problem 4 - Vygotsky Flashcards
1
Q
What is the general idea of Vygotsky’s theory?
A
- development is heavily influenced by interaction with other people (especially tutors or authorities)
- universal development (everyone develops in their own pace and time)
2
Q
What is the zone of proximal proximity according to Vygotsky?
A
- the range of tasks that are too complex to be mastered alone, but can be accomplished with guidance and encouragement from a more skilful partner
- scaffolding: when the teaching model tailors the support they provide to the novice’s current situation, so that he can profit from that support and increases his understanding
3
Q
What is Vygotsky’s theory of language and thought?
A
- private speech: speaking to oneself for self-regulation (example: talking to yourself while solving a problem helps for some people)
4
Q
What is guided participation?
A
- participating in relevant culturally events and learn skills through interaction with adults (example: hunting skills in hunting community are more valuable than for psychology uni students)
5
Q
What is the effects of siblings on learning?
A
- siblings influence positively child development (children think their older sibling is a mentor)
6
Q
What is context-independent learning?
A
- learning that has no relevance in present context, learning just to learn, not to apply it (example: studying in school things we will never use just for the sake of learning)
7
Q
What are the strengths and weaknesses of Vygotsky’s theory?
A
- strengths
- a lot of supporting evidence
- accounts social and cultural contexts, includes environment in explaining development
- weaknesses
- hard to test
- if guidance is not developed enough, we will not go beyond that (we are heavily dependent on others, according to this theory)
- language might not have such an essential role as claimed for this theory
- no categories, mentions of ages at which certain things happen
