Educational Psychology

1,059 75 4MB

English Pages [412] Year 1997

Report DMCA / Copyright

DOWNLOAD FILE

Polecaj historie

Educational Psychology

Citation preview

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY L.S. Vygotsky Introduction by V.V. Davydov

Translated by Robert Silverman

sL

St. Lucie Press Boca Raton, Florida

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Catalog record is available from the Library of Congress

This book contains information obtained from authentic and highly regarded sources. Reprinted material is

quoted with permission, and sources are indicated. A wide variety of references are listed. Reasonable efforts have been made to publish reliable data and information, but the author and the publisher cannot assume responsibility for the validity of all materials or for the consequences of their use.

Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher. The consent of CRC Press LLC does not extend to copying for general distribution, for promotion, for creating new works, or for resale. Specific permission must be obtained in writing from CRC Press LLC for such copying. Direct all inquiries to CRC Press LLC, 2000 N.W. Corporate Blvd., Boca Raton, Florida 3343 1 . Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only

for identification and explanation, without intent to infringe.

Visit the CRC Press Web site at www.crcpress.com © 1 997 by CRC Press LLC

St. Lucie Press is an imprint of CRC Press LLC Published originally in 1926, in Russian This volume is published as the result of an agreement originally made with the Copyright Agency of the USSR (VAAP) No claim to original U.S. Government works International Standard Book Number 1 -878205- 1 5-3 Library of Congress Card Number 9 1 -70614 Printed in the United States of America

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0

Printed on acid-free paper

The development of our reactions is our life history... Ifwe were to seek an expression for the most important truth that modern psychology can furnish the teacher, it would be simply this: the pupil is a reaction apparatus.

Hugo Miinsterberg

Table of Contents

Editor's Note ............................................................................................ xiii Preface xvii Introduction ............................................................................................. xxi .....................................................................................................

Chapter 1

Pedagogics and Psychology ................................................... 1

Pedagogics ............................................................................... 1 Psychology ................................................... .......................... 2 Educational Psychology .......................................................... 6 .

Chapter 2

The Concept of Behavior and Reaction ............................. Behavior and Reaction .......................................................... The Three Components of a Reaction ................................... Reaction and Reflex ..............................................................

The Inherited Reactions and the Acqui red Reactions ........................................................................... Inherited o r Unconditional Reflexes .......................... . ...... . Instincts ................................................................................. Origin of Inherited Reactions ................................................ Conditional Reflexes ............................................................. S uper-reflexes ........................................................................ Complex Forms of Conditional Reflexes .............................. .

Chapter 3

.

.

The Most Important Laws of Higher Nervous Activity in Man . . The Laws of Inhibition and Disinhibition ....................... ..... Psyche and Reaction ................................................... ....... Animal B ehavior and Human Behavior .................. ... .... . The Build-up of Reactions into B ehavior ............. ............... The Principle o f the Dominant in Behavior .......................... Human Constitution and Human Behavior ........................... ....................................... ........... ................

.

.

.

. . .

. . . .

.

.

Chapter 4

B iological and Social Factors in Education

.

.............

.

.........

13

13 14 15

16 17 18 19 22 25 26

27

27 30 31 33 36 37

47

Activity of the Educational Process and its Participants .................................. ............................ ... . 52 On the Goals of Education from the Psychological Standpoint .... ............................. .............. 54 Education as Social S election ................................................ 56 .

.

. .

. .

.

vii

Chapter 5 The Instincts as the Subject, Mechanism, and Means of Education

......................................................

Origin of the Instincts Relationship Between the Instincts, Reflexes, and Reason Instincts and the B iogenetic Law . . . . Two Extreme Views of the Instincts . .. . Instincts as a Mechanism of Education . The Concept of Sublimination . . Education of the Sex Instinct . Psychological Preconditions of Co-education Pedagogical Appl ication of the Interest . The Child ' s Interest . . . The Pattern of the Child ' s Interest . . The Psychological Value of Games . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.

59

61

. . . . . . .

64 65 . 68 . . 69 . 70 . . 71 . 77 . . . 80 . . 83 . 87 . . 88

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . .

. . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

.

. .

