Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

Cultural History

Vygotsky made a distinction between lower and higher mental functions, believing that all higher level mental functions begin with the social. What he means by this is that our lower level mental functions are those we are born with and represent the arsenal we originally have to interact with our environment. However, as we participate in culture and social activity, our mental process are influenced by the social interaction. Vygotsky (p. 162) theorized that our mental processes begin on a social (interpsychological) level and move toward an inner (intrapsychological) level. In other words, we internalize or transform social experiences, symbols, events, and interactions into psychological processes that provide meaning. As Vygotsky (p. 162) argues, ôWhen we speak of a process, external means social. Any higher mental function is external because it was social at some point before becoming an internal, truly mental function.ö

The activity theory, the cognitive processing of meaning making can be shared among multiple individuals and objects in the environment. This is achieved by overcoming the gulf between the organism and its environment. Activity manifests itself through a reciprocal process that changes the subject, object, and the relationship between them and their context. According to Cole and Engestrom (p. 6), once an activity is ôinstitutionalizedö and is no longer and ôindividual goal-oriented action,ö then is represents a dynamic and enduring tool within a culture. Vygotsky and colleagues developed the cultural-historical notion of activity environments. To them, the human never reacts directly to the environment. Instead, this relationship is mediated by cultural means including tools and signs. In this model, action is mediate based on the subject, a mediating artifact, and an object. For example, a child learns language from interaction with an adult. This

...

Page 1 of 2 Next >

More on Cultural History...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
Cultural History. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 10:14, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1711241.html