Lev Vygotsky: biography of the famous Russian psychologist

Lev Vygotsky (sometimes written Vygotsky) is a key author in developmental and educational psychologyAlthough he also made important contributions in the field of neuropsychology and founded the historical-cultural 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 talk about the biography and the main ideas and contributions of Vygotsky to psychology and other social sciences. We will focus on his relationship with the development of evolutionary and educational psychology, although we will also mention his influence on other disciplines.

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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 was to give way to the rise of the Soviet Union would soon to flourish. As a young man Vygotsky wanted to be a literary critic.

In 1913 he began to study law at the University of Moscow.; the educational range that he was able to 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 classes. In 1917 the October Revolution took place and Vygotsky became involved in political activity.

Some time later, in 1924, Vygotsky became famous 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 from this disease in 1934, when he was only 37 years old, leaving a broad theoretical legacy that was picked up by Aleksandr Luria and others.

Among the most outstanding works of this author we find "Educational psychology", "The mind in society", "The historical meaning 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 primarily on childhood development, in developmental psychology and educational philosophy. However, his ideas were also relevant to fields such as the philosophy and methodology of science, the study of higher mental functions or the interaction between beings humans.

According to Vygotsky, people develop our repertoire of behavior during childhood from interaction with other people in the environment. In this sense, the weight of culture is very relevant, which explains the internalization of a series of certain behaviors, habits, knowledge, norms or attitudes that we observe in those who surround.

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

Vygotsky also attached great importance to the socializing functions of the game. This author defended 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 thought.

The main differences of Vygotsky's ideas with the approaches of Jean Piaget, the other fundamental theorists of the time, include the absence of developmental stages, the focus on language and the role of adults in learning or 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 of the branches of current psychology, although during his time he did not obtain 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 premature death.

One aspect of Vygotsky's theory that has generated particular interest is the concept of the proximal development zone, key to learning. This term refers to the distance between the behaviors that a child can perform on their own and what he is capable of doing with the help of other people with a greater command of a specific aspect.

Vygotsky called "scaffolding" the process by which an adult helps a child to carry out a certain task.. As the youngster gains greater knowledge or skill, educators will need to increase proportionally the difficulty of the exercises so that you continue to take advantage of the development zone proximal.

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