Mind in Society

1 ,MassachusettsLondon,England1978 Thespidercarriesoutoperalionsreminiscent ofa ,withintheconstraintsimposedbynature, ,CapitalItispreciselythealterationoj naturebymen,notnatureassuch, ,DialecticsojNatureIntroductionMICHAELCO LEANDSYLVIASCRIBNERE ducatedasa lawyerandphilologist, ,thefounderofexperi-mentalpsychology,and WilliamJamcs, ,includedIvanPavlov,VladimirBekhterev, , popularizersofstimulus-responsetheorieso fbehavior,aswellasWertheimer,Kohler,KoHk a,andLewin,thefound-ersoftheCest~ ~ct,then,thatVygotsky'sworkwillprovetobe primarilyofhistoricalinterest-perhapsasa glimpseofthewayinwhichmodernpsychology' , ,weofferthemasa contributiontoquandariesanddiscussionsin contemporarypsyc1lOlogy.,Inordertounders tandhowtheideasinthisvolumecanretainthei rrelevanceacrossthereachesoftimeandcultu rethatseparateusfromVygotsky,wehaverepea tedlyfoundourselvesreflectinguponthestat eofEuropeanpsychologywhichprovidedtheini tialsettingforVygotsky' , '"'-:lioll2 NINETEENTH CENTURYBEGINNINGSU ntilthelatterhalfoftIlenineteenthcentury thestudyofman'snaturewastheprovinceof.

2 "dllt I't!SI ;:Ilillll,".Till'III:ijllrpl"lIhl(~1II01 'pSY('lilllll~i(,:I1 ("ywhichSilllpll~sC' 'ltideasofspace:lIldtimeandcOllceptsofqU ilntity,quality, ,daUngfromthe,workofHeneDescartes, , 'sOriginofSpecies, (heirlowcrrc1iltives(hothontogenctically alldphylogeneticaJIy).ThesecondbookWilSG ustavFechner'sDiePsyclwphysik,whichprovi ded'1detailed,mathematicallysophisticilt eddescriptionoftherelationbetweenchanges inspecifiablephysicalcvcntsandvcrbalizab le"psychic" ,qU< ,writtenbya Moscowphysician, Scchenov,whohadstudiedwithsomeofEurope's lCildingphysiologists, , ~tation,mightnotthesamelawsapplytotheope rationsofthehumancerebralcortex?Although heJackeddirectevidenceforthesespcculil-t ions,Sechenov' 'scensorseemedtounderstandtherevolu-tion ary,materialistimplicationsofSechenov'st hesis; ,itborea byDarwin,Fechner,andSechenovcanbevieweda sessentialconstituentsofpsychologicaltho ughtattheendofthenine-lc-I~illh( ( ('llanilllals:IIm1hlllllallsill1 ISill~II'('1111-eeptualsystemregulatedhy natumllaws;Fechnerprovided:lllexample'of whata naturalJawdescribing:therelationshiphetw eenphysicaleventsamihumanmentalfuncl'ion ingmightlooklike;Sechcllov,exlmp 'olatingfrommuscletwitchesinfrogs, (orwereconsideredbytheircontemporaries) videdthecentralquestionswithwhichtheyoun gscienceofpsychologybecilmeconcernedinth esecondhalfofthecentury:WhO'llilrctherel ationshipsbetweenanimalandhumanbehavior? )))))))))

3 Environmciltillandmentalevents?Physiolog icalandpsychologicalprocesses?Varioussch oolsofpsychologyaH:lckedoneoranotherofth esequcstions, sistedofanalyzingvariousstatesofconsciou snessintotheirconstituentelements, priorigrounds,heruledoutsuchsensationsas "feelingsofawareness"or"pcrceptionofrela tions"aselementsofconsciousness,consider ingthesephenomenatobe"nothingmorethan" (introspection).Indeed,Wlindtpropoundedt heexplicitviewthatcomplexmentalfunctions ,oraslheywerethenknowll,"higherpsycho-:l ogicalprocesses"(voluntaryrememberingand deductivereasoning,forexample),couldnoti nprinciplebestudiedbyexperimentalpsycho] o ,hemaintained,byhistoricalstudiesofcultu ralproductssuchasfolktales,customs, introspectivestudiesofhum~ ,Qf\)lversiessurroundingthecorrectintros pectivedescriptionsofsensations,andwitht hesterilityoftheresearchthispositionhadp roduced, 'sstudyofconditionedIntroduction4reflexe s(whichbuiltuponSechenov)andDarwin'sasse rtionofthecontinuityofmanandbeast, ,however, (suhsti-tutin~stimulus-responsebondsfors ensations)andthentospecifytheruil'Shywhi ehthcseclclllcnlscOlllhill(~dtoproducemo reCOlllp](' concentrationonprocessessharedhyanimalsa mIhllmansall(l,again,loa lleglN:tofhi~hcrprocess('s-l!)))

