Vygotsky and his study on the use of

Memory Aids

Presented by Sara Schaner & Mary Fritz

Background InfoNovember 5th, 1896 born in Orsha, BelorussiaWas raised in the city of Gomel“Little Professor”1917 – Graduated from Moscow University1917 - 1924 – Taught at two schools, diagnosed with a disease1924 – Phenomenal lecture & Marriage to Rosa SmekhovaJune 10th, 1934 – Died at the age of 381936 - 1958 – Works banned

Orsha

Gomel

Vygotsky’s Theory of Social Development

Stress the fundamental role of social interaction in the development of cognition Social learning tends to precede developmentHe argued that, “learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological functions” (The Educational Theory of Lev Vygotsky, 2010))Vygotsky developed a socio- cultural approach to cognitive development.

Social Influence on Cognitive Development

Vygotsky believed that young children are curious and actively involved in their own learning and the discovery and development of new schema, placing emphasis on social contributions to the process of developmentImportant learning by the child occurs through social interaction with a skillful tutorThe tutor may model behaviors and/ or provide verbal instructions for the child. He refers to this as co-operative or collaborative dialogue. The child seeks to understand the actions or instructions provided by the tutor then internalizes the info using it to guide or regulate their own performance.

Cultural Sign System and Psychological Tools

Vygotsky refers to tools of intellectual adaptation that allow children to use the basic mental functions more effectively/adaptively, and these are culturally determined.He proposed that people create “psychological tools” to master their own behavior He refers to psychological tools:

SpeechWritingNumbering SystemMemory and memory aids

Through interaction within the socio-cultural environment, these are developed into more sophisticated and effective mental processes/strategies which he refers to as Higher Mental FunctionsVygotsky claimed that infants are born with the basic materials/abilities for intellectual development.

SpeechThe most important sign system is speech.It frees our thought and attention from the immediate situation. It enables us to reflect on the past and plan for the future.Speech separate us from other speciesTwo types of speech

Egocentric speech is talking to themselves aloud- prevalent to 4-7                           Inner-speech is a kind of silent dialogue we have with ourselves 

Writing and Numbering System

Writing enables people to keep permanent record of information. Numbering systems enables to quantify objects by sight alone.

Two Principles of Vygotsky’s Theory

Two main principles of Vygotsky’s work: More Knowledgeable Other Zone of Proximal Development

More Knowledgeable Other

MKO: refers to someone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than the learner, with respects to a particular task, process, or concept. Vygotsky notes that the older adult or teacher is not always the more knowledgeable one.

Zone of Proximal Development

ZPD is the concept that skills can be too difficult for a child to master on his/her own, but can be done with guidance and encouragement from a more knowledgeable person.Related to the concept of MKO. This relates to the difference between what a child can achieve independently and what a child can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner.Vygotsky sees the ZDP as the area where the most sensitive instruction or guidance should be given- allowing the child to develop skills they will then use on their own- developing higher mental functions Vygotsky also views interaction with peers as an effective way of developing skills and strategies

MemoryGrowth of the mind is so strongly influenced by the cultural line of development in the sign systems the culture provides Memory aids: Psychological tools Through his experiments in this field, he explored children thinking led to metacognition- the awareness people have of their own thought process aka metamemory  

Vygotsky’s Works

Thought and Language

Mind in Society: The Development of Higher Psychological Processes

Educational Psychology

Our ResearchWe went to North Hills Preparatory School for our observations and experiment.We were researching Vygotsky’s theory on Memory and how children used memory aids to help them recall

We paid attention to the use of inner-speech and ego-centric speechWe paid attention to their ages and what Vygotsky says is prevalent in specific age-groupsWe paid attention to how each child organized the aids

HypothesisWe hypothesize that the children will organize the memory aids in four groups. Each group will have four pictures. Animal, baby animal, food, and resting place.We hypothesize that the children will use ego-centric speech and inner speech to help them remember.The older children will remember more than the younger children.

Child One 3rd GradeGender = MaleAge = 8Amount of Time = 2:50How Many Recalled = 16

put things into pairs: milk and kittenpuppy and dog housecat and cat castle dog and boneshorse, foal, haybarn, chicken coop, seeds, chick, chicken

Child Two 2nd GradeGender = FemaleAge = 8Amount of Time = 2:56How Many Recalled = 13

Put everything into one line across the table

Barn, coop, seeds, hen, chick, doghouse, puppy, bone, dog, cat, cat castle, milk, kitten, horse, foal, hay

Child Three 1st GradeGender = MaleAge = 7Amount of Time = 0:40How Many Recalled = 4

Just laid all the cards out randomly on the table.

Child Four 4th GradeGender = MaleAge = 10Amount of Time = 1:08How Many Recalled = 10

Put the cards into the order that we hypothesized

Horse, foal, hay, barnDog, puppy, bones, doghouseCat, kitten, cat-castle, milkChicken, hen, seeds, chicken coop

Child Five 1st GradeGender = MaleAge = 6Amount of Time = 1:04How Many Recalled = 0

Did nothing.

Child Six 2nd GradeGender = MaleAge = 8Amount of Time = 1:38How Many Recalled = 11

Separated all the animals from all of the objects.

Dog, Puppy, Cat, Kitten, Horse, Foal, Chicken, ChickHay, Seeds, Bones, Milk, Barn, Cat-Castle, Doghouse, Chicken Coop

Child Seven 1st GradeGender = MaleAge = 6Amount of Time = 0:42How Many Recalled = 6

Took the pile of cards into his hands and then would look at each card then flip the card upside onto the table

Child Eight KindergartenGender = MaleAge = 5Amount of Time = 1:37How Many Recalled = 13

Horse, Barn, Foal, HayDog, Bones, PuppyCat and KittenChick, Chicken, Chicken CoopMilk and SeedsCat-Castle and Doghouse

Child Nine 2nd GradeGender = MaleAge = 8Amount of Time = 1:25How Many Recalled = 14

Cat, Kitten, Cat-CastleHorse, Hay, Foal, BarnChicken, Chick, Chicken CoopBone, Doghouse, Milk, Seeds, Puppy, Dog

Child Ten 2nd GradeGender = MaleAge = 8Amount of Time = 1:14How Many Recalled = 8

Put all the animals with their homeBone with the dog groupHay with the horse groupmilk and seeds

Child Eleven 2nd GradeGender = MaleAge = 7Amount of Time = 0:54How Many Recalled = 11

Horse and FoalBarn and HayChicken and ChickSeeds and BoneCat and KittenDoghouse and Chicken CoopDog and PuppyMilkCat-Castle

Child Twelve 4th GradeGender = FemaleAge = 9Amount of Time = 0:47How Many Recalled = 15

Put all the animals with their foodAll the living places in another group

Results1) Only one child used the grouping method that we hypothesized

Some of the groups were consistentMost of the children who recalled majority of the pictures, organized the memory aids into a consistent group

2) Evidence of inner-speech and ego-centric speech.3) Our data shows that this hypothesis was false.

BK &LV