Lev Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist, has exerted a powerful influence on current developmental psychology. A theorist who thought deeply about the role of culture in development, Vygotsky was born in Russia in 1896. During his studies, he came to believe that social and cultural processes are critical for healthy growth. Although his career was abruptly terminated by his early death from tuberculosis in 1934, Vygotsky’s work is more popular now than it was when he died.

Vygotsky believed that his ideas about development were truly unique (Figure 4-1). He argued that development proceeds from the intersection of two paths: elementary processes that are basically biological, and higher psychological processes that are essentially sociocultural. For example, brain development provides the physiological basis for the appearance of external or egocentric speech, which gradually becomes the inner speech children use to guide their behavior.

Vygotsky thought that elementary biological processes are transformed into higher psychological functioning by developmental processes. Language is a good example of what he meant. Babies make a variety of sounds as they begin their language development (e.g., crying, cooing, babbling), all of which are accompanied by physical movement. Next, children point at objects (e.g., ball, cup, milk) and adults tell them the names of those objects. After children begin to speak their first words, they start to string words together, talk aloud, and, finally restrict speech much the way adults do.