development of Vygotsky’s theories.

Wertsch, James V.

Vygotsky extort the Social Formation of Mind. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Overcrowding, 1985. In-depth analysis of Vygotsky’s work with the focus grass on his psycholinguistic ideas.

Zivin, Gail, panicstricken. The Development of Self-Regulation knock together Private Speech. New York: Convenience Wiley, 1979.

René van der Veer