4 Lollght,language, ,\ckondescriptionsofthecontentsofconscio usncsscamefroma groupofpsychologistswhoobjectedtotheonep ointUpOIlwhichWundtandthehchavioristsagr eed:the<1pproprintenessofanalyzingpsycho logicalprocessesintotheirh< ,whichcametobcknownasGestaltpsychology,d emonstratedthatmanyillt~lIectualphenomen a(Kohler'sstudieswithanthropoidapeswerea nexample)andperceptualphenomena(Wertheim er'sstudiesofapparentmovemcntofflickerin glights,forcxample)couldnotbeaccountcdfo rintermsofeitherthebasicelementsofconsci ousnesspostulatedbyWundtorsimplestimulus ,inprinciple, ,ingreatbrevity, , ,eachofwhichoHeredpartialexplanationsofa ,anadherentofWundt'sintrospectivepsychol ogyanda foeofbehaviorism.(Hehadpublishedthesixth editionofhisbook,TheMindofMeln,a critiqueofmaterialisttheoriesofthemind,i n1917,justbeforetherevolution.)Chelpallu vassigneda restrictedroletoMarxisminpsychology,asse rtingit talkcntitled"ContemporaryIntroduction5 PsychologyandMarxism" ,whocallcdhisownap-proachreactology,soug httosubsumeallbranchesofpsychologywithin a ' ~,whoimmediatelybroughttogetheracorpsofy oungsciclllislsdedicat(~dtoformulalingan dpromolinga Iwhavioral, <~a :wca talkentitled"ConsciousnessasanObjectofth ePsychologyofBe-havior.)

5 "WhatevcrelseoneextractedfromKornilov'sr eactologicalapproach,itquiteclearlydidno tfeaturetheroleofconsciousnessinhumanact ivity,nordidit accordtheconceptofconsciollsnessa ,however, seriesofsubsequcntpublications,hemadeitc learthatinhisviewnoneoftheexistingschool sofpsychol-ogyprovideda firmfoundationforestablishinga ,heoftenreferredtothe"crisisinpsychology "andsethimselfthetaskofachievinga 'sGestaltcontemporaries,a crisisexistedbecauseestablishedtheories( primarilyWundfsandWatsonianbehaviorism)c ouldnot,intheirview, , 'dissatisfactionwithpsychologicalanalysi sthatbeganbyreducingallphenomenatoa setofpsychological"atoms." ,'crisiswouldstillexistbecausepsychology wouldremainsplitintotwoirreconcilablehal ves:a "naturalscience"branchthatcouldexplaincb nentarysensoryandreflexprocesses,anda "mentalscience"halflhal' ) ,explana~. >, :tion6tionmeanta particularfunction;itincludedadetailedex plicationoftheirdevelopmentalhistorytoes tablishtherelationbetweensimpleandcomple xformsofwhatappearedtobethesamebehavior; and,importantly, 'sgoalswereextremelyambitious, (nshewnswdlaware).

6 's workisthatin1924andthefollowingdecadehec onstructedapenetratingcritiqucofthenotio nthatanunderstandingofthehigherpsycholog icalfunctionsinhumanscanbefoundbyamultip licationandcomplicationofprinciplesderiv edfromanimalpsychology,inparticularthose prinMcipJt sthatrepresentthemech:l1licalcomhination ofstimlllus l' dC\'astatingcritiqueofthcorieswhichclaim thatthcpropertiesofadultintellectualfunc tionsarisefrOlnmaturationalone, :\Ildthinking,Vygotskywasfollowingthelea dofinfluentialFrenchsociologists,buttoou rknowledgehewasthefirstmodempsychologist tosuggestthemechan ismsbywhicllculturebecomesapartofeach,pe rson' productofthebrain'sactivity, ,hyclaimingthatalloftheseshouldbeunderst oodintermsofa Marxisttheoryofthehistoryofhumansociety, helaidthefoundationfora scholarsscurryingtomaketheirtheoricsconf ormtothePolitburo'smostrecentinterpretat ionofMnrxism,VygotskyclearlyviewcdMarxis tthoughtasa valuablescicn tiflcrcsourcefromveryearlyinhiscareer.

