Cultural-historical school

The cultural-historical school is a current in the human sciences that goes back to a group of Russian psychologists and the theories and approaches they represent . The protagonists of the cultural and historical school include Lev Semjonowitsch Wygotski , Alexander Romanowitsch Lurija and Alexej Nikolajewitsch Leontjew .

The work contexts that later became known as the “cultural-historical school” emerged from the 1920s in what was then the Soviet Union . It was not about a uniform institutionalized school in the narrow sense, but about changing constellations of researchers with different thematic focuses. The term “cultural-historical school”, which has now become established, is accordingly not a term chosen by the participants themselves. One of the theories developed from these work contexts is activity theory .

Historical fields of work

The members of the circle of Soviet scientists around Lev S. Wygotski, Aleksandr R. Lurija and Aleksei N. Leontjew formed different work and research constellations in the years from 1924. Some of these personal and content-related relationships or all of these constellations together are now referred to as the “cultural-historical school”. The joint work of these groups took place mainly in Moscow , but later also in Kharkov and Leningrad . The respective groups researched different, but related fields of work.

prehistory

Before moving to Moscow, Vygotsky worked as a literary critic and teacher in Gomel . His preoccupation with literary texts aroused his interest in the connection between language and thought. As a teacher, he also worked there with handicapped children. Both of these lead to his becoming interested in psychology.

Before his time in Moscow, Lurija became interested in psychoanalysis and led a psychoanalytic group in Kazan . In 1923 he was invited to the Psychological Institute of the 1st Moscow State University . There he took over the management of the laboratory founded by KN Kornilow to research affective reactions. During this time he also carried out studies with the help of the method of imaging or connected motor skills together with, among others, AN Leontjew.

Leontjew already graduated from the psychological institute of Georgi Ivanovich Tschelpanow at the 1st Moscow State University. The institute was renamed the Moscow State Institute of Experimental Psychology in 1923 when Chelpanov was evicted and replaced by KN Kornilov. AN Leontjew became Lurija's most important collaborator at the institute and they publish several joint works. Leontjew also developed Lurija's method independently. In 1928 the text An experiment for the structural analysis of chain association series (an experimental investigation) appeared as a result of this work .

Working on speaking and thinking and on reactions of the dominant: Vygotsky and his first doctoral students

After moving to Moscow, Vygotsky also worked at the Institute of Experimental Psychology as well as at various defectological institutions. His first doctoral students at the Institute for Experimental Psychology were LV Zankov, IM Solov'ev, LS Sacharov († 1928) and BJ Varšava († 1927). Zankov mainly worked on the reactions of the dominant after Ukhtomsky . He also used the distinction between everyday and scientific terms, which went back to the work of Sacharov. Solov'ev also dealt with the reactions of the dominant and the relationship of speaking and thinking. Sacharov did research on the development of terms in childhood and developed the method of double stimulation. He investigated the generalizing function of word meaning, which would later lead to the reformulation of central conceptions of instrumental psychology. Vygotsky continued this investigation with Ju after Sakharov's death. V. Kotelova and E. I Paškovskaja continued.

Work on defectology

Another important area of research that Vygotsky and some of his colleagues dealt with was so-called “defectology”. At the time, the term defectology was traditionally used to describe the science that dealt with children with various mental and physical disabilities (so-called "defects"). At that time, deaf, blind, speech-impaired and mentally handicapped children in particular were included in this. Vygotsky and his co-workers took the view that the respective impairment itself was less problematic than its social consequences, i. H. how other people deal with disabled children. The inclusion of disabled children was called for, and later also the pedagogical focus on alternative cultural development opportunities, e.g. B. through Braille or sign languages . In Moscow, Vygotsky had been working in the defectology area since 1924 with Daniuševskij, a friend from Gomel who also lived in Moscow. Vygotsky's activity in the field of defectology was initially based at the People's Commissariat for Education (NKP, Narkompros) and at the 2nd Moscow State University . In 1926 he founded a defectology laboratory at the medical-pedagogical department of the People's Commissariat for Education, which was expanded in 1929 to become the Institute for Experimental Defectology. Vygotsky's work in the field of defectology ran through the entire period of his scientific work and was always closely connected with his other theoretical and methodological research. At the Institute for Experimental Defectology, Vygotsky worked with, among others, RJ Levina and NG Morozova (members of the group of Vygotsky's students called "Pjatërka") and his former doctoral students LV Zankov and IM Solov'ev. This group also included L. Gešelina, who did research on “visual thinking”, and Ž. I. Šif, who dealt with the development of concepts, but only some time after the other members of the group moved from the Pedagogical Institute of Hearts in Leningrad to the Institute of Experimental Defectology.

