Aleksandar Baucal

Religion as Dialogical Resource: A Socio-cultural Approach

William James proposed a psychological study of religion examining people’s religious experiences, and to see in what sense these were good for them. The recent developments of psychology of religion moved far from that initial proposition. In this paper, we propose a sociocultural perspective to religion that renews with that initial stance. After recalling Vygtotsky’s core ideas, we suggest that religion, as cultural and symbolic system, participates to the orchestration of human activities and sense-making. Such orchestration works both from within the person, through internalized values and ideas, and from without, through the person’s interactions with others, discourses, cultural objects etc. This leads us to consider religions as supporting various forms of dialogical dynamics—intra-psychological dialogues, interpersonal with present, absent or imaginary others, as well as inter-group dialogues—which we illustrate with empirical vignettes. The example of religious tensions in the Balkans in the 90’s highlights how much the historical-cultural embeddedness of these dynamics can also lead to the end of dialogicality, and therefore, sense-making

SYMMETRICAL SOCIAL RELATION AS A FACTOR IN CONSERVATION TASKS

According to Siegal’s hypothesis, despite having concrete operational abilities some children are not successful in conservation tasks. Social factors, such as repetition of question asked by an adult experimenter alter the manifestation of existing cognitive abilities. This study varied the following aspects of conservation tasks: symmetrical vs. asymmetrical power relation. The children in the study were asked to solve three different conservation tasks (quantity of continued material, length, and number). Each task was repeated twice; once with an adult experimenter and once with a child experimenter. Results show that children’s responses were affected by social factors only in a certain tasks. In other tasks children’s responses remained unaffected in both situations. This suggests that there exists an interaction between the experimenter and the task, and that the affect of social factor is mediated by a particular characteristic of the task. Results indicate that the modifying factor is the task difficulty.

Construction and co-construction in the zone of proximal development: Could both Piaget and Vygotsky be right?

The main goal of the research is to get evidence to address the following issues: (1) What is the relationship between the Zone of Actual Development (ZAD) and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)?, (2) Is the effect of the tasks joint solving relatively durable?, (3) Does the ZPD have predictive values for the future achievement over and above of ZAD?, and (4) What is more important for the prediction of future achievements - affective-motivational or cognitive help in joint solving? The experiment with parallel groups with 126 subjects is realised. Experimental treatment is consisted of solving of Raven matrices items with a gradual help given by experimenter according to previously defined plan. The results suggest: (1) there is positive and low correlation between ZAD and ZPD, (2) the effect of joint solving is relatively durable, (3) ZPD is significant predictor of future achievements over and above of ZAD, and (4) affective-motivational aspect of joint activity has stronger influence on future achievements than cognitive one.

Experimental micro-histories, private speech and a study of children’s learning and cognitive development / Microhistorias experimentales, habla privada y un estudio del aprendizaje y el desarrollo cognitivo en los niños

Abstract In this paper, we present the recent development of a methodological approach originally devised by Perret-Clermont and Schubauer-Leoni called ‘experimental micro-histories’. This approach allows us to investigate processes of change that often seem to be underestimated in the typical experiments used in developmental psychology that focus on the average impact of certain factors. Two dyads were studied in-depth to understand how, for better or for worse, children use elements learned from previous conversations in their subsequent self-regulatory processes. Different trajectories of private-social speech were studied through different phases (child-adult scaffolding phase and a subsequent child-child interaction phase) and will be discussed in order to reconsider the necessity of adopting a micro-historical focus on developmental processes of change.

Parallel Serbian versions of blot test: an empirical examination

Logical Operations Test (BLOT) was developed for assessing the transition to formal operational thinking. BLOT is a 35 item multiple-choice test which examines all of the operations which comprise the logico-mathematical structure of formal operations in Piaget’s theory. The test was translated into Serbian and used in previously reported research. This work deals with two additional parallel versions of the Serbian BLOT. For each original BLOT item two more parallel items have been constructed by changing the item content and leaving the logical structure of the item the same. Sample consisted of 517 primary and secondary school students. Rasch analysis confirmed that the vast majority of items maintained invariance across at least two test versions: for 19 original items both parallel items maintained their invariance, for 14 items one of the parallel items had similar parameters and only 2 items did not remain invariant in the parallel tests.

Reading Together: The Interplay Between Social and Cognitive Aspects in Argumentative and Non-argumentative Dialogues

The aim of this chapter is to consider the intertwining of social and cognitive aspects of learning through interactive activities, in order to explore how the two aspects are interrelated in children’s joint work. Focusing on participants’ talk while they are asked to solve together a reading comprehension task and to agree on a joint answer, we highlight the ways in which the process of dialogical construction of a common answer is influenced by social and cognitive factors. In particular, we problematize the interplay of multiple aspects (cognitive, personal, interpersonal) that structure interactions among peers in order to focus on the regulation of social relations during children’s discussions and its interplay with cognitive dimensions of joint task solving. We show how solving reading comprehension tasks through peer interactions appears as a complex and dynamic phenomenon shaped by the interplay of cognitive, social and personal aspects.

Introduction to the special issue on socio-emotional aspects of developmental and educational processes

For most people, be they psychologists or laymen, the concepts of development and education evoke images of progressing along a line of expanding knowledge, deepening one’s understanding of the world, and multiplying and upgrading competencies. But lest we forget that each step up this ladder entails countless social or sociocultural interactions, and myriads of emotional experiences and transactions, we decided to take a detour from the usual path following mostly cognitive growth and change, to a more adventurous exploration of the diverse landscape which surrounds it – devoting this issue of Psihologija Journal to the social and emotional aspects of developmental and educational processes. With such abroad topic at hand, and given only a limited amount of space to represent it, we are pleased to have put together an issue which does reflect current trends in the given areas of psychology, covering such up-to-date issues as emotional expressiveness and emotional intelligence in the family and at school; attachment beyond the caregiver-infant relationship; intercultural and inclusive education; or teacher-student interactions in the face of new technologies. From one article to the next, the vantage point changes to a different spot along the continuum of “social”, thus granting a view on emotionrelated phenomena in various contexts, from intimate dyadic and small-group interactions among family members and friends, to such social encounters which take place in and mirror the educational system, including how it deals with disruptive behaviors, cultural differences, and students with “special educational needs” (i.e., those who require additional resources and support in order to achieve certain learning outcomes). Not surprisingly then, the present issue is also representative of diverse theoretical approaches and research designs, including not only the discourse of today’s “mainstream” psychology, but of