Vigotsky s Sociohistorical Psychology

1. Vigotsky’s Sociohistorical Psychology

2. Lev Vigotsky Born in 1896 Active in Russian revolution Graduated with law degree When Bolsheviks took power, became teacher Eventually professor of education and theory completely self taught! Studied with Luria and Kornilov Avid supporter of Russian revolution Die hard communist Believed that socialism/communism could improve the lot of people, and worked for classless society that would elminate social conflict and exploitation

3. Communism influences? Cannot underestimate influence of his political views on his theory Explicitly sought to develop Marxist psychology “Marxist psychology is not a school amidst schools, but the only genuine psychology as a science. A psychology other than this cannot exist. And the other way around: everything that was and is genuinely scientific belongs to Marxist psychology” (Vygotsky, 1997a, p.341). Sought to apply tenets of Marxism to discover nature of human psychology.

4. How did this influence his theory? At Moscow State University: Saw ravages of war Worked with individuals with war trauma Believed these patients could be treated with social artifacts Social artifacts included Braille Sign language Social support (direct aid, guidance, encouragement) All of these helped compensate for losses Socially mediated compensations enable individuals to engage in psychological functions Reading Communicating Reasoning Remembering Called his work “defectology” Psychological phenomena such as intelligence, reasoning, language, memory, personality, perception, madness and emotions all rest on “cultural means”

5. Nature of psychologica phenomena Psychological phenomena are social in two respects: Depend on/originate in social experience and treatment Embody cultural artifacts Social behavior includes manner in which people stimulate and direct one’s attention Model behavior Respond to behavior (via encouragement, imitation, discouragement) Control bodily movements Organize spatial relations among individuals Cultural artifacts include Signs Symbols Linguistic terms Humanly produced objects and instruments (furniture, books) Social treatment and socially produced artifacts generate and shape psychological phenomenon

6. Example: Child rearing MKO: More Knowledgeable Other refers to anyone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept. a teacher, coach, or older adult, also peers, a younger person, or even computers. MKO or Parents control when, where, how child responds to the world: Modeling Encouragement Discouragement Parents control spatial relationships: Where sleep Where sit at table How hold a baby (facing parent, or facing out) this determines the kinds/intensity of emotions that a child develops

7. Cultural artifacts Structure psychological phenomena by mediating person’s relation wit the world Sitting in chairs to eat vs. standing vs. sitting on floor Creates segregated spaces between food, people, etc. Living in rectangles, living in “cubicles” living in nuclear vs. extended families

8. Symbolic cultural artifacts Often occur in form of socially constructed concepts of what, how, why things are Organize psychological phenomena Way we conceptualize or understand an event determines our emotional reaction to it Perception of size, distance, weight, color, motion also depend on cues whose significance is socially construed What is good or bad personal space What are good or bad colors Weddings are white? Red? Meaning of black and white

9. Symbolic cultural artifacts Misperceptions and unconsciousness also structured by social concepts Particular social values structure perceptions in a way that highlights certain characteristics May preclude noticing other aspects of the self or others Even psychological dysfunctions are organized by social concepts Mental illness varies by culture Acceptable vs. unacceptable behavior varies

10. Relation between culture, consciousness and psychological phenemona

11. What role does biology play? Psychological phenomena also involve biological processes The role of biological processes varies across the lifespan Infant reactions entirely biological Biological roles diminish as child matures In adulthood: cultural processes dominate This process is called sociogenesis of psychological phenomenon.

12. Very Piagetian here In infancy Reflexes, instincts, hormones, other natural mechanisms determine behavior Simple, stereotyped, nonconcscious, involuntary, stimulus-bound, transient behaviors Elementary or lower processes Are not true psychological phenomenon

13. Very Piagetian here Psychological phenomenon require that organism is differentiated from world In childhood, begin to break natural ties between individual and world Complex set of mental processes then begins to mediate between the organism and the world Our consciousness understands, interprets, anticipates features of stimuli, and decides how to respond to the stimuli.

14. Significant cultural reconstruction In childhood: child must shift from stage of primitive perceptions to stage of competent forms of adaptation to external world Is a cultural reconstruction Other people must promote, guide, reward, punish, restrain, imitate, model the child’s behavior Also must teach child to use cultural artifacts to organize his/her behavior Biological changes accompany these changes Lower brain functions replaced by higher cortical function Cortex begins to take over most cognitive functioning Social relationships stimulate this process

15. Social experience Provides cultural means for regulating elementary processes and placing them under conscious control This allows transformation into psychological processes Zone of Proximal Distance: distance between a student’s ability to perform a task under adult guidance and/or with peer collaboration and the student’s ability solving the problem independently. learning occurred in this zone.

