Culture and Human Development

Cognitive Development: Vygotsky's Sociocultural Theory

The social origin of cognition was proposed by the Russian psychologist Lev S. Vygotsky (1896–1934). Vygotsky proposed the “General Genetic Law of Cultural Development,” which describes an internalization process:

Vygotksy (1962) studied the internalization of language because he believed that language, a cultural symbol system, affects cognitive functioning. Language is first used between people (the social level) and serves a communicative function. However, language develops along a second line. It becomes internalized as inner speech (individual level) around 7 to 8 years of age and serves an intraindividual cognitive function. Language, when internalized, guides our thinking, planning, and action.

Accordingly, the concept of “mediated activity” is central in Vygotsky's (1978) theory. We create and use cultural symbol systems or “signs” (e.g., tying a knot, language) as means of solving psychological problems (e.g., remembering, planning). The sign acts as an instrument of psychological activity as the tool does in labor. The notion of mediated activity makes Vygotsky's cultural theory different from biological accounts of development:

A classic study of culture's mediation of cognition was by Luria (1979), in the 1930s. The development of abstract, logical thought was studied in Central Asia in the transition period following the Russian revolution. Reasoning was studied across those exposed or not exposed to the cultural changes of literacy, schooling, or economic reform. Such cultural signs led to qualitative changes in thought; only persons experiencing these cultural signs showed abstract, logical thought.

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