Development of instrumental psychology: Vygotsky, Lurija and Leontjew

Some time after Vygotsky's move to Moscow, Luria, Leontiev and Vygotsky began working closely together. The three psychologists, who referred to themselves as “troika”, met weekly in Vygotsky's apartment and read relevant texts on central psychological topics such as perception , attention , memory , language , problem solving and motor skills . Her goal was to elaborate Vygotsky's approach to instrumental or cultural psychology as a new and comprehensive psychological theory and to develop research designs with the help of which the approach could be further developed. The central assumption was that the development of higher psychological functions such as arbitrary attention or action planning could be explained by the interiorization of historically and culturally formed tools or instruments (including psychological artifacts such as linguistic and other signs). From 1928 onwards, relevant scientific work on the instrumental and cultural-historical approach was created. Among others, Vygotsky, Leontjew and Lurija each submitted an article to the American Journal of Genetic Psychology , which Luria co-edited. Lurija founded a circle with students from the 2nd Moscow State University and discussed the central ideas of the approach. All participants in the circle develop experimental methods for researching the development of instrumental behavior. Leontiev examined memory as a specialty using the double stimulation method developed by Sakharov. This research had his book The Development of Memory. An experimental investigation of higher psychological functions (1931/2001) to the result, a first comprehensive scientific application and representative research project of the new approach in a central area of psychology. Vygotsky began to question the assumptions of instrumental psychology in the early 1930s. He revised the conception of mediating psychological tools and gave up the tool metaphor for language. In return, he began to focus his interest on the social development situation of the child in cooperation with other people and on the associated developmental relationships of speaking and thinking.

Works on instrumental psychology: students of the Institute of Pedology and Defectology in Moscow

In close connection with Vygotsky, Lurija and Leontjew stood a group of students from the Institute of Pedology and Defectology at the 2nd Moscow State University , which was called "Pjatërka". The focus of the work of the student group was on pedological and developmental questions and an experimental elaboration of instrumental psychology. The group included AV Zaporožec, LI Božovič, LS Slavina, RJ Levina and NG Morozova. Zaporožec dealt with the conscious control of motor behavior in children. Božovič researched the development of imitation in children, LS Slavina later became Božovič's collaborator. Levina worked in the field of child psychology and language pathology and carried out studies on the planning function of language, for which she used Wolfgang Köhler's “Chimpanzee Tasks” with children. Morozova conducted research on complex decision-making processes in younger children. The members of the group graduated in 1930 and then got jobs in different regions of the country. Later, Zaporožec and Božovič worked with Leontjew in Charkow , while Levina and Morozova worked at the Institute for Experimental Defectology in Moscow, before Morozova also moved to Charkow.

Works on neurology and medicine

In connection with their psychological work, Vygotsky, Lurija and Leontjew became increasingly interested in neurology from the late 1920s. Leontjew studied medicine at the 2nd Moscow State University from 1927 to 1929 , Lurija at the 1st Moscow Medical Institute , and Vygotsky and Lurija enrolled at the Medical Institute in Kharkov in the early 1930s . All three also worked at the GI Rossolimo Clinic for Nervous Diseases of the 1st Moscow State University . Vygotsky turned his focus to observations on aphasia , which led Lurija and Vygotsky to take an interest in work in the field of linguistics . In the clinical area, the researchers worked with the physician and neurologist MS Lebedinskij, who later worked with Leontjew and, for a time, Vygotsky and Lurija in Kharkov. Vygotsky also carried out clinical studies together with the two former students of the Gestalt psychologist Kurt Lewin GV Birenbaum and BV Zeigarnik .

Activity theory of the Kharkov School of Psychology

In 1931 the work of the protagonists of the cultural-historical school was partially relocated to Kharkov , the then capital of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic . Leontjew was in the wake of the criticism of his book The Development of Memory. An experimental study of higher mental functions (1931/2001) forced him to give up some of his jobs in Moscow. In addition, some of the institutes where the members of the cultural and historical school were working were closed. A psychoneurological institute had just been founded in Kharkov, and Vygotsky, Luria and Leontiev were invited to work in management positions there. Vygotsky was supposed to take over the leadership of the section for psychology, but did not take this position. He gave lectures in Kharkov, but did not move to the Ukraine, but commuted between Kharkov, Moscow and Leningrad. Lurija initially took over the post of Vygotsky Head of Section for Psychology, while Leontjew in Kharkov became, among other things, head of the Department of Experimental at the Psychoneurological Institute. Because Lurija soon returned to Moscow to prepare his expeditions to Central Asia (1931/1932), Leontjew then also took over the management of the section for psychology. In addition to Leontjew, Vygotsky and Luria, several other members of the previous Moscow groups began to work in Kharkov. Scientists from Kharkov also joined the group. In addition to Leontjew, Wygotski and Lurija, AV Zaporožec, LI Božovič, TO Ginevskaja, MS Lebedinskij, PJ Gal'perin , PI Zinčenko, VI Asnin and GD Lukov worked at the Psychoneurological Institute from 1931 to 1934 . The group is known today as the “Kharkov School of Psychology”. The main focus of the Kharkov School was the formulation of the theory of activity under the direction of Leontjew as a further development of the instrumental psychology of the Moscow period. The main message of the theory of activity was that the external activity of man does not depend on his consciousness, but that the other way round, human consciousness is only formed through objective activity, that is, through human practical work in the world. For this reason, the work was accepted as a central category of psychological research. The formulation of the activity theory was initially understood by Leontjew himself as a further development of the Vygotsk concept of activity, which diverged with Vygotsky's own, also changing position. However, Leontiev later stressed that there was no divergence between his and Vygotsky's position on questions of principle. In the reception of the works from the context of the cultural-historical school, the extent to which the activity theory of the Kharkov school is conceptually compatible with the instrumental psychology developed in Moscow and with Vygotsky's works from around 1931 is currently being discussed. Regardless of the discussion about the compatibility of the various theories, it is certain that both Leontjev's theory of activity and Vygotsky's work after around 1931 are further developments of the instrumental psychology based on Moscow research.

