Lev Vygotsky (Outstanding Soviet Psychologists)

2021·0.96 MB·English

by  Mikhail Yaroshevsky

OUTSTANDING SOVIET PSYCHOLOGISTS
Mikhail Yaroshevsky
Lev Vygotsky
Progress
Publishers
Moscow

M I K H A I L YA R O S H E V S K Y
L E V V Y G O T S K Y
TranslatedfromtheRussianbySergeiSyrovatkin.
FirstPublishedbyProgressPublishers,Moscowin1989.
ThiselectronicversiontypesetinLATEXbyDamitrMazanov
Releasedonthewebin2021by .
http://mirtitles.org
Thesourcefilesforthisbookareavailableat .
https://gitlab.com/mirtitles/vygotsky.git
Contents
Introduction 7
Family and School 25
University Years. The Riddle of Hamlet 29
Teacher in Gomel 41
From Reflexology To Psychology 49
The Abnormal Child In The World Of Culture 67
Art: A Social Technique For The Emotions 91
The Crisis In Psychology And Its Historical
Meaning 111
In Search Of Traps For The Psyche 133
Psychology In Terms Of Drama 141
The Discovery Of The Mechanism Of The
Higher Forms Of Behaviour 155
The Path To Concept 171
6 mikhail yaroshevsky
The Fate Of The Word In The Life Of
Individual Thought 187
Integral Schema Of The Structure Of
Consciousness 199
Introduction
ItcanhardlybedoubtedinthesedaysthattheRussianscholarLev
SemyonovichVygotsky(1896-1934)isastarofthefirstmagnitude
intheskyofmodernpsychology,astarwhichshineseverbrighter
withthepassageoftime.Thisishomeoutbytheopinionsofmany
Westernscientists.TheoutstandingAmericanpsychologistJerome
Bruner,socharyofpraise,saidin1977:“Everypsychologistwhohas
studiedcognitiveprocessesinthepast25years,shouldacknowledge
thegreatimpactmadeonhimbytheworksofLevVygotsky.”In
thefollowingyear,anotherwell-knownAmericanscholarStephen
Toulmin,inanarticleaboutVygotskywrittenforTheNewYorkReview
ofBooks,referredtohimas“theMozartofpsychology”.Intheview
ofDr.BernsteinofLondonUniversity,continuationofVygotsky’s
work,which“openedthewaytoaunificationofthebiologicaland
socialstudies”,may“haveatleastasgreatasignificanceforscienceas
thedecipheringofthegeneticcode”.
Inhisnativecountry,Vygotskygainedfameasanoutstanding
researcherinpsychologyasearlyasthe1920s.IntheWest,though,
hewasverylittleknownthen.Theonlytimehewentabroadwasin
1926.Onthatoccasionhereadapaperontheprinciplesofteaching
deaf-and-mutechildreninRussiaataninternationalconferencein
London.In1929,hisreport,preparedtogetherwithAlexanderLuria,
anotherprominentSovietpsychologistandafollowerofVygotsky,
wasreadattheIXInternationalPsychologicalCongressintheUSA.Their
paperdealtwithaveryspecialistsubject–theso-calledegocentric
childspeech,i.e.,achild’sutterancesthatarenotaddressedtoalistener.
Underlyingthediscussionofthisstrangephenomenon,observed
8 lev vygotsky
insmallchildrenanddisappearingbythebeginningoftheschool
age,wasaninnovativetheoryofthemechanismoftheworkofthe
humanmind,atheorythatwasdestinedtooccupyaprominentplace
inworldpsychology.Wemustmentionacurioushistoricalfactatthis
point.Anotherfuturegiantofpsychology,theyoungSwissscholar
JeanPiaget,alsospokeonthesamesubjectatthesameInternational
CongressofPsychologists.VygotskyandPiagetdiscussedoneandthe
samephenomenon,certainidenticalfacts,buttheirexplanationsof
thesefactswerequitedifferent,thedivergencereflectingafundamental
differenceinphilosophicalorientation.However,neithertheproblem
ofegocentricspeechitselfnoritsdifferentinterpretationsattracted
theattentionoftheCongress.MostparticipantswereAmerican
psychologists,andtheserecognisedonlyonetrendasstrictlyscientific.
Thattrendwasbehaviourism,whichinsistedonthestudyofexternal
behaviour,thatis,oftheorganism’sreactionstoexternalstimuli,
rejectinganyinterestinpsychicalphenomena,intheinnermental
processes.
ThebehaviouristsregardedIvanPavlovasthefatherofthattype
ofpsychology,sothatthemaineventoftheCongresswasthespeech
bythegreatoldman,eighty-year-oldPavlovwhohadtravelledacross
theoceantobereceivedwiththunderousapplause.Pavlovwasseenas
theprincipalfigureinRussianSovietpsychology.Severaldecadeslater
itwouldbeVygotskywhowouldbeperceivedassuchafigure.This
radicalshiftintheassessmentoftheideologicalforcesdeterminingthe
imageofpsychologyintheSovietUnion,reflectedanevolutioninthe
viewsonthepsycheinworldscience.Behaviourism,triumphantin
the1920s,laterlostitsformerpositionsinAmericanpsychology,giving
waytoatrendknownascognitivism.Theso-calledcognitiveparadigm
tookshape.Thecognitiveprocesseswhichserveastoolsofacquiring
informationaboutrealitygraduallybecamethefocusofpsychological
study.Interestinman’sinformation-relatedactivitysharplyincreased
withtheadventofthecomputerera.
Theachievementsofthescientificandtechnologicalrevolutionled
totheappearanceofnewmachinescapableofreceivingandprocessing