. .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

Chapter 6 Education of Emotional Behavior

.

. . . .

.

. . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. .

. . . . . .

. . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . .

. . . . . . . . . .

. .

. .

. . . . . . .

. .

. . . .

.......................................

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

.

. . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Concept of Emotion . B iological Nature of Emotions . . . . . Psychological Nature of the Emotions . . . . . . Educations of the Feel ings . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . .

. .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . .

. . .

. .

. . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 7 Psychology and Pedagogics of Attention

. . . . .

. . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. .

. . . . .

. . . . .

..........................

Psychological Nature of Attention . Description of Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Internal and External Orientation . . . Attention and Distraction .. Biological Value of Orientation . .. . Educational Value of the Orientations . . . Development of Attention . . . Psychological Value of Anticipation . . . Pedagogical Conclusions . Attention and Habit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Physiological Counterparts of Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Overall Function of Attention . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Attention and Apperception . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.

. . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . .

. .

. .

. . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

.

.

viii

. . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . .

. . .

. . . . . . . .

95

95 98 1 00 1 04

111

111 1 13 1 14 1 16 1 17 1 19 1 20 1 22 1 24 1 27 129 1 32 1 33

Chapter 8 Reinforcement and Recollection of Reaction

...............................................................................

Concept of the Plasticity of Matter . Psychological Nature of Memory ... . . . S tructure of the Process of Memory . Types of Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Individual Features of Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Limits of Memory Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Interest and Emotional Tinge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Forgetting and Incorrect Recall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Psychological Functions of Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Memory Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Recollections of Reactions: Two Types of Recall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reality of Fantasy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Functions of Imagination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Education of Imaginative Behavior . . . ....................

......

.......

.

.................

..........

..........

....................... ............

..

...........

Chapter 9

.................

.

.....

Thinking as an Especially Complex Form of Behavior

.............................................................................

The Motor Nature of Mental Processes . Conscious Behavior and Will . Psychology of Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Id and Ego . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pedagogical Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Analysis and Synthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Value of Thinking for Inner Education . . .

..... . . . ......................

.................. ...........................

................. . .... .

...

..

Chapter 10 Psychological Understanding of Occupational Education

....................................................

Types of Trade Schools . . . . .. Cognition of Nature Through Labor . Coordinations of Labor Efforts . . . . Value of Effort in Labor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S ynthetic Knowledge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Praxi s Vocational and Polytechnism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....

......

..........................

.

..

.........................

..

..............

..........

..

..........

. . ........

...........

...................................................................................

135

1 35 135 1 38 1 39 14 1 1 42 1 43 1 45 14 7 1 47 1 48 149 150 1 53

157

157 166 1 69 172 173 1 77 1 78

181

18 1 190 1 92 1 94 1 98 199 20 1

ix

Chapter 11 S ocial Behavior and the Child 's Development

.......................................................................

The Concept of Adaptation The Child and the Environment The Contemporary Environment and Education Genuine Forms of Social Behavior Variations in the Development of Children

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 12 Ethical Behavior

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

................................................................

The Nature of Ethics from the Psychological Point of View Principles of Moral Education Moral Transgressions in Chi ldhood

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 13 Esthetic Education

.............................................................

Esthetics in the Service of Pedagogics Morality and Art Art and the Study of Reality Art as an End in Itself Passivity and Acti vity in Esthetic Experience B iol ogical Value of Esthetic Activity Psychological Description of Esthetic Reactions Education of Creativity, Esthetic Reasoning, and Technical Skills Fables Esthetic Education and Natural Talent

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 14 Exercise and Fatigue

.........................................................

On Habit Pedagogical Value of Exercise The Study of Fatigue

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Chapter 15 Abnormal Behavior

...........................................................

The Concept of Abnormal Behavior Physical ly Disabled Children Mental Disabil ity and Psychopathol ogy Psychopathology of Everyday Life Hypnosis

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

x

205

205 206

208 210 2I3 219

219 223 229 241

24 1 242 244 246 246 249 252

256 262 268 273

273 277 280

283

283 284 290 292 294

Chapter 16 Temperament and Character

...........................................

The Importance of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Temperament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Structure of the Body and Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Four Types of Temperament . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Problem of Career and Vocational Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . Endogenic and Exogentic Features of Character . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

.