Working on speaking and thinking, emotions and pedology at the Heart Pedagogical Institute in Leningrad

While many members of the former Moscow working groups relocated to Kharkov, a Leningrad group was formed at the Herz Pedagogical Institute there . Vygotsky researched and taught there from 1931 until his death in 1934 at the Department of Pedology . Among others, MA Levina, GE Konnikova, FJ Fradkina, Ž worked with him there. I. Šif and DB El'konin . The main research topics of this group reflected Vygotsky's revision and further development of his ideas regarding the instrumental psychology of the Moscow period. The group focused on working out the relationship between speaking and thinking, e.g. B. in relation to concept formation and the development of inner speech. The group also looked at the psychological role of emotions, the relationship between teaching and development, and pedological issues. Vygotsky's doctoral student Šif researched the development of scientific terms in children. She later moved to the Institute for Experimental Defectology founded by Vygotsky in Moscow. El'konin dealt with the development of speech and the psychology of the game. In spite of the different developments in content, Vygotsky's death in 1934 and repression in the wake of the increased censorship with the pedology decree of 1936 , connections between the groups in Kharkov and Leningrad remained. An example of the collaboration is the supervision of El'konin's dissertation by Leontjew.

Reception and further development

Federal Republic of Germany

In the course of the cognitive turn in American psychology, authors such as Jerome Bruner and Jean Piaget were also received in the Federal Republic of Germany . As Bruner 1962, the first English translation of Vygotsky's Thought and Language ( Thought and Language initiated) and Piaget they commented also Vygotsky became known in Germany and read. The German translation of Thinking and Spoken appeared in 1969. In accordance with these circumstances, Vygotsky was primarily perceived as a language and developmental psychologist in the 1960s, and the other protagonists of the cultural-historical school were also placed in the context of language and developmental psychology. The social framework for the early reception of the works of protagonists of the cultural-historical school, in particular Vygotskis, was formed by the striving for an optimization of society, initiated not least by the Sputnik shock . In the psychology and education of the 1960s in the Federal Republic of Germany, this was expressed, among other things, by a focus on ways to support the development of the child.

The narrower focus on the linguistic and developmental psychological work of protagonists of the cultural-historical school expanded in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In the context of the student movement of the 1960s , interest in a Marxist theory for psychology and thus also in Soviet psychology in the Federal Republic increased. However, after the dissolution of the student movement, the need for a theory of the subject and its development became apparent. The works from the circle of the cultural-historical school provided an opportunity to develop such a theory. In this context, the German translation of the problems of the development of the psychic by Leontjew appeared in 1973 . The following reception and the specific further development of Leontiev's work in Critical Psychology around Klaus Holzkamp and the theory of action regulation around Walter Volpert was marked by contradictions. In addition, in the 1970s, Lurija's work was received by a group of researchers around Wolfgang Jantzen and Georg Feuser in Bremen in the field of education for the disabled .

Against the backdrop of global challenges such as environmental pollution, increasing atomic energy or the transition to the information age, the reception of the works of protagonists of the cultural-historical school in the late 1970s and early 1980s focused on the relationship of the individual to society. In this context, the work is received more holistically than in previous decades. The focus was now more on the theoretical basic assumptions and their consequences for psychology and pedagogy, for example. Important work contexts in the late 1970s and early 1980s, in which the works of the cultural-historical school were received, were, in addition to critical psychology around Holzkamp, action regulation theory around Volpert, and disabled education around Feuser and Jantzen in the field of education, the group around Georg Rückriem at the University of the Arts in Berlin, the Institute for Action and Perception at the University of Bremen (Michael Stadler, Theo Wehner), the Landau working meetings on the subject of action theory and psychotherapy and the Institute for Didactics of Mathematics at the University of Bielefeld (Michael Otte, Falk Seeger).

