Sociocultural Development

By Kendra Cherry
Updated October 03, 2016
Sociocultural theory is an emerging theory in psychology that looks at the
important contributions that society makes to individual development. This
theory stresses the interaction between developing people and the culture
in which they live. This theory suggests that human learning is largely a
social process. 

An Introduction to Sociocultural Theory

Sociocultural theory grew from the work of seminal psychologist Lev
Vygotsky, who believed that parents, caregivers, peers, and the culture at
large were responsible for developing higher order functions.
According to Vygotsky, learning has its basis in interacting with other
people. Once this has occurred, the information is then integrated on the
individual level:
"Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first,
on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between
people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological).
This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the
formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual
relationships between individuals."

Vygotsky was a contemporary of other great thinkers such as Freud, Skinner,
and Piaget, but his early death at age 37 and suppression of his work in
Stalinist Russia left him in relative obscurity until fairly recently. As
his work became more widely published, his ideas have grown increasingly
influential in areas including child development, cognitive psychology, and
education.
Sociocultural theory focuses not only how adults and peers influence
individual learning, but also on how cultural beliefs and attitudes impact
how instruction and learning take place.
According to Vygotsky, children are born with basic biological constraints
on their minds. Each culture, however, provides what he referred to as
'tools of intellectual adaptation.' These tools allow children to use their
basic mental abilities in a way that is adaptive to the culture in which
they live.
For example, while one culture might emphasize memory strategies such as
note-taking, other cultures might utilize tools like reminders or rote
memorization.

Piaget vs. Vygotsky: Key Differences

So how does Vygotsky's sociocultural theory differ from Piaget's theory of
cognitive development?
First, Vygotsky placed a greater emphasis on how social factors influence
development. While Piaget's theory stressed how a child's interactions and
explorations influenced development, Vygotsky stressed the essential role
that social interactions play in cognitive development.
Another important difference between the two theories was that while
Piaget's theory suggests that development is largely universal, Vygotsky
suggested that cognitive development can differ between different cultures.
The course of development in a Western culture, for example, might be
different than it is in an Eastern culture.

The Zone of Proximal Development

An important concept in sociocultural theory is known as the zone of
proximal development.
According to Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development "is the distance
between the actual development level as determined by independent problem
solving and the level of potential development as determined through
problem-solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable
peers."
Essentially, it includes all of the knowledge and skills that a person
cannot yet understand or perform on their own yet but is capable of
learning with guidance. As children are allowed to stretch their skills and
knowledge, often by observing someone who is slightly more advanced than
they are, they are able to progressively extend this zone of proximal
development.

Observations About Social Learning Theory

In his text Social and Personality Development, author David R. Shaffer
explains that while Piaget believed that cognitive development was fairly
universal, Vygotsky believed that each culture presents unique differences.
Because cultures can vary so dramatically, Vygotsky's sociocultural theory
suggests that both the course and content of intellectual development are
not as universal as Piaget believed.
More Psychology Definitions: The Psychology Dictionary
Sources:
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University
Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1986). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Shaffer, D. R. (2009). Social and Personality Development. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.

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By Kendra Cherry
Updated October 02, 2016
Lev Vygotsky was a seminal Russian psychologist who is best-known for his
sociocultural theory. He believed that social interaction played a critical
role in children's learning. Through such social interactions, children go
through a continuous process of learning. Vygotsky noted, however, that
culture profoundly influenced this process. Imitation, guided learning, and
collaborative learning all play a critical part in his theory.

Lev Vygotsky Is Best Known For:

Zone of Proximal Development
Sociocultural Theory
Guided Participation

Birth and Death:

(November 17, 1896 - June 11, 1934)

Vygotsky's Early Life

Lev Vygotsky was born in Orsha, a city in the western region of the Russian
Empire.
He attended Moscow State University, where he graduated with a degree in
law in 1917. He studied a range of topics white attending university,
including sociology, linguistics, psychology, and philosophy. However, his
formal work in psychology did not begin until 1924 when he attended the
Institute of Psychology in Moscow.
He completed a dissertation in 1925 on the psychology of art but was
awarded his degree in absentia due to an acute tuberculosis relapse that
left him incapacitated for a year. Following his illness, Vygotsky began
researching topics such as language, attention, and memory with the help of
students including Alexei Leontiev and Alexander Luria.