information.Suchtermsas“memory”,“intellect”andothersbecame
partoftechnologicalthinking–aprocesswhichreflectedtheneedfor
thedescriptionofcomputers’specificproperties.Behaviourismhad
introduction 9
refusedtostudythesepropertiesasspecificinnerprocessesinhuman
activity.Nowinformationdevicesprovedtobecapableofperforming
certainactssimilartothatactivity.Itwasthisfactthatconditionedthe
shifttowardscognitivismintheentireareaofpsychologicalknowledge.
Alongwiththisshift,therecameachangeinthenotionsofthe
natureofthebasicstockofthatknowledge.Itwasatthatpointintime
thatVygotsky’swork,whichcentredonexplainingthedynamicsof
psychicalprocesses,begantoattractconsiderableattention.Thework
ofWesternresearchersinthepsychologyofknowledge,including
Americanones,wasandstillisinfluencedbyVygotsky’sstudies,as
indicatedbyBruner’sevaluationofVygotsky’simpactonthemquot-
edabove.Itcanthusbesaidthat,justastheworkofPavlovgavea
powerfulimpetustothedevelopmentofworldpsychologyinthefirst
quarterofthe20thcentury,sodidtheworkofVygotskygivesuchan
impetustoitsdevelopmentinthethirdquarterofthiscentury.This
factwasobviouslyconditionedbytheobjectivesituationinscience,by
theneedfortheideas,approachesandparadigmsengenderedinRussia.
Thereexistsanobjectivelogicofthedevelopmentofscientific
knowledgethatisindependentofthenationalsubstratum.Thework
ofbothRussianscientistsreflectedtheneedsofthisobjectivelogic
andtheimminentshiftsinpsychologyleadingintothefuture.That
waswhytheydidtheirpioneeringresearchinareasthatdetermined
thecharacterofworldpsychologyatdifferentepochs:Pavlov,inthe
objectivestudyofbehaviour,andVygotsky,intheobjectivestudy
ofthepsychologyofcognition.Bothopenednewchaptersinthe
chronicleofworldpsychologicalthought.Whenwestatethatthe
evolutionofscientificideasissubjecttoobjectivelawsowingtothe
internationalcharacterofscience,itshouldbeborneinmindthat
thecourseofthisevolutionisdeterminedbythespecificfeatures
ofthesocio-culturalcontextinwhichknowledgeisbornandlater
transformed.
PavlovandVygotskyweretrailblazersandleadersofprevailing
trends,butthesourcesoftheirinnovationsdidnotlieintheirpersonal
geniusonly–firstandforemost,thesesourcesmustbesoughtforin
thesocialandideologicalatmosphereinwhichtheyworked;onlyby
absorbingthatatmospheretheywereabletorealisetheirpersonality
potential.Itiseasytodemonstratethisviewbyconsideringtheturning
10 lev vygotsky
pointsintheirthinkingthatledthemtonewapproachesandproblem
areas.Pavlovdiscoveredconditionedreflexesaftergainingworldfame
byhisworksonthephysiologyofdigestion.Itwastheseworksthat
broughthimtheNobelPrize.Hewaspastfiftywhen,aftermuch
painfulsoul-searching,helefttheareaofresearchwhichhadmadehis
namefamousandbeganthestudyofmechanismsregulatingbehaviour.
Independentlyfromhim,researchersinvariouscountriesofthe
worldturnedtothestudyofthesephenomenaatapproximately
thesametime.AfterreadingAmericanworks,Pavlovhimselflater
wrotethat“thehonourofbeingthefirsttohavesetoutalongthe
newpathbelongstoThorndike,whoanticipatedourexperimentsby
sometwoorthreeyears”.1 EdwardThorndikeanticipatedPavlov’s 1.I.P.Pavlov,Polnoye
experimentsinteachinganimalsnewformsofbehaviour,butPavlov, sobraniyesochinenii(Complete
Works,InRussian),2nded.,
asweshalllatersee,movedinadirectiondifferentfromtheonechosen
vol.3,1(Moscow-Leningrad,
byAmericanpsychologists.Thesourcesofthedifferenceslayinthe 1951),p.15.
factthateachoftheresearchersreliedontraditionscreatedbyoriginal
cultures–RussianandAmerican.Thatwaswhataffectedthecharacter
ofscientificquestsdetermined,werepeat,bytheobjectivelogicofthe
movementofknowledge.Itwasthislogicthatfundamentallychanged
thedirectionofthefamousphysiologist’ssearch.
ThesituationwasmuchthesamewhenVygotsky,whoatfirst
specialisedinaestheticsandliterarycriticism,begantostudypsycho-
logicalproblems.Itisdifficulttodivinewhattheachievementsofthis
extremelytalentedthinkerinthisareawouldbeifhehadnotbecome,
soonafterthevictoryoftheOctoberRevolutioninRussia,ateacherat
aSovietschool,ifhehadnotabsorbedthenewideologyofMarxism,
itsphilosophicaltheory,whichbecameanestablishedfeatureofthe
socialconsciousness,Itwasthistheorythatdirectedhisthinkingto
wardsworkingoutthefundamentalproblemsofpsychologyfrom
anewangle.Hisprincipalachievementswere,aswehavepointed
out,severaldiscoveriesinthepsychologyofcognition.Hewasnot
alonelyfigureforgingaheadinthisarea.Theattentionofanumber
ofWestEuropeanresearcherswasalsofocusedontheseproblems,
especiallyontherelationsbetweenthoughtandspeech.Letusrecall,in
particular,egocentricspeech,whichwasfirstaccordedthestatusofa
psychologicallyinterestingphenomenonaftertheworksofJeanPiaget.
JustasThorndikewasaforerunnerofPavlov,Piagetwasinthis