German Democratic Republic

In the GDR a translation of Vygotsky's Thinking and Spoken appeared in 1964, five years earlier than in the FRG. At the end of the 1960s, z. B. Eberhard Rossa, Rudolf Loschan and Georg Litsche, in the field of didactics of the natural sciences, a first reception by Daniil Borissowitsch Elkonin and Wassili Wassiljewitsch Dawydow in the German Central Pedagogical Institute , a forerunner of the Academy of Pedagogical Sciences .

The increased reception of works from the work contexts of the cultural-historical school began in the 1970s. The background was the increasing social need for psychological knowledge and the preparation for the XXII. International Congress for Psychology, which took place in Leipzig in 1980. The focus of the discussion was the concept of the activity. It was received and further developed in the field of work psychology by Winfried Hacker and colleagues (work) and in the field of educational psychology by Joachim Lompscher and Adolf Kossakowski (learning).

In terms of learning activity, the teaching strategy of rising from the abstract to the concrete by Daniil Borissowitsch Elkonin and Wassili Wassiljewitsch Dawydow was used . The training experiment of Vygotsky and Rubinstein was adopted as a research method from the work context of the cultural-historical school .

United States

As early as the 1920s and 1930s, Lurija, Vygotsky and Leontjew published texts in the Journal of Genetic Psychology , to whose editorial group Lurija belonged at the time. In 1932 Lurija's book The Nature of Human Conflicts was also published in the USA. Overall, until the early 1960s, Lurija was the best-known representative of the cultural and historical tradition in the USA, although his work was not received to any great extent in the USA either.

Until the end of the 1950s there was virtually no further reception of protagonists of the cultural-historical school in the USA.

In the early 1960s, on Lurija's initiative, the first English translation of Vygotsky's Thinking and Speaking was published as Thought and Language (1962). At that time, Lurija himself was mainly perceived as a neuropsychologist in the USA.

In 1969 Michael Cole took over the publication of the journal Soviet Psychology from Dan Slobin . Older texts on Soviet psychology, including those by protagonists of the cultural-historical school, were increasingly being published there. In addition, visits by US students and scholars to the Soviet Union took place, as a result of which a number of English translations of the works of the cultural-historical school, particularly Lurijas, were made.

A key event for the reception and dissemination of the conceptions of the cultural-historical school was the publication of Mind in Society in 1978 under the name Vygotskis. Today the work is considered to be not in accordance with scientific standards, because the published text has been shortened, recompiled and contains errors. In the late 1970s, however, this book triggered a strong focus on Vygotsky, which, among other things, contributed to Vygotsky being often perceived as the sole thinker of the cultural-historical school to this day. As a result, a number of publications emerged which, under the heading socio-cultural, refer to a limited period of cooperation between Vygotsky and Lurija, which can be described as an instrumental phase . Until the mid-1980s, Leontjew and other authors from the cultural-historical school were only received by a few 'insiders'.

In the mid-1980s, the concept moved the activity (Engl. Activity ) in the view and the reception of the work of the cultural-historical school was now also on Leontiev. The work of Norris Minick , Alex Kozulin and James Wert is particularly important in this context . In addition, international contact between researchers in the tradition of the cultural and historical school in the USA and other countries increased from the mid-1980s. The newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition is an important publication organ at this time .

Scandinavia

Denmark is to be regarded as a pioneer in the reception of works from the cultural-historical school in Scandinavia, especially with regard to the translation of Russian texts. In 1971 Vygotsky's Thought and Speech , translated directly from Russian, appeared , in 1977 Leontiev's Problems of Psychological Development and Luriya's Cognitive Development, and in 1982 Leontiev's Activity, Consciousness, Personality . The Danish translations were also read by Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish colleagues. From the 1970s onwards in Denmark, researchers working with Mariane Hedegaard in the field of developmental psychology and teaching mainly referred to the work of the cultural history school . Davydov's theory in particular was included here. Ole Dreier carried out critical psychological research.

Due to its special relationship with the Soviet Union, Finland assumed a different position from the other Scandinavian countries through the Finnish-Soviet friendship treaty of 1948 . An exchange with scientists from the Soviet Union took place as early as the 1970s. In the 1980s, two areas of reception developed in which the work of the cultural-historical school was further developed: on the one hand, teaching psychology around Pentti Hakkarainen, which was influenced by Dawydow, and, on the other hand, development-related work research based on Leontjew by the group around work psychologist Yrjö Engeström .

In Norway , on the one hand, the sociologist Regi Enerstvedt referred to Leonjew, on the other hand, both the language psychologist Ragnar Rommetveit and the developmental psychologist Karstenhundide developed their approaches to intersubjectivity, including with reference to Vygotsky.

For Sweden, Lars-Christer Hydén deserves special mention, who brought out some works from the cultural-historical school in translations and anthologies and made them accessible to the Scandinavian research community.

