Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian and Soviet psychologist who founded cultural-historical psychology, arguing that a child's higher mental functions develop through social interaction and culturally transmitted tools, especially language, a view that shaped developmental and educational psychology worldwide once his work became widely available outside the Soviet Union.
Facts
BirthplaceOrsha, Mogilev Governorate, Russian Empire (now Belarus) 1 Nationality / Culture Defining ContributionFounded cultural-historical psychology, arguing that higher mental functions such as memory, attention and reasoning develop through social interaction and are mediated by culturally transmitted tools, above all language, rather than unfolding from innate structure alone. 1 Notable WorkThinking and Speech (1934) 1 Connections
Associated With
Source Wikipedia: Activity Theory
Student and close collaborator of Vygotsky within the Vygotsky Circle; co-developed activity theory out of Vygotsky's cultural-historical psychology.
His cultural-historical theory of development is a foundational influence on cultural psychology.
Vygotsky's theory of cultural-historical development, especially his account of social interaction and mediated cognition, became influential in modern educational approaches once his work reached a wider audience outside the Soviet Union.
Source Wikipedia: Lev Vygotsky
In Branch
Schools Founded
Source Wikipedia: Cultural-Historical Psychology
Theories and Concepts Developed
Source Wikipedia: Constructivism (learning theory)
Source Wikipedia: Zone of Proximal Development
In the Other Atlases
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Lev Vygotsky
Wikimedia FoundationQuote
June 11, 1934
Associated With: Educational Psychology, Reception, United States section
his ideas have become influential in some modern educational approaches.
Wikipedia: Cultural-Historical Psychology
Wikimedia FoundationSchools Founded: Cultural-Historical Psychology, Theoretical premises sectionQuote, Schools Founded: Cultural-Historical Psychology, Theoretical premises section
he claimed that the development of 'higher psychological functions' are a result of the impact of the society (including, according to Marxist principles, its economic basis and the relations of production) and the culture at large.
Wikipedia: Constructivism (learning theory)
Wikimedia FoundationTheories and Concepts Developed: Constructivism, BackgroundQuote, Theories and Concepts Developed: Constructivism, Background
Constructivism in education is rooted in epistemology, a theory of knowledge concerned with the logical categories of knowledge and its justification.
Wikipedia: Zone of Proximal Development
Wikimedia FoundationTheories and Concepts Developed: Zone of Proximal Development, IntroductionQuote, Theories and Concepts Developed: Zone of Proximal Development, Introduction
The concept was introduced, but not fully developed, by psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) during the last three years of his life.
Wikipedia: Activity Theory
Wikimedia FoundationAssociated With: Activity Theory, History sectionQuote, Associated With: Activity Theory, History section
with subsequent development by Alexei Leontev and contributions from Lev Vygotsky
Dissenting Readings (1 dissenting reading)
Schools Founded: Cultural-Historical Psychology
Cultural-historical psychology never existed as such during Vygotsky's lifetime and he never completed a developmental theory of his own; the systematized school bearing his name was constructed by later followers and critics from his fragmentary and partly translated writings, not left complete by Vygotsky himself. This does not dispute Vygotsky's own founding role, which is well attested, only that the school's current unified shape postdates him.
A dissenting reading, from an independent laneWikipedia: Cultural-Historical Psychology, Wikimedia Foundation
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