SAS 1 - Lev Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory of Development

Culture (Chiu & Hong, 2007)

a network of knowledge that is both procedural (i.e., learned sequence of responses to particular cues) and declarative (i.e., representations of people, events, and norms) and is produced, distributed, and reproduced among a collection of interconnected people

Material vs. Non-Material Culture

values, beliefs, symbols, and language that define a society

Material vs. Non-Material Culture

includes all society’s physical objects, such as tools and technology, clothing, eating, utensils, and means of transportation

Elements of Culture

• Symbols

Symbols

• things that stand for something else and that often evoke various reactions and emotions

• could be non-verbal communication or actual material objects

Language

• structured system of communication that involves words, signs, and other rules that allow humans to express themselves

• develops from social interactions, for communication purposes

• plays two critical roles in cognitive development

Two Critical Roles of Language in Cognitive Development

1. the primary means by which adults transmit information to children

2. a very powerful tool for intellectual adaptation

Three Forms of Language

1. Social Speech (age: 2)

2. Private Speech (age: 3)

3. Private Speech Going Underground (age: 7)

Social Speech

• one of the three forms of language

• developed at the age of 2

• external communication used to talk to others

Private Speech

• one the three forms of language

• developed at the age of 3

• directed to the self and serves an intellectual function

Private Speech Going Underground

• one the three forms of language

• developed at the age of 7

• diminishing in audibility as it takes on a self-regulating function and is transformed into silent inner speech

Technology

the application of scientific knowledge to the making of tools to solve specific problems

Values

judgements of what is good or bad/desirable or undesirable

Norms

standards and expectations for behaving in certain situations

• formal

• informal

Formal Norms

• mores

• laws

Informal Norms

• folkways

• customs

Ethnicity

refer to a common background or social origins, shared culture and traditions that are distinctive, maintained between generations, and result in a sense of identity and group membership, and shared language or religious tradition

Race

refers to a shared genetic heritage, expressed by common external physical characteristics such as physical features, skin color, and hair texture

Othering

a pattern of exclusion and marginalization based on having identities that are different from what is considered normative

Lev Vygotsky

• Russian

• developed the Sociocultural Theory

Sociocultural Theory

views development as a socially-mediated process in which children acquire their cultural values, beliefs, and problem-solving strategies through collaborative dialogues with more knowledgeable members of the society

Basic Assumptions of Sociocultural Theory

• More emphasis on culture affecting development

• More emphasis on social factors contributing to development

• Important role of language in development

• Adults are an important source of development

More Emphasis on Culture Affecting Development

assumes that development varies across cultures and does not refer to universal stages and content of development

More Emphasis on Social Factors Contributing to Development

social interactions and the cultural environment influence how children grow up

Important Role of Language in Development

development results from the internalization of language

Adults are an Important Source of Development

adults transmit their culture’s tools of intellectual adaptation that children internalize

Tools of Intellectual Adaptation

methods of thinking and problem-solving strategies that children internalize through social interactions with the more knowledgeable members of society

Elementary Mental Functions

• attention

• sensation

• perception

• memory

Higher Mental Functions

• more sophisticated and effective mental processes

• Elementary Mental Functions are enhanced to this through Social Interactions

More Knowledgeable Other (MKO)

refers to someone (or something) who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept

Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

the difference between what a child or learner can do alone and what he/she/they/it can do with the guidance and encouragement of an MKO

Visual Representation of Vygotsky’s Basic Concepts