Lev Vygotsky and his Sociocultural Theory

The relationship between humankind and society is one of the oldest relationships that has supported one another. A study of wide-ranging area with numerous theories is psychology, and with schools of thoughts it assists in understanding and making sense of human behaviour. One makes the other in various ways, sometimes society modifies human behaviour and sometimes it is human behaviour that initiates changes in society. Therefore, in order to understand one, it is necessary to follow another. Based on the same perception, the psychologist believes society has a significant role to play in the way human behave. One of the emerging theory in psychology, sociocultural theory studies the ways significant contributes are made to individual development (Valsiner & Rosa, 2007). The theory focuses on the relationship between society and human being, precisely the kind of interaction that takes place between developing people and the culture where the person lives. According to sociocultural theory, human learning is mostly a social process. This paper aims to discuss the sociocultural theory to memory and its importance in psychology. The paper discusses the concept of sociocultural theory and the ways it is beneficial in understanding human psychology. The theory is not only an emerging theory in psychology but also a widely used method of analysing individual development.

The sociocultural theory was developed by a seminal Russian psychologist, Lev Vygotsky (Woollard & Pritchard, 2013). According to Lev Vygotsky, social interaction played a crucial role in children’s learning, and it is through social interaction that human learning takes place. The basic of learning is in the interaction that one does with another in its social environment.  He was a widely known contemporary sociologist similar to other great thinkers such as Skinner, Piaget and Freud. He was faced with a very early death at the age of 37 which suppressed his work in Stalinist Russia until very recently. After publishing his work, it gained huge attention and his ideas grew extensively influential. Since then, his actions are widely used in child development, cognitive psychology and education. The concept of sociocultural theory deals with ranges of perceptions such as the ways adults and peers impact individual learning, the ways cultural beliefs and attitudes influence the learning and instruction intake process (Matsumoto & Juang, 2016). According to Vygotsky, children are born with primary biological constraints on their minds. The culture they are exposed to act as a form of intellectual adaptation tools. Tools such as this are let children utilise their necessary mental capabilities in a process that is most adaptive to the culture they are exposed or live.  

Jean Piaget and Cognitive Development

The framework of sociocultural theory is mostly associated with Lev Vygotsky only and not Jean Piaget. When Piaget is thought, he was the first among the social scientist to question the modality in learning and thinking (Vygotsky, Luriâ & Knox, 2013). The studies conducted by him were much needed in order to differentiate the instruction of children through the development level. Also, Jean Piaget was the first one who came up with the suggestion that thinking and learning are done individually and in one’s parameter of an individual personality trait.

Therefore, there are differences that exist between the two theorists regarding the sociocultural theory. There are various ways Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory differ from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development.  Considering Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory, there is a great emphasis on social factors. The theory considers the ways social factors influence development. However, in the Piaget’s cognitive development the emphasis is on the ways child’ interaction and exploration impacts the child’s development. The stress majorly applied by Piaget is on the significant role played by the social interaction in cognitive development. The other development that can be traced, when the two theories are compared, was the nature of the development. Piaget suggested that development is universal while Vygotsky was in the opinion that cognitive development might vary between different cultures (Poehner & Lantolf, 2014). For example, a child belonging from Western civilisation may have different cognitive development than a child residing from Eastern culture.

It is important to discuss regarding the zone of proximal development when the sociocultural theory is discussed. Vygotsky defined the zone of proximal development as the distance between the actual development level that is determined by interdependent problem solving and the level of potential development that is determined by problem solving under the guidance from adults or experienced peers. In simpler terms, it is the knowledge and skills one needs to do a specific task however the person is not aware of the possessed capabilities. The same person can do the job when the person is guided by someone else who can be either an adult or a capable peer. At the core of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, there is a presence in the area comprising the cognitive capabilities which are learned so far in life. The fact that human can think is the main factor that makes human different from the other animals. As children are given the chance of stretching their skills and knowledge in the same way someone who is slightly advanced then they can also extend their zone of proximal development with a little guidance. It is only through an external force one can understand the capabilities of self.

Sociocultural Theory vs Cognitive Development Theory

According to Wertsch (2007), numerous studies have considered a sociocultural approach that concerns about memory. One of the simplest examples would be regarded as a comparison between an animal’s memory and human memory. As understood, animal’s memory is reactionary that it, they tend to live only in the present and do not recall the past like human. It may fail to unlock the experiences that they have had in the past and solely focus on the events that the animals are experiencing at that moment. Although a mouse can identify a predator when approached by it again and again however it will fail to recognise any other predators such as a snake. Humans are blessed with language that helps them recall the experience they go through without having to go through it again. However, a human can remember past experiences without having them first-handed. An individual can see any word and recall its memory with the object mentioned. According to Brown, Allen & Reavey (2015), a person can see the word ‘watermelon’ and immediately it will not only recall the image of the watermelon but also the taste of watermelon. Vygotsky also mentioned that children at an early age vocalise action and their thought process by speaking out loud their reasoning and their thinking. As children grow up, the vocalisation becomes internal which again becomes ‘inner speech’ (Obradovi?, 2017). Children are seen talking aloud by themselves at an early age when they carry out mundane tasks. It is believed to be the action of building recalling abilities that will become inner speech or the speech that is internalised. The attempt to remember the things one did the previous day includes a series of prompts that begins with common events such as the commute to work. These events often make a person recall about the song on the radio or the colour of the car. That was in front of them while driving to work.