International cooperation

In the early 1980s, the International Society for Cultural Research and Activity Theory (ISCRAT) and the Conference for Sociocultural Research were formed independently of each other . The aim of both organizations was to promote the scientific exchange on cultural-historical, socio-cultural and activity-theoretical approaches, which related to various protagonists, working groups and research topics from the cultural-historical school. The two organizations' conferences and congresses were attended by scientists from five continents. In June 2002, the two organizations were officially to the International Society for Cultural and Activity Research ( International Society for Cultural and Activity Research joined forces ISCAR). Since then, international congresses have taken place every three years at which current developments related to the reception of researchers at the cultural-historical school are presented and discussed.

Current fields of research and application in the tradition of the cultural-historical school in Germany

The work of protagonists of the cultural-historical school is received and further developed in Germany in various fields of research and application.

Some of the research directions deal with the history of the cultural-historical school as well as its historical and current philosophical and epistemological statements. Research on the history of science on the working contexts of the cultural history school is carried out by Peter Keiler (Emeritus, Free University of Berlin), Alexandre Métraux (University of Mannheim) and Georg Rückriem (Emeritus, University of the Arts Berlin). With the understanding and the methodology of the school of cultural history as well as political and philosophical , epistemological and epistemological questions, for example, employ Christian Dahme (ehem. Humboldt University Berlin), Janette Friedrich (University of Geneva), Manfred Holodynski (University of Munster), Georg Litsche ( Berlin), Michael Otte (Emeritus, Bielefeld University), Georg Rückriem (Emeritus, Berlin University of the Arts) and Volker Schürmann (German Sport University Cologne).

Other current research and application areas are closely related to the historical fields of work of protagonists of the cultural-historical school such as pedology and developmental psychology , speaking and thinking , defectology or neurology . Such theoretical and practical work is in the tradition of the cultural-historical school, but also combines this tradition with other theories and methods and in some cases develops their own approaches from them. In the context of developmental psychology and the related topics of childhood and adolescence and learning and development , u. a. Bernd Fichtner (University of Siegen), Michael Herschelmann (Oldenburg), Manfred Holodynski (University of Münster), Martin Hildebrand-Nilshon (Emeritus, Free University of Berlin), Reimer Kornmann (Emeritus, Heidelberg University of Education), Margarete Liebrand (Hamburg) and Michael Tomasello (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology Leipzig) with reference to concepts from the context of the cultural-historical school. For example, Rolf Oerter (Emeritus, Ludwig Maximilians University Munich) and Wolfgang Wörster (Wiehl) deal with the topic of play from a cultural-historical perspective . Teaching, learning and didactic research, also with a focus on inclusion , a. operated by Hartmut Giest (University of Potsdam) and Olga Graumann (University of Hildesheim) with reference to the work from the cultural-historical school. In the areas of language acquisition and development , language theory and language psychology or psycholinguistics , z. B. Marie-Cécile Bertau (Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich), Carolin Demuth (Aalborg University), Andrea Karsten (University of Paderborn) and Anke Werani (Ludwig Maximilians University of Munich) have a sound cultural and historical background. Georg Feuser (Emeritus, University of Bremen), Bodo Frank (University of Hanover), Wolfgang Jantzen (Emeritus, University of Bremen), Manfred Jödecke (University of Zittau / Görlitz), Ulrike Lüdtke (University of Hanover), research and work on the subject of people with disabilities , Christel Manske (Hamburg), Hans-Jürgen Pitsch (formerly University of Luxembourg) and André Frank Zimpel (University of Hamburg) with reference to the theories of the cultural-historical school. Cross-cultural and ethnological work with a cultural-historical foundation a. by Carolin Demuth (University of Osnabrück), Georg Litsche (Berlin), Birgitt Röttger-Rössler (Free University of Berlin) and Volker Schürmann (German Sport University Cologne). In the field of work psychology and work research, for example, Winfried Hacker (emeritus, Technical University Dresden), Jeannette Hemmecke (University of Applied Sciences Upper Austria) and Theo Wehner (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich) refer to the tradition of the cultural-historical school.

Some fields of research and application develop the theories and methods from the context of the cultural-historical school in directions that were hardly or not at all worked on by the protagonists of the cultural-historical school. Examples are work in the field of sports science (e.g. Volker Schürmann, German Sport University Cologne; Denise Temme, German Sport University Cologne) or computer science (Christian Dahme, formerly Humboldt University Berlin).

Important terms and concepts

Interiorization

An important developmental psychological concept is that of interiorization . Vygotsky assumed that culturally shaped higher mental functions developed out of natural mental functions . The basic mechanism for this development is the inward growth of so-called psychological tools , especially language. Interiorization means that an external, interpersonal activity becomes an internal activity, with the help of which the child controls his behavior. A frequently quoted passage from Vygotsky on this point reads: “Every function appears twice in the child's cultural development, namely on two levels - first on the social, then on the psychological level (i.e. first as interpersonal as interpsychic, then within the child as intrapsychic category). "

Next development zone

One of Vygotsky's central and much-cited concept for pedagogy and especially for didactics is the zone of the next development . Vygotsky developed this concept while studying the relationship between teaching and child development. Vygotsky believed that teaching should be tailored to the child's development. However, two levels of development must be determined for this: first, the level of current development of the child, which is determined by what the child can achieve on its own, and second, the level that it achieves in cooperation with an adult or another child. Vygotsky called the distance between these two development levels (alone vs. in cooperation) the zone of next development.