Vygotsky's Career and Theories

Lev Vygotsky was a prolific writer, publishing six books on psychology
topics over a ten-year period. His interests were quite diverse but often
centered on issues of child development and education. He also explored
such subjects as the psychology of art and language development.
Some of the major theories developed by Lev Vygotsky include:

The Zone of Proximal Development

According to Vygotsky, the zone of proximal development is "the distance
between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem
solving and the level of potential development as determined through
problem solving under adult guidance, or in collaboration with more capable
peers."
Essentially, this zone is the gap between what a child knows and what he
does not yet know. The process of acquiring that information requires
skills that a child does not yet possess or cannot do independently, but
can do with the help of a more knowledgeable other.
Parents and teachers can foster learning by providing educational
opportunities that lie within a child's zone of proximal development. Kids
can also learn a great deal from peers, so teachers can foster this process
by pairing less skilled children with more knowledgeable classmates.

The More Knowledgeable Other

Vygotsky conceived the more knowledgeable other as a person who had greater
knowledge and skills than the learner.
In many cases, this individual is an adult such as a parent or teacher.
Kids also learn a great deal from their interactions with their peers, and
children often pay even greater attention to what their friends and
classmates know and are doing than they do to the adults in their life.
No matter who serves as the more knowledgeable other, the key is that they
provide the needed social instruction with the zone of proximal development
when the learner is so sensitive to guidance. Children can observe and
imitate or even receive guided instruction to acquire the new knowledge and
skills.

Sociocultural Theory

Lev Vygotsky also suggested that human development results from a dynamic
interaction between individuals and society. Through this interaction,
children learn gradually and continuously from parent and teachers. This
learning, however, can vary from one culture to the next. It is important
to note that Vygotsky's theory emphasizes the dynamic nature of this
interaction. Society doesn't just impact people; people also affect their
society.

Contributions to Psychology

Vygotsky's life was cut tragically short in 1934 when he died of
tuberculosis at the age of 37.
Lev Vygotsky is considered a formative thinker in psychology, and much of
his work is still being discovered and explored today. While he was a
contemporary of Skinner, Pavlov, Freud, and Piaget, his work never attained
their level of eminence during his lifetime. Part of this was because the
Communist Party often criticized his work in Russia, and so his writings
were largely inaccessible to the Western world. His premature death at age
37 also contributed to his obscurity.
Despite this, his work has continued to grow in influence since his death,
particularly in the fields of developmental and educational psychology.
It wasn't until the 1970s that Vygotsky's theories became known in the West
as new concepts and ideas were introduced in the fields of educational and
developmental psychology. Since then, Vygotsky's works have been translated
and have become very influential, particularly in the area of education. In
a 2002 ranking of eminent psychologist's, Vygotsky was identified as the
83rd most frequently cited psychologist during the 20th-century.

Vygotsky vs. Piaget

Piaget and Vygotsky were contemporaries, yet Vygotsky's never became as
well-known until long after his death. While their ideas shared some
similarities, there were some significant differences:
Vygotsky did not break down development into a series of predetermined
stages, as Piaget did.
Vygotsky stressed the important role that culture plays, suggesting
cultural differences can have a dramatic effect on development.
Piaget's theory suggests that development is largely universal.
Piaget's theory focuses a great deal of attention on peer interaction
while Vygotsky's theory stressed the importance of more knowledgeable
adults and peers.
Vygotsky's theory heavily stressed the role that language plays in
development, something that Piaget largely ignored.

In His Own Words:

"Learning is more than the acquisition of the ability to think; it is the
acquisition of many specialised abilities for thinking about a variety of
things." - Lev Vygotsky, Mind in Society, 1978

Selected Publications

Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher
psychological processes. Cambridge: MA: Harvard University Press.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1986). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
(original work published in 1934).
Vygotsky, L.S. (1987). Thinking and speech. (N. Minick. Trans.). New York:
Plenum Press.
If you are interested in reading some of Lev Vygotsky's works, many of his
writings are available in full-text format at the Vygotsky Internet
Archive.

Sources:

Haggbloom, S. J., Warnick, J.E., Jones, V.K., Yarbrough, G.L., Russell,
T.M., Borecky, C.M., McGahhey, R....Monte, E. (2002). The 100 most eminent
psychologists of the 20th century. Review of General Psychology, 6(2),
139–152. doi:10.1037/1089-2680.6.2.139.
Vygotsky, L. S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge MA: MIT Press.
Woolfolk, Anita E. (1998). Educational Psychology Seventh Edition. Boston:
Allyn and Bacon

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