Cultural-historical psychology

Cultural-historical psychology is a branch of psychological theory and practice associated with Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria and their Circle, who initiated it in the mid-1920s-1930s. The phrase "cultural-historical psychology" never occurs in the writings of Vygotsky, and was subsequently ascribed to him by his critics and followers alike, yet it is under this title that this intellectual movement is widely known now. The main goal of Vygotsky-Luria project was the establishment of a "new psychology" that would account for the inseparable unity of mind, brain and culture in their development (and/or degradation) in concrete socio-historical settings (in case of individuals) and throughout the history of humankind as socio-biological species.

Lev Vygotsky, born in Orsh, Russia (now in Belarus) in 1896, was a psychologist who contributed mostly to developmental psychology.

Vygotsky posed that in a social environment, children develop higher cognitive functions in practical activities. His theories were controversial in the Soviet Union and they remained virtually unknown, although introduced into the Western world in the 1930s, until the 1970s. This is when they became a pivotal point in models built in developmental and educational psychology. Although many current scholars do not agree with his theories or agree about what he meant, the 21st century has bought about scholarly reevaluations of many of the important aspects of these theories.

Alexander Luria was a neuropsychologist and developmental psychologist. Together with Vygotsky, he helped create cultural-historical psychology and was a leader of the Vygotsky Circle. Separate to his work with Vygotsky, Luria is known for his case studies: "The Mind of a Mnemonist" and "The Man with a Shattered World." The former being a case study about a man with a highly advanced memory and the latter about a man with traumatic brain injury.

Cultural-historical psychology or the sociocultural theory is a developmental theory developed by Lev Vygotsky and Alexander Luria. The theory focuses on the individual development of people and the important contributions that society makes to them.

Vygotsky believed that the development of higher order functions are a result of parents, caregivers, peers and the culture at large. According to Vygotsky, "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 (intrapsychogical). This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the high functions originate as actual relationships between individuals."

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