According to Vygotsky, lessons should not only be based on the level of current development, but always on the zone of the next development and integrate learning into a meaningful social context. The reason for this is that the child can later independently do what it learns in social situations and in cooperation with others.

activity

The concept of activity (Russian deyatelnost ) was used by Vygotsky in the context of his instrumental psychology. In the texts The Instrumental Method in Psychology and The History of Higher Psychological Functions , Vygotsky developed the concept of psychic tools (all kinds of signs such as linguistic signs, mnemotechnical means, numbers, etc.) in analogy to technical tools. According to Vygotsky, both types of tools are inserted "as a middle link between the activity of the human being and the external object". However, according to Vygotsky, technical tools change external objects in the process of activity and work, while psychological tools affect the psyche and behavior and do not change anything in the external object. Vygotskis related his term of activity used in this context to Karl Marx .

AN Leontjew took up the concept of activity so used by Vygotsky and developed his concept of objective activity from it . In problems of the development of the psychic he dealt with a specifically human form of activity, namely the division of labor. In his book Activity - Consciousness - Personality , Leontjew made an essential conceptual differentiation. He differentiated the level of activity (overall process, complete work process such as hunting) from the level of action (partial tasks such as driving the herd) and the level of operations (hand movements, instrumental skills).

literature

Primary texts

Vygotsky, LS (1976). The psychology of art . Translated from the Russian by Helmut Barth. Dresden: Verlag der Kunst.
Vygotsky, LS (1992). History of the higher mental functions . Münster: Lit.
Vygotsky, LS (1996). The teaching of emotions. A historical psychological investigation . Scientifically edited and with an introduction by Alexandre Métraux. Münster: Lit.
Vygotsky, LS (1934/2002). Thinking and speaking . Edited and translated from Russian by Joachim Lompscher and Georg Rückriem. Weinheim and Basel: Beltz.
Vygotsky, LS (2003). Selected writings . Volume 1. Edited by Joachim Lompscher. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Vygotsky, LS (2003). Selected writings . Volume 2. Edited by Joachim Lompscher. Berlin: Lehmans Media.
Vygotsky, LS (2009). Letters - 1924-1934 . Published by Georg Rückriem. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Vygotsky, LS (2011). Lectures on psychology . Published by Georg Rückriem. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Lurija, AR (1982). Language and consciousness . Cologne: Pahl-Rugenstein.
Lurija, AR (1986). The historical condition of individual cognitive processes . Weinheim: VCH.
Lurija, AR (1991). The man whose world was shattered. Two neurological stories. With an introduction by Oliver Sacks. German by Barbara Heitkam. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt.
Lurija, AR (1992). The brain in action. Introduction to neuropsychology . Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt.
Lurija, AR (1993). Romantic science. Research in the border area between soul and brain . With an essay by Oliver Sacks. Transcribed and annotated by Alexandre Métraux. Reinbek near Hamburg: Rowohlt.
Lurija, AR (2002). Cultural-historical human sciences. Selected writings . Edited by Wolfgang Jantzen. Berlin: Lehmans Media.
Leontiev, AN (1964). Problems of the development of the psychic . Berlin: people and knowledge.
Leont'ev, AN (2001). Early writings . Published by Georg Rückriem. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Leont'ev, AN (2006). Early writings. Volume 2 . Published by Georg Rückriem. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Leont'ev, AN (2012). Activity - awareness - personality . Edited by Georg Rückriem, translated by Elena Hoffmann. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
El'konin, DB (2010). Game psychology . Edited by Birger Siebert and Georg Rückriem. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.

Secondary texts

Giest, H. and Lompscher, J. (2006). Learning activity - learning from a cultural-historical perspective. A contribution to the development of a new learning culture in the classroom . Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Jantzen, W. (2008). Cultural-historical psychology today. Methodical explorations on LSVygotsky . Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Jantzen, W. (Ed.) (2004). Brain, history and society. The neurophysiology of Alexander R. Lurijas (1902-1977) . Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Jantzen, W. (Ed.) (2004). Gal'perin's school. Activity theoretical contributions to the acquisition of terms in pre-school and elementary school age . Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Keiler, P. (2012). "Cultural History Theory" and "Cultural History School": From Myth (Back) to Reality . Institute for Critical Theory .
Keiler, P. (2002). Lev Vygotsky. A life for psychology . Weinheim and Basel: Beltz.
Kölbl, C. (2006). The psychology of the cultural-historical school. Vygotsky, Lurija, Leont'ev . Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. ISBN 3-525-45030-3 ( Psychological Discourses ).
Papadopoulos, D. (2010). LS Vygotsky. Work and reception . Berlin: Lehmanns Media.
Vygodskaja, GL and Lifanova, TM (2000). Lev Semjonovič Vygotsky. Life - activity - personality . Edited by Joachim Lompscher and Georg Rückriem. Hamburg: Dr. Kovač.
Yasnitsky, A. (2012). A history of cultural-historical Gestalt psychology: Vygotskij, Lurija, Koffka, Lewin and others (PDF; 187 kB). PsyAnima, Dubna Psychological Journal, 5 (1) , 102-105.