16. Social experience MKO’s or Care takers must take active role in shaping behavior of child Channel behaviors Help child discover new stimuli and how to control them Bridge the zone of proximal distance A child’s behavior loses involuntary, impulsive, stereotyped, mechanical qualities instead becomes controlled by conscious decisions and understanding Attention transformed from orientation reflex to conscious, voluntary, psychological process

17. Memory Also is culturally reconstructed from natural process into psychological ones Young children: memorize objects put in front of them without organization Older children: use socially devised mnemonic devices in form of symbolic associations and reminders Organize and operate on the objects/processes Vast cultural differences in memory exist because of different cultural mnemonic systems What is important for your culture is what you remember What culture emphasizes is that is emphasized in our learning and memory

18. Reduction of biological determinism Social development of consciousness transforms an individual’s biology In early childhood: biological processes conduct information AND determine how info is processed/organized Change in middle childhood: biological processes only conduct information, not determine how information is processed or organized Psychological processes provide organization Reduction in biological determinism of reactions = prerequisite for emergence of psychological phenomenon. Begins at about 6 months

19. Reduction of biological determinism Note that world does not directly determine perception, Rather it is the psychological processes that organize perception: Social experiences Cultural artifacts Perception is indirect, not direct But: argues that socially organized psychological functions enable individual to comprehend environment MORE REALISTICALLY than biologically determined processes Biological = automatic, fixed Psychological = flexible, allow adaptation, not distorted

20. Symbolic systems Verbal and written symbols: Allow enrichment of individual by enabling him/her to utilize fruits of many people’s efforts Allow shared or collective experiences What symbolic systems and psychological processes you develop depends on your experiences Uses mathematics as an example Symbolic system “invented” by humans to explain natural world Allows us to make sense of complicated phenomena and explain, organize and predict these phenomena Results in new way of conceiving and treating the world

21. Vigotsky and Play 3 principal developmental aspects of play Intellectual development Moral development Activity development Most psychologists emphasize the last two, not first Play = subject-generalization development Helps develop structure of meaning Development of higher mental functions Verbal learning/acquisition: semiotics

22. What is important about play? Child can create “pretend play” situation Allows child to model what he/she saw Allows tendency to release desires that cannot be fulfilled in real activity, releases imagination Separates visual field from field of sense First step to developing higher mental functions Allows child to control his own activity Allows child to control his/her world and outcomes E.g., Using a stick as a horse: Moves away from defined meaning of stick Imposes child’s structure on the world, not the other way around Free manipulation leads to abstract thinking

23. Play items as signs Play items have three roles The object itself Representation Interpretant Using three roles together allows emergence of thought, abstract thinking Child learns to link a sign and an object

24. Play items as signs Three kinds of signs Iconic: exhibits similarly or analogy to subject of discourse Index: demonstrative or relative, forces attention to particular object intended without describing it Symbols: general name or symbol describes object by means of association of ideas/habitual connection between name and object Pretending based on process of generalization or extraction of meaning that is mediated by a concrete object Object is generalized according to extracted feature Complex of such features creates the pseudoconcept of the given object Child moves from concrete interaction with object to developing symbols for the object, including qualities about the object’s behavior, meaning and interactions Moves from basic reflexive or simple biological interactions to words and language about the object

25. Play is important because: assume that child brings: desire to act effectively and independently capacity to develop higher-level mental functioning to her encounters with the culture (as experienced in interactions with others), Those goals and means to reach them = culturally determined and learned. The child active in learning process, but does not act alone (PDZ!!) learns to think by: constructing or co-constructing, by internalizing progressively more adequate versions of the intellectual tools of the culture These tools are modeled or actively taught by more advanced others. All of these behaviors are intimate part of play process

26. Teacher/parent role: Interactions that promote development may involve Active scaffolding guided participation building bridges Adult or more experienced peer must do the guiding and building The more experienced person, the MKO assists the child by providing prompts, clues, Modeling Questions Provides strategies, and other supports that allow the child to accomplish tasks that cannot yet accomplish independently

27. Successful learning/teaching: To be effective in promoting the development of the child’s own independent, self-regulated action, assistance must be provided in zone of proximal development This differs with gender and according to the individual school and its characteristics (Silva, L. et all, 1995). Language also primary vehicle for thought and voluntary self-regulation.

28. Successful learning/teaching: also emphasized importance of language for cognitive development when children provided with words and labels, they form concepts more readily. believed that thought and language converge into meaningful concepts, and assist the thinking process. language = primary means through which culture is transmitted Language also primary vehicle for thought and voluntary self-regulation.

29. A Vygotskyan classroom Vygotskyan classroom should be one in which: Teachers/staff/peers are all MKOs Idea is to bridge ZPD social interaction is encouraged teachers converse with children and use language to mediate learning Children encouraged to express themselves both orally and in writing onversation among members of the group encouraged and valued

30. Criticisms and Critiques Communism’s influence often quickly forgotten Is a very socialistic approach Understanding the background helps understand the theory, however Not a traditional learning theorist Not S-R or R-S More Tolman-like Little experimental evidence, as difficult concepts to demonstrate Scaffolding of skills is important Importance of language, symbols is supported Has had a tremendous influence on many early childhood classrooms Interestingly, flies in face of later elementary education, where lose the hands on approaches.