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Chart Increasing

Unit 8 - Developmental Psychology

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Magnifying Glass Tilted Left

Unit 1 - Research Methodology

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Herb

Unit 2 - Biological Approach To Behaviour

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Brain

Unit 3 - Cognitive Approach To Behaviour

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Globe Showing Europe Africa

Unit 4 - Sociocultural Approach To Behavior

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Thought Balloon

Unit 5 - Abnormal Psychology

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Performing Arts

Unit 6 - Health psychology

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Busts In Silhouette

Unit 7 - Psychology Of Human Relationships

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Bar-Chart

Unit 9 - Internal Assessment

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Light Bulb

Unit 10 - The IB Curriculum - A Conceptual Model

Hey there budding psychologists! Let&#39;s dive deep into the interesting world of Lev Vygotsky&#39;s Sociocultural Theory.

Lev Vygotsky was a dude who had big dreams. He was shooting for the stars by aiming to create a whole new paradigm in psychology. Unlike other psychologists, he wanted to incorporate cultural factors into understanding the individual&#39;s psyche. Think of this as trying to design a whole new flavour of ice cream, something that has never been tasted before. This task required a ton of theoretical work, much like how creating a new flavour requires a lot of recipe testing. Unfortunately, Vygotsky passed away when he was only 37, leaving a large part of his theoretical kitchen unexplored.

Another important thing to remember about Vygotsky is that he didn&#39;t like artificial experimental conditions, kind of like how some people don&#39;t like fake plants in their homes. Instead, he favoured a blend of experiments, observations, clinical interviews, and &quot;pedagogical experiments&quot; (those are experiments sneaked into the teaching process, kind of like hiding vegetables in a child&#39;s favourite meal). Due to this unique approach, there are no flashy, red-carpet experiments in this field. Instead, his theory is supported by a collection of smaller, low-key but meaningful studies, kind of like a mosaic made from many little pieces.

Let&#39;s break down a typical study that backs up Vygotsky&#39;s claims. This experiment, conducted by AN Leontyiev, another big shot in Russian psychology, is like an episode of a reality TV show where subjects had to memorize 15 words read out loud (like &quot;hand&quot;, &quot;book&quot;, and &quot;bread&quot;). In one twist, they could use 30 cards with pictures to help them remember the words (think of this like a lifeline in a game show). In the other scenario, there were no cards.

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Three groups of people participated: pre-school children, school children, and adults. The results of this experiment were quite fascinating! The pre-school kids and adults showed the same memory performance with or without cards. The kids because they&#39;d rather play with the cards (can&#39;t blame them, right?) and the adults because they already had memorization strategies internalized (like experienced chefs who can cook without a recipe).

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However, school children showed different results. When they had the cards, their memory performance matched the adults, but without the cards, they were on the same level as the pre-school kids. This implies that school-age children can use signs as memory tools, and the adult level of memory performance is within their &quot;Zone of Proximal Development&quot; (ZPD - it&#39;s like a magical zone where learning happens with a little help).

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Wrap-up: So, there you have it, a glimpse into Vygotsky&#39;s sociocultural theory! Despite the criticism of it being too theoretical, it&#39;s clear that Vygotsky was onto something special. His ideas about incorporating culture into psychology and his unique approach to experimentation have paved the way for numerous smaller-scale studies that add up to a significant body of supporting evidence. So, the next time you&#39;re trying to remember something, think about whether you&#39;re in your ZPD and what tools you could use to help!

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Study Hard, Remember Smart!

Exploring Vygotsky's Revolutionary Socio-Cultural Theory!

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Higher Level

Psychology HL

Unit 8 - Developmental Psychology

Exploring Vygotsky's Revolutionary Socio-Cultural Theory!

Table of content

Vygotsky's big dream & big obstacle

Unlock the Full Content!

Unit 8 - Developmental Psychology

Exploring Vygotsky's Revolutionary Socio-Cultural Theory!

Table of content

Vygotsky's big dream & big obstacle

Unlock the Full Content!