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ Yasnitsky, A. (2018). Vygotsky: An Intellectual Biography . London and New York: Routledge BOOK PREVIEW

↑ Yasnitsky, A. (2011). Vygotsky Circle as a Personal Network of Scholars. Restoring Connections Between People and Ideas (PDF; 617 kB) . Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457.

↑ Keiler, P. (2012). "Cultural-historical theory" and "Cultural-historical school": From myth (back) to reality ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . Institute for Critical Theory .@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.inkrit.de

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 39

^ Leont'ev, AA 2003/2005. The life and creative path of AN Leontiev. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43, 3, 8-69. P. 9

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 39

^ Leont'ev, AA 2003/2005. The life and creative path of AN Leontiev. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43, 3, 8-69. P. 9

^ Leont'ev, AA 2003/2005. The life and creative path of AN Leontiev. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43, 3, 8-69. P. 14

^ Van der Veer, R. & Valsiner, J. 1991. Understanding Vygotsky. A quest for synthesis. Oxford & Cambridge: Blackwell.

↑ Lompscher & Rückriem 2002

↑ Yasnitsky, A. 2011. Vygotsky Circle as a personal network of scholars. Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457.

^ Leont'ev, AA 2003/2005. The life and creative path of AN Leontiev. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43, 3, 8-69. P. 17

^ Van der Veer, R. & Valsiner, J. 1991. Understanding Vygotsky. A quest for synthesis. Oxford & Cambridge: Blackwell. P. 60

^ Van der Veer, R. & Valsiner, J. 1991. Understanding Vygotsky. A quest for synthesis. Oxford & Cambridge: Blackwell. P. 60ff.

↑ Kozulin, A. & Gindis, B. 2007. Sociocultural Theory and Education of Children with Special Needs. From Defectology to Remedial Pedagogy. In Daniels, H., Cole, M. & Wert, J. (Eds.): Cambridge Companion to Vygotsky.

↑ Keiler, P. 2002. Lev Vygotskij. A life for psychology. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz. P. 219f.

↑ Kozulin, A. & Gindis, B. 2007. Sociocultural Theory and Education of Children with Special Needs. From Defectology to Remedial Pedagogy. In Daniels, H., Cole, M. & Wert, J. (Eds.): Cambridge Companion to Vygotsky. P. 332

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 53

↑ Yasnitsky, A. 2011. Vygotsky Circle as a personal network of scholars. Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457. P. 435

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 45

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 38ff.

↑ Cole 1976/2006, p. 208

^ Luria, AR (1928): The Problem of the Cultural Behavior of the Child. Journal of Genetic Psychology 35, 493-506.

↑ Vygotski, LS (1929): The problem of the cultural development of the child II. Journal of Genetic Psychology, 36, 415-432.

↑ Leont'ev, AN (1932): The development of voluntary attention in the child, Journal of Genetic Psychology, 40, 2. 52-81.

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 46

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 46f.

↑ cf. Keiler, P. 2002. Lev Vygotsky. A life for psychology. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz. P. 213ff. and 272ff.

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 46f.

↑ Yasnitsky, A. 2011. Vygotsky Circle as a personal network of scholars. Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457. P. 435

↑ Lompscher, J. & Rückriem, G. 2002: Short biographies. In: Lev S. Vygotskij: Thinking and Speaking. Pp. 556-609. Weinheim and Basel: Beltz. P. 584

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 46f.

↑ Yasnitsky, A. 2011. Vygotsky Circle as a personal network of scholars. Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457. P. 435

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 46f.

↑ Yasnitsky, A. 2011. Vygotsky Circle as a personal network of scholars. Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457. P. 435

^ Leont'ev, AA 2003/2005. The life and creative path of AN Leontiev. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43, 3, 8-69. P. 20f.

↑ Yasnitsky, A. 2011. Vygotsky Circle as a personal network of scholars. Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457. P. 437

↑ Luria, AR 1979/2006. The Making of Mind. A Personal Account of Soviet Psychology. In Cole, M., Levitin, K. & Luria, A. (Eds.). The Autobiography of Alexander Luria. A Dialogue with The Making of Mind. Pp. 1-188. New York, London: Psychology Press. P. 54f.

↑ Yasnitsky, A. 2011. Vygotsky Circle as a personal network of scholars. Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457. P. 434

↑ Yasnitsky, A. 2011. Vygotsky Circle as a personal network of scholars. Restoring connections between people and ideas. Integrative Psychological & Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457.