.

.

.

Chapter 17 The Problem of Giftedness

.

......... ......................................

297

297 298 299 303

307 3 14 321

Individual Goals of Education Personality and Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2 1 .

Chapter 18 Basic Forms of Investigations of the Personality of the Child

....................................................

327

Experimental Psychological Investigation of the Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 1 B i net-S imon Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . 334 .

Chapter 19 Psychology and the Teacher

.

.

.............................................

337

The Psychological Nature of the Work of the Teacher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337 Life as Creation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 346 .

............................ ...........................................................

353

........ ....................................................................................

365

........................................................................................................

371

Historical Notes Bibliography Index

.

xi

EDITOR ' S NOTE The present volume consists of lectures delivered by Vygotsky at Gomel ' s teacher' s college i n the years between 1921 and 1 923 . It i s thought that Vygotsky intended the book as an introductory psychology text for a new generation of Soviet teachers, who were to replace the pre-Revolutionary educational establishment. It is hoped that the pub l ication of thi s book will reveal the unanswered questions posed by the book; at times it expresses views that are incompatible with other things he wrote and believed at the time. It has been said that as a rule, the translation and publication of the works of a scholar such as Vygotsky who l i ved and worked over fifty years ago would be carried out because the ideas presented are seen in retrospect as being "ahead of their time." But in many ways, our publication of Vygotsky ' s work, as well as that of other publishers, is motivated by entirely different concern s . Our motivation follows the conviction of Vygotsky ' s students in the Soviet Union and i n the West that his ideas and insights are in many respects considerably ahead of our time, and by the conviction that his influence on the development of psychology and the social sciences has not been nearly as considerable as it must be. In translating the book we wished to leave the author' s emphasis on certain words as Vygotsky wrote. Hence, the italicized words in the book were emphasized by the author i n the original . Also, while we have "modernized" (or westernized) Russian spellings such as the i i-ending to y (such as Vygotsky rather than Vygotskii and Bernstein rather than B ernshtein i n the front matter to this book, we have retained the original spell ings used by the author in his text . All notes a t the e n d of the chapters are those of the translator, except fo r the notes at the end of Chapter 1 3, which are Vygotsky's own notes. Whenever xiii

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

possible, we have attempted to locate original sources such as book and year of publ ication for authors quoted by Vygotsky . There were instances where we were simply unable to locate such sources . In these cases, we hope we have provided sufficient information in other parts of the book to guide the reader should a search for missing sources in th i s book be necessary . LEV VYGOTSKY

Lev Vygotsky was born in 1 896 to a middle-class Jewi sh family i n Gomel, some four-hundred miles southwest of Moscow and of a predominantly Jewish population . Vygotsky was the second of eight chi ldren . His father held several managerial positions, and the family was well-respected, having been i n volved in public endeavors, such as the establishment of a library . The young Vygotsky must have been affected by the full-scale pogrom of Jewish busi nesses and dwellings in Gomel, in which his father was called as a witness. Vygotsky i s remembered as an intellectual ly precoc ious child. He had an unconventional education, stu fiying with pri vate tutors and entering the Jewi sh ool level . His i nterests lay primarily in the humanities gymnasium and social sciences, and he graduated with honors and a gold medal . At this time, the beliefs and techniques of Hegel became the most i mportant intellectual influences in his l ife and left a lasti ng imprint on his approach to formulating scientific problems and attempting their resoluti on. Other i ntel lectual influences were the Ukrai nian linguist, Alexander Potebnya and the works of the great German thinker, Wilhelm von Humboldt. Besides the great authors, Vygotsky had a personal mentor in his cousin David, several years older and a promising philologist and critic, well-connected to the l iterary and academic circles of Moscow and St. Petersburg. David was probably the first to direct Vygotsky ' s attention to the world of the new l iterary theory of the so-cal led Formal i sts. Taking i nto account the range of Vygotsky' s interests it seemed logical for him to enro l l at the liberal arts program at one of the metropolitan u niversities . B ut because a l iberal arts gradu ate at that time woul d most l ikely become a gymnasium teacher, a profession cl osed to Jews, it was better for Vygot�ky to enroll as a law student.He enrolled at S hanyavsky Public University , where he maj ored in philosophy and h i story, as well as Moscow University, which was rife with political expu lsions of large numbers of students, with the mass resignation of the faculty in protest. S hanyavsky was unable to award degrees, but it had a strong and progressive faculty and attracted gifted and independently-mi nded students. Vygotsky ' s years as a student were marked not only by enthusiastic learning of all that was new in the sciences, humanities, and arts, but by h i s activities as ·

