Our higher psychological functioning
I found Tool and Symbol difficult to understand, so my post this week is mostly my attempt to condense everything Vygotsky said into something I could comprehend. I wanted to write about my dog loving me, but alas this summary felt more useful.
Man demonstrates higher psychological functioning by controlling his actions (will power) and the development of will power depends on the use of signs, developed in childhood. The relation between word and action is at the beginning of the formation of the child’s will, and action precedes the word. Actions evolve in child development, going from reactive to the point where there is “a fundamental change in the relations between the sensory and motor parts of the reactive process.” Action until then was linked to perception (i.e., only what is in the visual field; that which makes an ape not have higher mental functions—it is a “slave of its optic field” and therefore perception). Whereas adults make a choice and then act upon it, children just make a choice via their action; the two are fused. Movement (action) is the method of selection of any given choice; movement and perception coincide. When you include signs, however, the choice is not deferred to perception-based action; the addition of sign removes the impulse: “the use of auxiliary signs destroys the fusion of the sensory field with the motor system… the child that formerly solved the problem impulsively, now solves it through the internal reestablishment of the connection between the stimulus and the corresponding auxiliary sign, while the movement which previously made the choice, now serves only as a system fulfilling the prepared operation.” Vygotsky calls this the point when the higher intellectual activity of man occurs. This switch, from biological to social, happens through another person Vygotsky says and speech is the crux of this (social speech and egocentric speech). “...from the very first days of development, its [the child's] adaptation to the environment is achieved by social means, through the people surrounding him… this road—passing through another person—proves to be the central highway of development of practical intellect… speech here plays a role of primary importance.”
I'm looking forward to class discussion and understanding more of what Vygotsky had to say!
Man demonstrates higher psychological functioning by controlling his actions (will power) and the development of will power depends on the use of signs, developed in childhood. The relation between word and action is at the beginning of the formation of the child’s will, and action precedes the word. Actions evolve in child development, going from reactive to the point where there is “a fundamental change in the relations between the sensory and motor parts of the reactive process.” Action until then was linked to perception (i.e., only what is in the visual field; that which makes an ape not have higher mental functions—it is a “slave of its optic field” and therefore perception). Whereas adults make a choice and then act upon it, children just make a choice via their action; the two are fused. Movement (action) is the method of selection of any given choice; movement and perception coincide. When you include signs, however, the choice is not deferred to perception-based action; the addition of sign removes the impulse: “the use of auxiliary signs destroys the fusion of the sensory field with the motor system… the child that formerly solved the problem impulsively, now solves it through the internal reestablishment of the connection between the stimulus and the corresponding auxiliary sign, while the movement which previously made the choice, now serves only as a system fulfilling the prepared operation.” Vygotsky calls this the point when the higher intellectual activity of man occurs. This switch, from biological to social, happens through another person Vygotsky says and speech is the crux of this (social speech and egocentric speech). “...from the very first days of development, its [the child's] adaptation to the environment is achieved by social means, through the people surrounding him… this road—passing through another person—proves to be the central highway of development of practical intellect… speech here plays a role of primary importance.”
I'm looking forward to class discussion and understanding more of what Vygotsky had to say!
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