^ Leont'ev, AA 2003/2005. The life and creative path of AN Leontiev. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43, 3, 8-69. P. 32

^ Leont'ev, AA 2003/2005. The life and creative path of AN Leontiev. Journal of Russian and East European Psychology, 43, 3, 8-69. P. 26f.

^ Van der Veer, R. & Valsiner, J. 1991. Understanding Vygotsky. A quest for synthesis. Oxford & Cambridge: Blackwell. P. 287ff.

^ Vygotsky, LS (1934/1962). Thought and Language. Edited by A. Kozulin, E. Hanfmann and G. Vakar. Cambridge: MIT Press.

^ Vygotsky, LS (1934/1969). Thinking and speaking. Frankfurt am Main: Fischer.

↑ Rückriem, G. (1988). Federal Republic of Germany. In M. Hildebrand-Nilshon & G. Rückriem (eds.), Congress report of the 1st International Congress on Activity Theory. Research Reports (Vol. 4.2, pp. 159-209). Berlin: System pressure.

^ Lompscher, J. & Rückriem, G. (2002): Editorial. In Lev S. Vygotsky: Thinking and Speaking. Weinheim: Beltz.

↑ Vygotsky, LS (1964): Thinking and Spoken. Berlin: Akademie Verlag.

↑ Litsche, G. Culture-historical school and theory of activity . Retrieved October 2, 2012.

↑ Kossakowski, A. & Lompscher, J. (1988). GDR. In M. Hildebrand-Nilshon & G. Rückriem (eds.), Congress report of the 1st International Congress on Activity Theory. Research reports (Vol. 4.2, pp. 39-64). Berlin: System pressure.

↑ Cole, M. & Wertsch, JV (1988). UNITED STATES. In M. Hildebrand-Nilshon & G. Rückriem (eds.), Congress report of the 1st International Congress on Activity Theory. Research Reports (Vol. 4.2, pp. 133-146). Berlin: System pressure.

^ Van der Veer, R. & Yasnitsky, A. (2011). Vygotsky in english: What still needs to be done. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 45, 475-493. P. 480ff.

↑ Cole, M. & Wertsch, JV (1988). UNITED STATES. In M. Hildebrand-Nilshon & G. Rückriem (eds.), Congress report of the 1st International Congress on Activity Theory. Research Reports (Vol. 4.2, pp. 133-146). Berlin: System pressure.

^ Engeström, Y. (1988). Scandinavia. In M. Hildebrand-Nilshon & G. Rückriem (eds.), Congress report of the 1st International Congress on Activity Theory. Research reports (Vol. 4.2, pp. 65-92). Berlin: System pressure.

^ Vygotskij, Lev S. (1930/2003). The instrumental method in psychology. In: Selected Writings (pp. 309–317). Volume 1. Edited by Joachim Lompscher. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.

^ Vygotskij, Lev S. (1931/1992): History of the higher mental functions. Translated from the Russian by Regine Kämper. Edited and provided with a foreword by Alexandre Métraux. Münster and Hamburg: lit. p. 236

↑ Vygotskij, LS (1934/2002): Thinking and Speaking. Edited and translated from Russian by Joachim Lompscher and Georg Rückriem. Weinheim and Basel: Beltz, p. 326ff.

^ Vygotskij, Lev S. (1932-34 / 2005). The problem of ages. In: Selected Writings (pp. 53–90). Volume 2. Edited by Joachim Lompscher. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.

↑ Keiler, Peter (2002): Lev Vygotskij - a life for psychology. Weinheim, Basel: Beltz. P. 291f.

^ Vygotskij, Lev S. (1932-34 / 2005). The problem of ages. In: Selected Writings (pp. 53–90). Volume 2. Edited by Joachim Lompscher. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.

^ Vygotskij, Lev S. (1930/2003). The instrumental method in psychology. In: Selected Writings (pp. 309–317). Volume 1. Edited by Joachim Lompscher. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.

↑ Vygotsky, LS (1931/1992). History of the higher mental functions. Progress in Psychology Vol. 5. Münster: Lit Verlag.

^ Vygotskij, Lev S. (1930/2003). The instrumental method in psychology. In: Selected Writings (pp. 309–317). Volume 1. Edited by Joachim Lompscher. Berlin: Lehmanns Media. P. 313

↑ Leontjew, AN (1964). Problems of the development of the psychic. Berlin: people and knowledge.

^ Leont'ev, AN (2012). Activity - awareness - personality . Edited by Georg Rückriem, translated by Elena Hoffmann. Berlin: Lehmanns Media.

[bioBook-1] Yasnitsky, A. (2018). Vygotsky: An Intellectual Biography . London and New York: Routledge BOOK PREVIEW

[2] Yasnitsky, A. (2011). Vygotsky Circle as a Personal Network of Scholars. Restoring Connections Between People and Ideas (PDF; 617 kB) . Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 45, 422-457.