Language is the most significant factor in the development of the ability to recall memories or information. It is also, one of the major building blocks of society and culture. As believed by many, language is the most powerful element that would elevate humans from a primitive species that would dominate the world. A language is an instrument that helps human construct memoirs. Human is able to recollect their past, remember their pleasant and unpleasant memories is through the language.

Zone of Proximal Development and Memory

Through the help of a sociocultural approach, psychologists have started to investigate the human history in the context of finding the impact of language on human behaviour. The various ways language shape and define the entire society, and the way society has been going along with the influence of language (Power, 2016). Language helps in interacting, the interaction is also between the self. After the research, sociologists, psychologist as well as an anthropologist has observed that human’s more complex emotions such as loyalty, love, empathy, are learned behaviour that humans tend to associate with words.   These behaviours are not ingrained behaviour that is concretely established in the human brains.

According to Vygotsky, it is known that sociocultural factors impact an individual’s development and as per Piaget it is known that social interaction plays an essential role in an individual’s development. Remembering becomes a process when there is an interaction between the individual, the society and the context. It is further shaped by the power of dynamics that lend authority, credibility and ‘truth’ to a specific version of both individual and collective memory. It is observed that memory becomes constructed in reaction to the situational development by the party that is more dominant. Therefore, the process of remembering by memory are not mere retrievals of existing information. It is also a construction, negotiation and often manipulation of experiences that have occurred in the past. This is majorly the experiences that happen while the process of development takes place. The impact of social factors and social interaction both plays an important role in remembering the process of memory. While power is not precisely the highlight of the article, it is only to mention that both the theories apply when the memory is studied. Construction and reconstruction of events, scientific theories, and beautiful objects are factors that are shaped by the dominant power-asymmetric between individuals and socio-cultural movement along with groups and culture. The role of power is an important aspect to consider when it comes to remembering in context of socio-cultural psychology. The intersection occurring the action of remembering is essential to understand the impact of socio-cultural approach.

Conclusion:

A broad area of study with several theories is psychology, and with schools of thoughts it helps in understanding and making sense of human behaviour. There are various aspects of human behaviour such as perception, behaviour and personality and many more. Some of the psychologists even decide to devote studies to human’s abnormal behaviour. There is some psychologist who attempts to understand the reason for the way the previous thinkers have thought. The fact that humans are capable of thinking is the main factor that makes human different from the other animals. A common approach of explanation that makeup and define individuals as they are and it is the approach of a sociocultural approach. This approach emphasises on the influence of society on human development. The knowledge and skills one needs to do a particular task however the person is not aware of the possessed capabilities. Psychologists widely use the approach as it helps understanding human behaviour. According to a socio-cultural approach, cultural factors such as art, social norms, social structures, language play the most crucial role in the development of human cognitive abilities. Therefore, the approach is an extensively used method. Language is a tool that helps human construct memories. Humans can recall their past, remember their good and bad memories is through language. Therefore, language is considered the most essential tool of a sociocultural approach. There are various benefits of this approach as it helps to make the human behaviour comprehensive by studying the environment of the human.

References:

Brown, S. D., Allen, M., & Reavey, P. (2015). The collective shaping of survivors’ personal memories of the 2005 London bombing. Routledge International Handbook of Memory Studies, 428.

Matsumoto, D., & Juang, L. (2016). Culture and psychology. Nelson Education.

Obradovi?, S. (2017). Whose memory and why: A commentary on power and the construction of memory. Culture & Psychology, 23(2), 208-216.

Poehner, M. E., & Lantolf, J. P. (2014). Sociocultural theory and the pedagogical imperative in L2 education: Vygotskian praxis and the research/practice divide. Routledge.

Power, S. A. (2016). A violent past but a peaceful present: The cultural psychology of an Irish recession. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 22(1), 60.

Valsiner, J., & Rosa, A. (2007). Contemporary socio-cultural research. The Cambridge handbook of sociocultural psychology, 1-20.

Vygotsky, L. S., Luriâ, A. R., & Knox, J. E. (2013). Studies on the history of behavior: Ape, primitive, and child. Psychology Press.

Wertsch, J. (2007)  Collective memory.  In Valsiner & Rosa (eds). Cambridge Handbook of Sociocultural Psychology. Cambridge University Press.

Wertsch, J. (2008)  The narrative organisation of collective memory.  Ethos, 1, 120-135.

Woollard, J., & Pritchard, A. (2013). Psychology for the classroom: Constructivism and social learning. Routledge.