Cultural-historical psychology facts for kids

Cultural-historical psychology is a way of understanding how our minds and thinking skills develop. It was started by two important thinkers, Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria, and their group in the 1920s and 1930s.

Even though Vygotsky himself never used the exact phrase "cultural-historical psychology," this name is now widely known. The main idea behind their work was to create a "new psychology." This new way of thinking would show how our mind, brain, and culture are all connected as we grow and change. It looks at how individuals develop in their specific social and historical surroundings. It also considers how humans have developed throughout history as a species.

Vygotsky and Luria wanted to build a theory that explored how our consciousness (our awareness of ourselves and the world) develops. They also looked at how our "higher psychological functions" (like thinking, language, and memory) grow. Their group, often called the Vygotsky Circle, did a lot of thinking and experiments to explore these ideas.

What They Believed

Vygotsky believed that people could develop their abilities to a very high level. He thought that a new kind of psychology was needed to understand this potential. He suggested that our "higher psychological functions" develop because of the impact of society and culture. This idea, that society helps shape our minds, was not entirely new. It's often called "sociogenesis."

Vygotsky was interested in what he called "peak psychology." This meant focusing on the very best performance people could achieve in their lives. He wanted to understand how people could reach their highest potential. While this was a very interesting idea, it was never fully completed as a scientific project.

How the Theory Helped and Where It Fell Short

Vygotsky and Luria's big project to create one single theory of the human mind and development wasn't fully finished by the time Vygotsky died in 1934. However, their early work and ideas from Soviet scholars in the 1920s and 1930s led to many different areas of psychology.

Some of these areas include:

• Cultural psychology: How culture shapes our minds.
• Child psychology: How children grow and learn.
• Education: Especially in areas like dynamic assessment, which comes from Vygotsky's idea of the Zone of proximal development (ZPD). The ZPD is about what a learner can do with help.
• Neuropsychology: How the brain affects behavior.
• Psycholinguistics: How language and the mind are connected.

Other fields that have been influenced by Vygotsky and Luria's ideas include psychotherapy (helping people with mental health), theory of art, cognitive science (the study of thought), and semiotics (the study of signs and symbols).

Who Influenced Them

Many different ideas influenced cultural-historical psychology. Some of the main influences were:

• The study of the brain and nerves by Ivan Pavlov and Vladimir Bekhterev.
• Ideas about language and culture from Wilhelm von Humboldt.
• The social and economic ideas of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels.
• Most importantly, Gestalt psychology, especially the work of Max Wertheimer and Kurt Lewin. Gestalt psychology focuses on understanding things as a whole, rather than just their parts.

Over time, the idea of holism (looking at things as a whole) from Gestalt psychology became very important to Vygotsky and Luria's work in the 1930s. It replaced some of Vygotsky's earlier focus on just the physical parts of the brain.

It's important not to confuse the original ideas of Vygotsky and Luria with some later theories that claim to be "Vygotskian." These later theories, like sociocultural psychology or activity theory, sometimes don't fully understand the deep historical roots and the original goal of Vygotsky and Luria's project, which always emphasized the need for a new theory of consciousness.

The Vygotsky-Luria Circle

Vygotsky and Luria worked with many other experts, including psychologists, educators, doctors, and brain scientists. Their main goal was to create a complete science of the mind, brain, and behavior as they develop socially and biologically. They included ideas about social relationships and scientific research practices.

The Circle started in Moscow in 1924 after Vygotsky moved there. At the Institute of Psychology, he met other important thinkers like Alexander Luria, with whom he worked closely.

The group grew, and their research took place in different cities in the Soviet Union. When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941 during the Great Patriotic War, the group broke up. After World War II, some of their work was continued by Luria and others.

See also

• Critical psychology
• Constructivism (learning theory)
• Leading activity
• Dynamic assessment
• Zone of proximal development
• Sociogenesis