VYGOTSKY SOCIAL THEORY OF

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
Who is Vygotsky?
- Lem Semyonovich Vygotsky was a Soviet psychologist known for his work
on psychological development in children. He published on a diverse range of
subject, and from multiple views as his perspective changed over the years.
- Born on November 17, 1896 in Orsha, Belarus
- He died on June 11, 1934 in Moscow, Russia
- He study at Shaniavskii Moscow City People’s Uiversity.
- His children are Asya Vigodskaya and Gita Vygodskaya
- His wife is Roza Boevna Smekhova
- His parents are Celia Moiseevna Vigodskaya and Simcha L. Vygotsky.
Vygotsky’s Social Theory of Cognitive Development:

Vygotsky first became actively involved in the study of development in the late 1920s.
His approach to the field was very different to that of established paedologist. He
attempted to change the focus of paedology, claiming that “the development of the child is
the direct and immediate object of our science”.

Vygotsky’s first law of development stated that development is a process that takes place
in time and goes on in a cyclical manner. His second law of development was that
different aspects of child development develop in uneven and non-proportional ways.
Vygotsky believed that in order to understand complex human
behaviours, we need to reconstruct the most primitive and
simple forms of that behaviour, and follow its development.
This is why he believed it was so important to learn how
children adopt certain behaviours. He argued that the most
important cultural tool a child can develop is language.
THREE PRINCIPAL ASSUMPTIONS:

1. 1. The people around the child play a central role in their development

2. 2. The type and quality of tools used for cognitive development

determine the rate and pattern of development, language, culture

3. 3. Problem solving skills can be placed into three categories: those

that can be performed independently by the child, those that can’t be
done even with help, those that can be done with the help of others
TWO LEVEL OF DEVELOPMENT:

THE ACTUAL LEVEL – is what people are capable of achieving on their own.

THE POTENTIAL LEVEL – is what can be achieved with the help or guidance of
others.

Vygotsky argued that the potential for cognitive development is limited to a certain time
span, the zone proximal development (ZPD). Development during in this time requires
full interaction, and it is the environment that the child lives in that shapes the ZPD for
them.
“The Zone of Proximal Development is the distance between the
actual developmental level as determined by independent problem
solving and the level of potential development as determined through
problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more
capable peers. In the zone of proximal development, the learner is
close to developing the new skills or knowledge, but they need
assistance and encouragement.
HIGHER AND LOWER MENTAL FUNCTIONS:

LOWER MENTAL FUNCTION – are those that are innate, like

feeding and reproducing ,

HIGHER MENTAL FUNCTION – are those that are acquired

through social development, like memory and attention.
THANK YOU !!!