Piaget Vygotsky: The Social Genesis Of Thought

by TRYPHON; ANASTASIA

• ISBN13: 9780863774140
• ISBN10: 0863774148
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 1996-11-01
• Publisher: Psychology Pres

Summary

This book is the outcome of a long and passionate debate among world experts about two of the most pivotal figures of psychology: Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotksy. The occasion was a week-long advanced course held at the Jean Piaget Archives in Geneva. The most interesting outcome of the meeting is that, in spite of differences in aims and scopes (epistemogenesis versus psychogenesis), in units of analysis (events versus action) and in social contents (Swiss capitalism versus Soviet communism) both Piaget and Vygotsky reached a similar conclusion: knowledge is constructed within a specific material and social content. Moreover, their views complement each other perfectly: where Vygotsky insists on varieties of psychological experiences, Piaget shows how, out of diversity, grows universality, so much so that the most communist of the two is not necessarily the one who was so labelled. This book is not only of interest to developmental, social and learning psychologists, but also deals with issues pertinentto education, epistemology, language, thought and cognition, anthropology and philosophy. It is likely to shed some light on the state of affairs in psychology for the general reader too, because it is clear and precise, straightforward and uses virtually no jargon.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Qu'est-ce que l'intelligence? Piaget, Vygotsky, and the 1920s Crisis in Psychology

The Role of Abstract Rationality in Vygotsky's Image of Mind

Structure and Development

Reflections

The Mechanisms of Internalisation/Externalisation of Knowledge in Piaget's and Vygotsky's Theories

Units of Analysis and Interpretation of Development

What is a "Developmental Explanation"?

The Social Construction of Rational Understanding

Construction and Interpretation: Exploring a Joint Perspective on Piaget and Vygotsky

Social Interaction and Individual Understanding in a Community of Learners: The Influence of Piaget and Vygotsky

Relations Between the Clinical Method and the Zone of Proximal Development in a Constructivist Approach to the Study of Language Acquisition

Intentionality, Communication and Language

Some Impressions of a Visit to Soviet Psychologists

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