Lev Vygotsky was born in 1896 in Orsha, Russia (what is now Belarus) He graduated with a law degree from Moscow State University in 1917 In 1924, he attended the Institute of Psychology in Moscow It was at the Institute of Psychology that Vygotsky began to explore the ideas of cognitive development, which is a part of his studies that he has become famous for. He died in Moscow of tuberculosis in 1934.

Social Historical Theory of Cognitive Development –Social and cultural interactions are critical to learning –Mind is product of social/historical change –Learning cannot be independent of social and cultural forces that influence individuals

When asking children ages 4-8 to use memory aids to remember things, they did not use them and did not remember well When asking children 9-12 to use memory aids to help them remember things, they did use them and remembered better Younger children think they can remember anything on their own –They don’t know their capacities and limitations or how to use external stimuli to help remember things

Role of language is critical to thinking Thought develops from social to individual –Thought and language are related –Developing internal dialogue has 3 steps First the child refers to absent objects interacting with others Second the child begins to direct comments to herself referring to absent objects but says them out loud –This is when egocentric speech occurs »The child talks out loud about things that others will have no idea what they are talking about Third these comments are directed internally and turns into inner speech by way of internalizing social interactions

“Distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving and the level of potential development as determined through problem solving under adult guidance or in collaboration with more capable peers” (Vygotsky, 1935, p.86). –Level of assisted performance –Level of independent performance

1.Are children with 6 or more years of schooling likely to recall more common items that fall into culturally recognized categories than children with two years of schooling) recall? What about common items that fall into universal categories? 2.Are children with 6 or more years of schooling more likely to cluster items in culturally recognized categories than are children with fewer years of schooling – as a “tool” to help them remember? 3.When culturally recognizable items and universally recognizable items are grouped together, how many and what items will the more schooled children remember? less schooled?

Children with 6 or more years of schooling (the 6 th graders) will be able to remember the cultural items better then children who have had fewer years. (2 nd graders). The 2 nd graders will be able to remember the universal items better then the cultural items The 6 th graders will have a better memory overall The 6 th graders will be able to find commonalities and categorize the items to help them remember and the 2 nd graders will not at this stage in their development.

Cow Fish Monkey CatDogHorse Lion MouseSnake Rabbit (Bunny)

Wind Clouds Snow (Christmas Tree) Rain Sun Rainbow Tornado Star Snowman Lightning

Scissors Paper Backpack (School) Bus Chalkboard Paperclip CalculatorPencil Book Glue

Indian Jack-O-Lantern (Pumpkin) Skeleton BatGravestone (R.I.P.) Witch Turkey(Pilgrim’s) HatCorn Ghost

We had 4 different sets of 10 note cards. Each child went through three trials of memory. We interviewed ten children from both the 2 nd grade and the 6 th grade. The first trial the child was given 10 cards that fell into a universal category; (Animals or weather). They were given 2 minutes to look at the cards, and do whatever they needed to, to best remember as many of the cards as they could. After the 2 minutes we took the cards away and the kids told us as many as they could remember. The second trial the child was given 10 cards that fell into a cultural category; (School Supplies or Holidays). They were given 2 minutes to look at the cards, and do whatever they needed to, to best remember as many of the cards as they could. After the 2 minutes we took the cards away and the kids told us as many as they could remember. The third trial the child was given 20 cards with 10 cards from whichever universal category they had not seen and 10 cards from whichever cultural category they had not seen. They were given 2 minutes to look at the cards, and do whatever they needed to, to best remember as many of the cards as they could. After the 2 minutes we took the cards away and the kids told us as many as they could remember. While the child was working Rachel and I would write down their learning strategy to see if we could tell if they could see commonalities or categories within each trial set. After the children had remembered every card they could, Rachel and I would ask them how they remembered as many as they did and if they saw anything in common in the cards that they had just looked at.

Results are out of 10 cards each time. *Did not complete the survey. 2 nd Grader’s Separate Trials: Universal Vs. Cultural

Results are out of 20 cards each time. *Did not complete the survey. Gave an answer for a previous category 2 nd Grader’s Combined Trials: Universal & Cultural

Of the 10 second graders that we interviewed... In The Separate Trials: Four out of ten remembered more universal items then cultural. (40%) Four out of ten remembered more cultural items then universal. (40%) Two children remembered the exactly the same about of universal and cultural items. (20%) In the Combined Trials Four out of ten remembered more universal items then cultural. (40%) Three out of ten remembered more cultural items then universal. (40%) Two children remembered the exactly the same about of universal and cultural items. (20%) One student did not complete this part of the survey and her previous result showed her remembering more cultural then universal which would have even up the data.

6 th Grader’s Separate Trials: Universal Vs. Cultural

6 th Grader’s Combined Trials: Universal & Cultural

Of the 10 sixth graders that we interviewed... In The Separate Trials: Four out of ten remembered more universal items then cultural. (40%) Six out of ten remembered more cultural items then universal. (60%) In the Combined Trials Three out of ten remembered more universal items then cultural. (30%) Six out of ten remembered more cultural items then universal. (60%) One child remembered the exactly the same amount of universal and cultural items. (10%)

For the 6 th graders we had to go in near the end of the school day and we were sitting out in the hallway. Some kids got very easily distracted. Had some children lose focus very easily and some that didn’t finish the survey which affects the equality of ages in our data. Used two different schools in two different cities for the two grade levels and this might affect the difference in the data. Small sample size

The 6th graders did remember more cultural items then universal. On average the 6 th graders did remember more then the 2 nd graders. The 6 th graders did use commonalities and memory aides. They also looked at both the words and the pictures when studying The 2 nd graders would often look through once and give up. Not one 2 nd grader used a memory aid! The 6th graders did not remember more then the 2 nd graders based on combined trial totals in that both only achieved 14 out of 20 at most. The second graders remembered almost exactly the same number of universal and the cultural items