Lev Vygotsky

 (Haines, 2009).

Lev Vygotsky (1836-1934) has been instrumental in influencing the study and development of cognitive developmental theory. His work has been elemental in the development of Social Development Theory. Specifically, Vygotsky's work stresses the large role of social interaction in cognitive development (McLeod, 2007). Vygotsky's belief in the role of the community in "making meaning" is better explained in his argument that "learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 90).


Vygotsky's proposal was in direct opposition to Piaget's belief that development superceded learning. Rather, Vygotsky thought social learning occurred prior to cognitive development. Vygotsky's contribution is notable to psychology as he was a contemporary of Piaget; however, a short life potentially limited the ability of one of the world's most remarkable social psychologists. Vygotsky died at age 38, and some of his writings are still being translated from Russian to this date (McLeod, 2007).


Perhaps one of Vygotsky's most important contributions has been the notion that no single theory can possible explain development in a conclusive fashion. Further, it is impossible to understand development without first considering the social and cultural influences embedded in the developmental process. Major differences between the work of Piaget and Vygotsky are outlined below:

• Vygotsky emphasizes culture.
• Vygotsky emphasizes social factors that contribute to development.
• Vygotsky emphasizes the role of language in development (McLeod, 2007).

More informationabout Vygotssky can be found here:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html (McLeod, 2007).