Search

In this article, we put into action a new conceptualization of self-talk using the methods of analysis developed in a previous article. To this end, we analyze the cue word "En Avant" (forward) that William, an Olympic mogul-skiing champion, says to himself when he does a double twisting backflip on the first jump of a mogul run. The description of the different properties of the cue word "Forward" led us to propose three effects: 1) the cue word brings out a language function within a motor activity, 2) the cue word supports the deployment of the different possible actions and carry out the choice of the right action, 3) the cue word allows live feedback on the action. The discussion in this article shows how the effects of the cue word do not exist per se, they exist through the dialectical relationship between the athlete and the word, and are the product of a development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, based on Vygotsky's writings, we propose an epistemological shift in the study of self-talk in sport. To do this, we identify the characterizing elements of self-talk, i.e. the situation, the subject and the words, and formalize their properties and relationships using the theories of Vygotsky and contemporary authors (Rabardel, Pastré, Clot, Vergnaud and Friedrich). This work of conceptualization leads us to define self-talk as an instrumental act that is part of a mediating activity, in other words a situated, embodied and dynamic phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article argues that there is a crisis in the conception of what is human, resulting from the growing tendency to uncritically accept the assumptions of the technological paradigm or episteme and the model of the future that this approach takes for granted. In the authors' opinion, this state of affairs derives from successive scissions that have taken place in the history of our development as a species (the scission of the cerebral hemispheres) and in the history of thought and science (first-order cybernetics versus second-order cybernetics; inert matter versus living matter; the technological versus the organic; natural intelligence versus artificial intelligence). In the face of the apparent triumph of the mechanistic assumptions that support transhumanism, the principles that have governed the origin and evolution of life are recalled, as well as the constitutive principles of the human psyche, among which the construction of consciousness and freedom, called for from Vygotskian Acmeist psychology, should be highlighted. These principles are those which, in the authors' opinion, should govern any alternative for the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the possibility of individual psychotherapeutic intervention for adults based on Historical-Cultural Psychology. Among other possibilities, we understand that Vygotskian psychology offers a basis for the psychotherapeutic interventions elaboration that aims to act on the subject's consciousness formation process. Some assumptions guided the analysis of the theme, as shown below: consciousness is conceptualized as a psychic reflection of reality; all higher psychological functions act in the complex process of capturing reality, in the transformation of sensory information into processes of abstraction in the form of concepts; in the process of consciousness formation, the cognitive and affective aspects compose a dialectical unit, which is formed from the interpsychological to the intrapsychological plan; and the health-disease process, which is understood linked to historical and cultural conditions, as well as psychic suffering is understood from its genesis in the critical processes of social life. From this, we discuss some propositions that can support the psychotherapeutic practice that aims to work on the process of consciousness formation. From this, we discuss some propositions that can support the psychotherapeutic practice that aims to work on the process of consciousness formation. The psychologist's intervention turns to the analysis of the subject's history, in its constitutive individual and social processes which take place within the capitalist society, and seeks to understand the movement of consciousness formation and psychic suffering, which is established from the singular-particular-universal dialectic dynamics; aiming to apprehend how the critical processes of social life, historically constituted, engendered the suffering experienced. Thus, such intervention makes it possible for the subject to become aware of the historical and social relations that determine the person, how the social reality constitutes oneself, and what is the person's active role in this process. Based on Vygotsky, we understand that becoming aware of the relationships that corroborate to constitute the individual's consciousness, and suffering provides the subject with new conditions for coping with his psychic suffering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper it is argued that perezhivanie (i.e., lived experience), understood as dynamic symbolic-affective units, which irreducibly includes the individual-context producing psychological, social and cultural experiences, allows to overcome some traditional dualisms based on cartesian legacy between mind and body, individual and society or intelligence-cognition versus emotion. It is assumed, in that regard, the need to understand life experiences as unfinished, unpredictable, and creative synthesis between the developing person and the environment. Putting the focus on learning, it is presented two contemporary approaches that reinforce this idea: the transactional psychology and the theory of subjectivity. According to the first one, the reality is defined as "event/processes" in an ontology of life as a constant movement and change rather than of composed by fixed "things/entities". Regarding the second one, it is proposed a new ontology of subjectivity where the constant movement of lived experiences is understood as processes and symbolic-emotional organizations that are generated by human being, thus being qualitatively different processes from psyche. Both approaches are discussed in the context of an unfinished Vygotskian project on the elaboration of a psychology of human experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims at communicating the origin and evolution of the application of psychological science to the multidisciplinary field of occupational health in Cuba. Several factors are taken into account in this process: the social and socio-labor context, with a relatively extensive exposure, given the uniqueness of the Cuban social system. The trajectory of occupational health in the country and its current critical situation. The contributions of the professional practice of psychologists in work scenarios, which gave rise to occupational health psychology as a line of work in research, teaching and professional practice. It emphasizes the need to develop theoretical and methodological work in this area from a psychodynamic point of view, which takes subjectivity into account, for which the cultural historical approach of L. S. Vygotsky is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The understanding of the concrete, non-dualistic human being with dialectical bases has been a concern since the first generation of the Soviet psychological school. The studies elaborated by this school, later denominated Historical-Cultural Psychology, subsidized the understanding that throughout the life, when performing activities to maintain its survival, the human being modifies its external and internal conditions, that is, it modifies the environment in which lives and their psychic functions. In the present article, the objective is to analyze the periodization of human activity in Vygotski (1896-1934), Leontiev (1903-1979) and Elkonin (1904-1984), in the search for elements that interpose continuities or ruptures