Helena Kemp
Puneet Bhandal
Campbell Galon
Ariel Lotero
Founders of the Approach
The sociocultural approach to psychology originated almost
exclusively with Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
Vygotsky had no formal training in psychology
He believed strongly that a person’s environment could
drastically affect the person’s cognitive development. He is
best described as an educational psychologist with a social
theory
Vygotsky’s work was suppressed by Stalinist Russia after his
death until the end of the Cold War
As his work got published and became well-known, it
became influential in areas such as education and
developmental psychology
Major Supporters
The sociocultural approach to psychology is a subset of the
broad field of social psychology
Vygotsky was the solitary figure in establishing sociocultural
theory, although his contemporaries’ work augmented his
approach to psychology
His theory has gained much support from teachers and
educators, many of who actively implement strategies based
off of sociocultural theory in the classroom
Modern-day proponents include James Wertsch (a wellknown anthropology professor) and Michael Cole (a
renowned researcher of psychology). Both have Ph.Ds,
discrediting the argument that formally trained psychologists
disagree with Vygotsky’s theories
Viability of Sociocultural Theory
Vygotsky developed most of his theories pertaining to
the sociocultural approach during the 1920s
His work was suppressed by Stalin’s Communist
regime in Russia
After the end of the Cold War, Vygotsky’s approach to
psychology was made public and was well-received
Today, the approach is considered useful and viable,
especially for educators and developmental
psychologists
Tenets of the Sociocultural Approach
The major tenet of the sociocultural approach to
psychology is that society and culture shape cognition
According to the approach, the presence of the following
can affect cognitive processes:
Customs and traditions
Beliefs
Morals and values
Language / vernacular
Tenets of the Sociocultural Approach
Vygotsky introduced
a concept called the
zone of proximal
development that
illustrates the
difference between
what a learner can do
without help and
what s/he can do
with help.
Tenets of the Sociocultural Approach
Through interactions with more experienced members of
society, children learn problem-solving (dialectic processes)
Vygotsky’s approach influenced reformative leaders such as
Benjamin Bloom (Bloom’s Taxonomy) to change classroom
settings and improve the quality of education
Abilities & Limitations of the Approach
The sociocultural approach attempts to explain an
individual’s development in terms of society’s impact on this
development
The approach is able, through both theory and research, to
explain how the status quo of an individual’s environment
affects the development of the individual
The approach is not able to explain why homogeneous
people in the same situation (twin sisters, for example)
develop differently
The approach is not able to reliably estimate the extrinsic
effects of society on a given individual
Supporting Evidence
The sociocultural approach to psychology, and many of its
tenets, rely on correlational research for evidence
Correlational research works by first isolating an
independent variable and then manipulating it by changing
the situation
This helps psychologists understand the relationships
between variables (e.g. between teaching style and memory
retention, or color of the walls and stress level)
Multiple large-scale studies have been conducted in recent
years in attempts to corroborate Vygotsky’s theorems; they
have proven to be accurate.
Criticisms Against
Sociocultural Psychology
A frequently occurring criticism against the
sociocultural approach to psychology (and social
psychology in general) is that the experiments and
studies that are used in research often seem artificial
and don’t pay attention to what the subjects are
thinking about
These experiments are the basis for aligning hypothesis
with fact, and it’s crucial that they are accurate
Another criticism against the sociocultural approach is
that it has not existed for long enough to get enough
long-term research data to infer accurate conclusions
How This Approach Was
Influenced By Other Approaches
Vygotsky named two major influences for his work on
the sociocultural approach to psychology:
Ivan Pavlov – Vygotsky chiefly took interest in Pavlov’s
scientific strategy of investigation instead of
introspection. Vygotsky’s work was much broader than
Pavlov’s work on conditioned responses.
Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels – Vygotsky, a Russian
Marxist, was impressioned by many ideas from the
writers of the Communist Manifesto. For this reason,
several “collective action” ideas can be found in
Vygotsky’s work.
How This Approach
Influenced Other Approaches
Vygotsky’s approach helped to shape
educational psychology and developmental
psychology
His published work was not widely received
in the Western world until 1978, when
translated works of Vygotsky and his
collaborators were published in a book
called Mind in Society
Questions?
Thank you