xiv

EDITOR ' S NOTE

an art critic. In the battle between the Formalists and the Symbolists, which was also a battle waged not only i n Moscow and St. Petersburg, but also in Paris and Munich, Vienna and Rome, what was at stake was what made a given thing a work of art. It was at this time that Vygotsky wrote THE PSYCHOLOGY OF ART, which he later submitted as a Ph . D . thesis at the Moscow Institute of Psychology i n I 925. Vygotsky ' s legacy to modern psychologists revol ves around how Vygotsky operated as a thinker: his whole psychological system appears to have been an attempt to build a new system through a careful analysis of the traditional problems of psychology . Thi s qual ity of his scholarship becomes especial l y pronounced when viewed against t h e background of that o f h i s contemporaries, reflexologists and "Marx ist psychologists" and others who were ready to rearrange things in their mission to invent a new utopian science and society . What later distinguished Vygotsky was h i s abi lity to accept the task as it was posed by the turbulent Soviet social reality of the 1 920s, but to approach it with methods informed by the Western intellectual tradition. VASSILY V. DA VIDOV

Vassily Davidov (Introduction) is a Ful l Member of the organization former! y known as the U . S . S . R . Academy of Pedagogical Sc iences, Honorary Member of the U . S . National Academy of Education, and has been a guest faculty member at several prominent U.S . universities . ROBERT H. SILVERMAN

Robert S i l verman (translator) has translated numerous scholarly works from Russian i nto Engl ish, for various organi zations in the U. S .

xv

PREFACE The present book has as its goals chiefly those of a practical nature. It i s offered a s a contribution t o the Soviet school o f pedagogy and t o assist the rank­ and-file teacher, and to also promote the development of a rational understand­ ing of the educational process in l ight of the most recent results of the science of psychology . Psychology i s now experiencing a crisis. The most fundamental and the most elemental claims of the field are being reconsidered, and utter confusion of thought rules i n the laboratory and i n the classroom . Faith in the old systems has been undermined, yet new systems are not yet so well developed that one might venture to extract from them an applied science. The crisis i n psychology inevitably means a crisis for all of educational psychology, and demands a reconstruction of the field from the very fou nda­ tions . The new psychology is more fortunate than its predecessor, however, i n the sense that it does not have t o "arrive a t conclusions" o n the basis o f its claims and does not have to go far afield when it wishes to apply its results in the realm of education. The problem of education i s at the very heart of the new psychology . The study of conditional reflexes constitutes a foundation on which the new psychology will have to be constructed. The term, refl ex, i s the name given to that mechanism which carries us from Dio ogy to sociology and makes it possible to comprehend the very essence and nature of the educational process. Quite frankly, there ' s no denying the fact that educational psychology, as a science, became possible only with this discovery . Unti l then, psychology lacked the essential basic principle that could have j oi ned together into a unified whole all those fragmentary bits of factual information it made use of. Now, the most i mportant goal of the present monograph is to maintain such a fu ndamentally rational unity i n the analysis of all the various aspects of education and i n the description of the different elements of the i nstructional process. It is of extraordi nary i mportance to demonstrate with exhaustive scientific rigor that, no matter what its subj ect matter and no matter what its methodology, at its very foundation education ultimately always rests upon the mechanism of the conditional reflex .