of their bases. These are three classic authors who give psychological foundation to the studies of Historical-Critical Pedagogy and that although they belong to the same psychological school, they bring different emphases to think periodization. In order to reach the desired goal, a search of the classic texts of these authors was made available in Portuguese and Spanish, and a comparative table was drawn from the main periods: early childhood, childhood, adolescence and adult life. The line of defense adopted is that the periodization studies presented by Leontiev and Elkonin are a continuation of Vygotsky's studies. The latter devoted himself more to internal questions, to raising the level of psychic development, while still considering it to be dependent on the situation of concrete life. Already Leontiev and Elkonin further explore the influence of social activity on psychic development and established relationships, based on the categories of dominant activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Craving is a central issue in the care of people with problems due to the use of alcohol and other drugs, and is considered an inability to control the desire for consumption. However, there is no clear definition of this phenomenon. We investigated the concept of will in the works of Lev S. Vygotsky (1896-1934), considering that his approach could contribute to understanding the craving. We reviewed the literature on craving and performed a focal analysis of the concept of will in selected texts by Vygotsky. Despite the controversies over the definition of the craving phenomenon, Vygotsky's proposition that the will is a superior psychological function mediated by auxiliary motives makes it possible to deepen the understanding of the craving. Craving management thus depends not only on individual initiative, but also on questions about the social, political, and historical logic that presides over the meanings of drug use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this contribution is to re-examine Vygotsky's conception of the relations between verbal significations, the development of these significations and cognitive development, based on the propositions he formulated in this field in his two fundamental works, The History of the Development of Higher Mental Functions, and Thought and Language. To this end, the authors first review Vygostky’s conception of verbal signals, analyze the reasons that led him to challenge the arbitrariness of signs, and highlight the successive values he attributed to signs and to significations. The authors then discuss Vygotsky’s perspective on the development of the symbolic function, posing that each type of signal has a distinct “representative value”, and thus differing from the Piagetian approach. On these grounds, the authors reformulate the general principles of the historical-cultural approach and show the important similarities between the approaches of Vygotsky and Saussure, concerning the conception of signs, the fundamentally evolutionary character of meanings, as well as their role in the development of children's thinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The idea of cultural development of a child as introduced by Vygotsky has informed much educational research and theorizing in recent decades. However, in the West it to a large extent tends to be put in the background of the investigation of how teachers or other more experienced participants support children’s development, with the concept of scaffolding in the foreground. In this article we review original research and educational psychological theorizing from Russia, work that is less known in the West, discussing how teachers can enter into this developmental field to challenge and support children’s development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The zone of proximal development (zpd) is the best known concept from L. S. Vygotsky's (1896-1934) theoretical production, the most used in the applications and research about his ideas. The aim of this article is to problematize the simplistic and reductionist version that has dominated the treatment of the concept. To approach this theme I start with a statement of the central thesis of the cultural-historical approach and a discussion of its implications for the understanding of scientific productions. Histocial reflexivity, problematization and dialogic inquiry are proposed as tools for rethinking the concept. From that conceptual and methodological framework, I proceed to a critical analysis of the concept of zone of proximal development from its origins to present day. I conclude with an argument in favor of historical reflexivity in the field of psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a hypothesis on suicides in a professional environment. The e-mail message left by a clerk from the post office in Le Fère, France, in November 2012 before he hanged himself is used as an example. The author discusses the sociology of suicides, collective and professional consciousness, the debates in occupational psychopathology, and the activity theory according to Russian psychologist Lev Vygotski.

Prior research suggests that active teaching and learning strategy, called PBL ("Problem-Based Learning"), has several advantages in contrast to traditional strategies. However, it also has certain limitations as any educational procedure. Specifically, it has been suggested that in many cases the situations or problems are used out of context, being artificial and not very related to the real action in real settings. In order to overcome these restrictions, I propose the "Action Based Learning" (ABA) as a complementary educational resource. Following the theoretical framework of cultural psychology based on Vygotski, it is articulated this teaching and learning methodology and it is illustrated its application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the cultural psychology it is not possible to understand human behavior and mind without analyzing the historical, institutional, social and cultural context in that it expresses and develops. Under this perspective, the psychological phenomenon is the product of its participation in socio-cultural activities and situations through which people make their own the set of artifacts valued by a community in a certain historical moment (oral and written language, mathematical notation, the use of new technologies). These ideas draw on Vygotski's historical-cultural school of thought in the ancient Soviet Union. This work presents ten principles assumed by this school: 1) the human conscience as object of study; 2) the social genesis of human conscience and behavior; 3) the principle of meaning; 4) the cultural development of human behavior; 5) the four stages in the master of signs; 6) the principle of mediation; 7) practical character of human activity; 8) the planning function of language; 9) the zone of proximal development, and 10) the dialectic method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the fundamentals of cultural psychology defined as a way to practice psychology based on the premise that psyche and culture constitute each other. In order to overcome four reductionisms (reduction to the rational, to the individual, to the innate, and to the internal), cultural psychology postulates that mental life includes intellectual and emotional aspects, that its origin is socio-cultural, that it spreads among people and the artifacts they use, and that it has to do more with stories, myths, and cultural narratives than with genes and neurotransmitters. Experience is the unit of analysis, i.e. the way people appreciate, perceive, and interpret the world. Experience constructs culture - explicit and implicit shared life styles - and at the same time, experience is constructed by culture. Finally, we suggest some applications derived from a psycho-cultural perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]