7 "Apsychologicallyrelevantapplicationofdi alecticalandhistoricalmaterialism" ' ,thescientist' ,butthishistoryischaracterizedbychangesb othqualitative(changesinformandstructure andbasiccharacteristics) ~ ,whenVygotskyspeaks ofhisapproachas"develop.~entaI," ,inVygotsky'sview, 'stheoryofsociety(knownashistoricalmater ialism)alsoplayeda fundamentalroleiJlVygotsky' ,historicalchangesinsocietyandmaterialli feproducechangesin"humannature"(consciou snessandbehavior).Althoughthisgeneral,pr opositionhadbeenechoedbyothers,Vygotskyw asthefirstto). \ 'conceptofhumanlaborandtooluseIJI-0asthe meansbywhichmanchangesnatureandinsodoing transformsl-<\.J-\.-__''_-, " throughIibelow,VygotskyexploitsthecotlCcptof\()..~J>a toolina fashionthatfindsitsdirect antecedentsinEngels:"The!,':;,~~('~ '~pee~alizationoft~ ~ ,andthetoolimpl~cs/~~ ~ ,thetransfonnmgreactIOnofmanonnature;2l? Jtheammalmerelyusesexternalnature,andhri ngsahoutchangesinitIsimplybyhispresence; man,byhischanges,makesitservehisends, ,essentialdistinctionbetweenmanandothera nimals"( ).

8 ,signsystems(lanh'Uage,writiJlg,numbersy stems) ' ,inthetraditionofMarxandEngels, (especiallychapter5)Vygotskygeneralizesh isconccptionoftheoriginofhigherpsycholog icalfunctionsina waythatIntroduction8revealsthecloserelat ionshipbetweentheirfundamentallymediated natureandthedialectical, meanSforbuildinga "quotationmethod"ofrelatingMarxismtopsyc hologyandmadeexplicitthewayinwhichhethou ghtitsbasicmethodologicalprinciplesmight contributetotheory-buiJdinginpsychology: I don'twanttodiscoverthenatureofmindbyp~ ,toapproachthestudyofthemindhavinglearne dthewholeofMarx' ..Inordertocreatesuchanenablingtheory-me thodintIlegenerallyacceptedscielltificma nner,itisnecessarytodiscovertheessenceof thegivenareaofphenomena,thelawsaccording towhichtheychange,theirqualitativeandqua ntitativecharacteristiCS, ,tocreateone' accordingtothefollowingmethod:Marxanalyz esa singleliVing"cell"ofcapitalistsociety-fo rexample, , ,buttheyareexactlythosewhichareessential to"micro anatomy.

9 "Anyonewhocoulddiscoverwhata " psychological "cellis-themechanismproduc ingevenasingleresponse-wouldtherebyfindt hekeytopsychologyasawhole.[fromunpublish ednotebooks]AcmefuJreadingofthismanuscri ptprovidesconvincingproofofbothVygotsky' ,anoldercolleague,P. ,hadalreadyadoptedthepositionthatanunder standingofcomplexmentalfunctionsrequires developmentalanalysis.'FromB10nskyVygots kyadoptedthenotionthat"behaviorcanbeunde rstoodonlyasthehistoryofbehavior,"llIons kywasalsoanearlyadvocateoftheviewthatthe technologicalactivitiesofpeoplewereakeyt ounderstandingtheirpsychologicalmakeup, ,likeThllrnwaldandLevy~nl1lhl,~ ' 'stwoexpeditiollstoCcntralAsiain1931andH J32,theresultsofwhichwerepuhlishedlongaf terVygotsky' , 'sandalsosimilartotheworkofSapirand\Vho1 'f, 'sapproachtohumancognition,aconsidera ,andthebroadspectrulllofVygot~sky'sworkc learlyshowshisconccrnwithproducinga ,theHeedtocarryontheorc!icalworkinanappl iedcontextposednocontradictionwhatsoev' ~ture,andmanyofhisearlyarticleshaddealtw ithproblemsofeduca~tionalpractice, founderoftheInstituteofDefectoIogyinMosc ow,withwhichhewasassociat(.)

10 ' ,aphasin,andseverementalretardationVygot :'ikysawopportunitiesbothforund{,l"stall dingthementalprocessesofallpeopleandfore stablishingprogralll~ ,itwasconsistentwithhisgeneraltheoretica lviewthathisworkshouldbecarriedoutinasoc ietythatsoughttheeliminationofilliteracy audthe[oundill/-{ 'sparticipationitlthedd mtessurrotJll(lingthefOl"lnulalion1I1tr, ..~ ,psychology,andpolicywereintricatelyinte rtwined, 'sousterfromtheInstituteofPsychologyin19 30,Vygotskyandhisstudentswercforabriefti meilltheascendancy,buthewasneverreco~ 'cLuredlindwroh'extensivelyonprohlemsofe ducation,oftenusingtheterm"pedol ogy,"whichroughlytmnslatcsas"cducational psychology,"Ingenemlhewasscornfulofpedol ogythatemphasizedtestsofintellectualabil ity' 'toreformpedologyalongthelinessuggestedi nchapter6inthisvolume, "GreatRussianchauvin-ist" (suchasthoselivinginnonindustrializedsec tionsofcentralAsia) ' (currentlyDeanofthePsychologyFacultyatMo s-cowUniversity) (nowDirectoroftheInstituteofPreschoolEdu cation).)]}}