�nditional

xvii

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

However, it would be wrong to see in this principle an all-encompassing and ultimately l iberating tool , a kind of mystical "open sesame" of the new psychology . I n fact, by the very nature of its goals, educational psychology deals with facts and w ith psychological categories of a more complex nature and of a higher order than the individual isolated reaction or reflex, and, i n general, of a more complex nature and of a higher order than those areas which the modern science of man ' s higher nervous activity touched upon before actually studying them. The teacher has to deal with more generalized forms of behavior, that i s , with the u nitary reactions of the organism. Naturally, therefore, the study of condi­ tional reflexes can only form the basis and foundation for the present the course of studies . In the description and analysis of the more complex forms of behavior, it i s necessary to make ful l use of all the scientifically reliable results that h ave been discovered by the old psychology, translating old concepts i nto the new language. My obj ective has always been to disclose and demonstrate the motor, or reflexive aspect of every such form of behavior, and to thereby relate these more complex forms of behavior to the fundamental and initial standpoints taken toward the subject. Together with Hugo Miinsterberg, I am of the bel ief that the time i s past when "the whole motor part appeared to be an unimportant appendix without which mental life might j ust as well take its course . Now everything i s turned around . The attitude and action are now what give the real opportun ity for the develop­ ment of the central processes . We think because we are acting." (Psychology and the Teacher, page 1 1 6) . A s regards terminology, I have nowhere hesitated over retaining the old terms, seeing i n these terms the most understandable, convenient, and concise means of describing many phenomena. These terms w i l l have to be retained for the time being, pending the development of a new scientific language . The creation of new words and terms would only be a pretense, or so it seems to me, s i nce i n the description of phenomena it is everywhere necessary to use not only the old names of these phenomena, but also the old results. It therefore seemed best each time to re-interpret the genuine content not only of these old terms, but also of the previously obtained results . The book, therefore, bears the clear imprint of the scientific epoch of that turning point, and of that crisis, in existence at the time it was written . It seems appropriate in this regard to refer to some comments recently made by Pavlov. According to Pavlov, "The objective data we have obtained . . . science will bring i nto our subjective world sooner o r later and, thus, at a s i ngle stroke, and clearly, i l lumi nate our concealed nature, cl arify the mechanism and vital sense of what man is concerned with more than anyth ing else - h i s xvi i i

P REFACE

consciousness, and the throes of his conscience. Thi s is why in my presentation I h ave permi tted myself a degree of inconsistency in my use of terms. I n the title to my talk and throughout the entire presentation, I h ave u sed the term, mental [psikhicheskii], and i n addition have always discussed only obj ective i nvestiga­ tions, leaving entirely to the side al l subjective studies . Those vital phenomena that are referred to as mental phenomena, though they seem to be observed obj ectively in animals as well , nevertheless differ, at least in terms of degree of complexity, from purely physiological phenomena. What could be the sign ifi­ cance of calling them mental or complex nerve phenomena, as opposed to s i mple physiological phenomena, once it is acknowledged and recogni zed that the n atural scientist may approach their study only from the objective side, without being at all concerned with the essential nature of these phenomena?" In fact, in the present book, I have often had to present the views of other researchers, and to translate concepts developed by other writers into my own terminology, as in any systematic presentation . I have been able to express my own thoughts only in passing, and mixed i n with those of other writers . Nevertheless, I am of the belief that the present volume represents not j ust a novel experiment i n the construction of a course of educational psychology, but also an attempt at the construction of a new type of textbook. The very choice of system and the very arrangement of the material represents a novel, and as yet unrealized, experiment at a major synthesis of the most diverse scientific data and results . I n its present form, the book does not repeat any of the manuals on the subj ect I am familiar with, and for this reason I am wel l aware of being fully responsible for all the conclusions reached i n the present volume. How far this synthesis has succeeded, this I leave to the judgement of competent rev iewers, inviting them to look upon the book as an interim work that will have to be replaced by other, more i mproved manuals in the very near future . Besides my own personal m istakes, the inadequacies of a first attempt would appear to be entirely unavoidable whenever it i s a matter of constructing something i n entirely uncharted and uncleared territory . Rigorous and consis­ tent application of a fundamental point of view on the educational process, understood as one involving the social re-orientation of biological forms of behavior, i s the sole purpose of the present textbook. The construction of a course of educational psychology on a sociobiological fou ndation is, therefore, my principal intention . I will consider my work to have attained its goal if, despite al l the inadequa­ cies of this first attempt, the path I have chosen will prove to h ave been the correct one, i . e . , if the book will turn out to be the first step on the path toward the construction of an objective and rigorous scientific system of educational psychology . xix

