Lev Vygotsky: biography of the famous Russian psychologist.

A unique author who developed theories around education and childhood.

Lev Vygotsky (sometimes spelled Vygotski) is a key author in developmental and educational psychology, although he also made important contributions in the field of neuropsychology.He also made important contributions in the field of neuropsychology and founded the cultural-historical psychological approach. His theory and his work are framed in the context of the proletarian revolution that took place in Russia and in which he participated directly.

In this article we will discuss Vygotsky's biography and main ideas and contributions to psychology and other social sciences. We will focus on his relationship with the development of developmental and educational psychology, although we will also mention his influence on other disciplines.

• Recommended article: "The sociocultural theory of Lev Vygotsky".

Biography of Lev Vygotsky

Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky was born in 1896 in Orsha, Belarus, although he grew up in the city of Gomel. At that time the country was part of the Russian Empire, which was still ruled by a tsar, although the revolutionary movement that would lead to the emergence of the Soviet Union would soon blossom. As a young man Vygotsky wanted to be a literary critic.

In 1913 he began to study law at the University of Moscow.The range of education he could access was limited because he came from a Jewish family. He graduated 4 years later and returned to his hometown; there he began to teach psychology and logic. In 1917 the October Revolution took place and Vygotsky became involved in political activity.

Some time later, in 1924, Vygotsky began to make a name for himself after impressing the Russian experimental psychology community with a speech on neuropsychology. Thereafter he worked as a researcher and as a professor at the Moscow Institute of Experimental Psychology.

During this period of his life Vygotsky was a prolific author as well as an important instructor in the field of psychology.. However, in 1926 he lost his job due to tuberculosis; he died of this disease in 1934, when he was only 37 years old, leaving an extensive theoretical legacy that was collected by Aleksandr Luria and others.

Among the most outstanding works of this author we find "Educational psychology", "The mind in society", "The historical significance of the crisis of psychology", "The development of higher psychological processes", "Psychology of art" and "Thought and speech", his most influential book, which was published after his death.

Main ideas of his theory

Vygotsky's professional life focused mainly on development during childhood.He was a pioneer in the fields of developmental psychology and educational philosophy. However, his ideas were also relevant for fields such as the philosophy and methodology of science, the study of higher mental functions or the study of interaction between human beings.

According to Vygotsky, people develop their behavioral repertoire during childhood through interaction with other people in the environment. In this sense, the importance of culture is very relevant, as it explains the internalization of a series of specific behaviors, habits, knowledge, norms or attitudes that we observe in those around us.

Thus, for example, he defined thought as internal language and affirmed that it is acquired through exposure to the speech of other people. This internal language would fulfill the function of regulating one's own behavior, especially during childhood.The child's external speech to himself during the early stages of development would be manifested in the child's external speech to himself.

Vygotsky also gave great importance to the socializing functions of play. This author argued that children internalize cultural norms, social roles or interpersonal skills through play. In addition, the use of symbols and imagination is very relevant in the acquisition of abstract thinking.

The main differences between Vygotsky's ideas and those of Jean Piaget, the other fundamental theorist of the time, include the absence of developmental stages, the focus on language and the role of adults in learning, and the emphasis on individuality, interpersonal interaction and the role of the sociocultural context.

Contributions to psychology

Vygotsky is considered one of the most influential authors in many branches of psychology today, although during his time he did not gain as much recognition as Piaget, Skinner or Pavlov worldwide until decades after his death. This has been attributed both to his association with the Soviet Communist Party and to his untimely death.

One aspect of Vygotsky's theory that has generated particular interest is the concept of the zone of proximal development, a key to learning. This term refers to the distance between the behaviors that a child can perform on his or her own and what he or she is able to do with the help of others with greater mastery of a particular aspect.

Vygotsky called "scaffolding" the process by which an adult helps a child to carry out a given task.. As the child gains greater knowledge or skill, educators should proportionally increase the difficulty of the exercises so that he or she continues to take advantage of the zone of proximal development.

The emergence of the cultural-historical psychological approach, which aimed to determine the relationships between culture, mind and brain in a given spatial and temporal context, is also attributed to the influence of Vygotsky, as well as Aleksandr Luria and other close collaborators.