Vygotsky's Theory of Cognitive Development in Social Relationships

 

Vygotsky's theory of social development argues that community and language play a central part in learning. While Jean Piaget concluded that children's cognitive development happens in stages, Vygotsky rejected his ideas and believed that children develop independently of specific stages as the result of social interactions. Vygotsky claimed that we are born with four elementary mental functions: attention, sensation, perception and memory. It is our social and cultural environment that allows us to use these elementary skills to develop and finally gain higher mental functions. This development ideally happens in the zone of proximal development. First, there is what we can do on our own. Then there is the zone of proximal development, which represents what we can do with the help of an adult, a friend, technology, or what Vygotsky called the "more knowledgeable other". Last, there is what's beyond our reach.

To illustrate this let us think of twins who were raised in a community in which boys are expected to learn and succeed while girls are only expected to be pretty. At the age of 10 months both have the ability to crawl and are in the zone of proximal development for learning how to stand on their feet. The more knowledgeable other, in this case the father, provides the boy with opportunities to practice in a playroom that he is equipped with scaffolding and other objects. The boy is encouraged to explore the equipment and eventually he uses it to pull himself up. A few hours later he's cruising along the structures and a few days later he's standing on his feet. The girl also has the potential to stand but does not receive any support in learning the skill. When we compare the two, we see that while the girl is still trying to get up, the boy has moved into a new zone. He knows how to balance while standing and now has the potential to learn how to walk. Both will eventually learn how to walk but according to Vygotsky the boy will be more skilled.

The same principles apply to all learning and the development of higher cognitive functions and only those learning with the assistance of a capable mentor can reach the full potential of their ability. Vygotsky, therefore, believed that inside the zone of Proximal Development learning can precede development, which means, that a child is able to learn skills that go beyond their natural maturity. He also established an explicit connection between speech and mental concepts, arguing that inner speech develops from external speech via a gradual process of internalization. This means that thought itself develops as a result of conversation. Therefore, younger children who don't finish this process can only think out loud. Once the process is complete inner speech and spoken language become independent.

Lev Vygotsky died of tuberculosis in 1934 at the age of 37. Despite his young age he became one of the most influential psychologists of the 20th century. He left the following advice for educators: by giving students practice in talking with others we give them frames for thinking on their own.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Heinz Hartmann Ego Psychology and the Mechanisms of Adaptation

  Heinz Hartmann devoted considerable time to the study of the Ego's Defenses and their functions from the perspective of the Adaptation. However, he seems not to have expanded on the defenses explained by Freud. The ego mobilizes defenses to protect itself from four types of dangers including conflicts among: ·          The id, ego, and super ego conflict. ·          Conflict in interpersonal relations. ·          Conflict in social norms. ·          Conflict in response to trauma. Mechanism of Adaptation: Heinz Hartmann described the "Mechanisms of Adaptation" that are more or less firmly established in the ego of an adult and always run to the same course unconsciously, just as Anna Freud describes the "Defense Mechanisms". These mechanisms are established in the ego to defend against un-described or disturbin...
Read more

Assessment techniques by George Kelly

 The Interview Kelly’s primary assessment technique was the interview. As he put it, “If you don’t know what is going on in a person’s mind, ask him; he may tell you!” (1958, p. 330). Adopting what he called a “credulous attitude,” Kelly accepted the client’s words at face value, believing this was the best way to determine the person’s constructs. He also recognized that a person might deliberately lie or distort the reported version of events. However, what the client said must be respected, even if not always fully believed. Self-Characterization Sketches: Another technique used to assess a construct system is to have the person write a self characterization sketch. Kelly’s instructions to the client were as follows. “I want you to write a character sketch of [client’s name] just as if he were the principal character in a play. Write it as it might be written by a friend who knew him very intimately and very sympathetically, perhaps better than anyone ever really could know h...
Read more

Introduction to Aaron Beck

  Aaron Temkin Beck is an American psychiatrist who is professor in the department of psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. He is regarded as the father of both cognitive therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. Early Life Aaron Temkin Beck was born on July 18, 1921, in Providence, Rhode Island. He was the youngest of five children. Both of his parents were Russian Jewish immigrants to the United States. Two of Beck's siblings had died before his birth, an older brother in childhood and an older sister in the influenza pandemic of 1919. As a result of these tragedies, Beck's mother was chronically depressed for several years and became overprotective of her youngest son. Beck came to think that he was a replacement for his sister, and that his mother was disappointed that he was not a girl. Beck developed several phobias in the course of his childhood. One was a blood/injury phobia, which he related to his experience with surgery for his broken arm at age seven. D...
Read more