Introduction

IBVVYGOf SKY AND EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY V.V. Davydov he n ame of the outstan d i n g S oviet psychologist and s c h o l ar Lev Vy gotsky ( 1 896- 1 934) is w e l l k n o w n throughout t h e worl d . Nearly a l l h i s s c i e nt i fi c works (books , art i c l e s , etc . ) h a v e been publ i shed and reprinted many times in trans l at io n aroun d t h e world . T h e s i x volu mes of h i s Collected Works (Sobraniva sochinenii) (Moscow, Pedagogika, 1 9 82- 84) h ave been of especi a l l y great i mportance t o t h e scientifi c commu n ity . There is also his remarkable book, Educational Psychology. A bridged Course, publ i s hed i n Moscow i n 1926 b u t n o t reprin ted for quite some t i m e for pure l y ideological reaso n s , basical l y t h at i t i s n o t persuasive and even i n c o n gruous from a modern perspecti v e . Thi s book, i n Vygotsky ' s word s , was written with a practical purpose i n m i n d a n d w a s "offered a s a c o n tribution to t h e S o viet school o f pedagogy and t o as s i s t t h e rank-and-fi l e teacher, a n d t o a l s o promote t h e development o f a rat i o n a l u nderstan d i n g of the educational process i n l i gh t of the most recent results of t h e science of psychology " . The present edition o f t hi s book i s , without a doubt, o f c on siderab l e s i gn i ficance, s i nce i t w i l l allow speci al ists to bec o me acquain ted w i t h h o w a recognized l e ader o f world psychology conceived o f t h e " n e w data" o f h i s science over 6 0 years ago . And, of course, i n read i n g t h e book o n e c a n n o t but get a sense of the author ' s s k i l l fu l and v i v i d style i n t h i s popul ar presentat i o n of the l atest psychological results to an audience of p u b l i c s c h o o l teachers a n d u n iversity i ns tructors , a style w h i c h i s , moreover, h i g h l y d i stinctive and i n format i v e . The present edition of t h i s w ork w i l l , h o wever, be o f value to psychologists and educ ators e ngaged i n s c i e ntific research w h o w i s h to tran sfer thei r results into the c lassro o m . What is m o s t i mportant , though , i s t h a t the present-day teach er, a n d especi a l l y the rank­ and-file teacher, who has read through the e n tire book cannot help but sense t h e resemblance and s i m i l arity o f t h e topics covered in the book w i t h al l those c o n fl i c t i n g and pre s s i n g problems i n c o n temporary educat i o n w h i c h t h e teacher i n t h e c lassroom a n d w orker i n t h e research l aboratory h ave s e t t h e i r m i n d s to solvi n g . I t i s t h i s w h i c h i s t h e m a i n purpose of t h e pre s e n t

T

xxi

EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

editi o n ; once th i s is u nderstood, both the teacher and the researcher i n education w i l l be abl e t o reach a deeper understan d i n g o f the psychological fou ndati o n s of educat i o n . I n Educational Psychology, Vygotsky made t h e fol l o w i n g fundamental theoretical assert i on s : T � d u cational process must be hnsed o n the studen t ' s i n d i vi d u al act i v i ty, and t h e art of education should i n volved noth i n g more than g u i ding and moni tori ng this ac t i v i ty . . . From the psychologi cal poi n t of view, the �ac �� the d i rector o f the soc i a l e n v i ronment in the c l assro�Hn, the governor a n d g u i de of the i nteract10n between the educational p rocess and t h e s tudent . . . The soci al e n v i ronment is the true lever of the educational process and th Cteacher's overall rol e reduces to adju s t i n g t h i s lever.

-

And, further, "The psychological law si mply says that before trying to get a child i n volved i n some activ i ty, get h i m interested i n it, take care to discover whether he i s ready for i t , that all the forces necessary for the activity are tensed, and that the child is ready to act on his own, with the teacher left to simply guide and direct his act i v i ty" The pri ncipal psychological goal of education is the p u rposive and deliberate inculcation i n the child of 11ew.f