Does “help” actually help?

Amethyst Gardner & Himmat Singh

Lev Semyonovich

VygotskyNovember 17, 1896 - June 11, 1934

His Background Before Psychology1896 Born in Orsche, Russia. Soon moved to GomelSecond oldest of eight childrenwell educated jewish parents: bank manager & homemaker (teacher)Wanted to be a teacher but enrolled in medicine insteadBallot allowed only 5% of all students to be jewish at Univ. of MoscowTransferred to Law & Shavyavsky univ.(no degree for philosophy & history)1917 graduated from moscow Univ. with a law degree1917 Began work in Psychology1917 Teacher in gomel

His Background Before Psychology continued1917 Head of psych. Lab at the teachers training Institute; collecting info for his thesis(1925) and book (1926) 1920 first of many tuberculosis attacks1924 Married Roza Smekhova & later had 2 daughters1924 Started academic career at Institute of Moscow;“Methodology of Reflexological and Psychological Research”at Second Psychoneurological Congress in Leningrad1925 Doctoral thesis “psychology of Art”1926 “Pedagogical Psychology” published1934 dies, 1936 banned in USSR, 1953 stalin dies=ban lifted, 1962 available in the West

two theorists in developmental psychologyVygotsky

● socio-cultural interaction● cognition is language● children learn best through social

interaction● social constructivism (slightly

towards nurture)● biology meshes with social factors● assisted learning● cognitive development results from

internalization of language● adults are important for cognitive

development

Piaget● individual construction● cognition mediates language● children learn best by independent

exploration● cognitive constructivism (slightly

towards nature)● biology meshes with the

environment producing verbal thought

● peers are important for cognitive development

“we cannot limit ourselves merely to determining developmental levels

if we wish to discover the actual relations of the developmental process to learning capabilities”

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society: The Development of Psychological Processes

SocioCultural Theory● social interaction plays a fundamental role in the development of

cognition● Development depends on interactions with people and the tools of the

world.

”Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people (interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals.”

● Imitative Learning

● Instructed Learning

● Collaborative Learning

Types of Learning

Zone of Proximal Development“distance between the actual

developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the

level of potential development as detained through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with

more capable peers.”

Zone of Proximal Development

Importance of ZPD

● Measures an Individual’s abilities.

● Helpful in school

Zones of DevelopmentVygotsky & Csikszentmihalyi

Comfort Zone

Things you can do all on your own.

Zone of Proximal Development

Things you can do with a little help.

Anxiety Zone

Things you can’t do yet, no matter how much help you have.

Boredom Zone

Things you can do without any challenge.

Our Study1. Participants were asked to complete one puzzle alone.

2. Participants were then assigned to one of three groups (alone, with a

partner, or with a with a mentor) to complete the next puzzle.

3. Participants were then asked to complete another puzzle alone.

● The older children will be faster at the puzzles than the younger children no matter if they have assistance or not

● The groups that receive some kind of assistance will perform better than the control

● The younger students will do better with a mentor than with a partner their own age

Hypotheses

The ResultsParticipant A: 43:40 12:42 21:58

Participant B: 22.42 12:16 17:43

Participant C: 38.06 12:42 34:07

Participant D: 32.43 12:42 39:57

Participant E: 16.24 13.42 17:01

Participant F: 23.48 14:47 10:22 (10pc)

Participant G: 21.05 14:47 10:22 (13pc)

Results Continued

● The older children will be faster at the puzzles than the younger children no matter if they have assistance or notsupported:K average =25:07, 2 average 17.38

● The groups that receive some kind of assistance will perform better than the controlMentor Assisted K Average=17:34, Peer Assisted K Average=27:37Peer Assisted 2 Average=18:37, Control 2 Average=15:40

● The younger students will do better with a mentor than with a partner their own agesupported:Mentor Assisted K Average=17:34, Peer Assisted K Average=27:37

Looking Back at our Hypotheses

what they said & what they didkindergartners

● participant B (f) always worked from the borders to the center

● participant C (f) shadowed B and worked outside-in

● participant A (m) worked from the part of the image that seemed easiest then build around it

● participant D (m) tried to match the puzzle pieces to the visual guide

second graders

● participant E (f) started in the middle and completed each animal then connected them

● participant F (m) started from the bottom then worked his way up

● participant G (f) focused only on the puzzle and rarely granced at the picture

Final Thoughtsthe ups

● kindergartners were excited for the task● most had done puzzles before ● some were positively influenced by their

peers even doing the task separately● participants were all close in age● practice effect was controlled for● carry over effect was controlled for

the downs

● the second graders were uninterested● participants were distracted● some got discouraged by others● small sample sizes● ages didn’t vary enough to compare the

two different groups● fatigue/boredom effect was not

controlled with 2nd graders

Nature or

Nurture ?

“The true direction of the development of thinking is not from the individual to the social, but from the social to the individual.”

Nature

Nurture

Through others we Become ourselves

Lev Vygotsky