Yuriy V. Karpov

Internalization of children¿s problem solving and individual differences in learning

Abstract The purpose of this study was to identify qualitative distinctions of six- to seven-year-old children’s learning that could be attributed to differences in their cross-domain levels of internalization of problem-solving activity. Two such distinctions were found: (a) the highest level (symbolic, visual-imagery, or visual-motor) at which the children were able to understand the algorithm for a new problem-solving process; and (b) the highest level (symbolic, visual-imagery, or visual-motor) at which they were able to perform a new problem-solving process after understanding its algorithm. These distinctions were coincident and stable for a particular child and were related to that child’s ability to transfer new knowledge.

Neo-Vygotskian Developmental Theory

Lev Vygotskys Russian followers have elaborated his ideas into an innovative developmental theory, in which each period in childrens development is characterized by their leading activity. In the context of this activity, adults mediate childrens mastery of new psychological tools, which results in the development of new mental processes in children. As another outcome of adult mediation, children develop a new motive. As a result, children transit to the new leading activity that is specific to their next age period. Vygotskys followers have used this theoretical model to analyze childrens development in industrialized societies from birth through adolescence.

Second and Third Years

As discussed, by the end of the first year of life, infants develop a strong interest in object-centered explorations. This interest, in particular, reveals itself in the fact that infants start spending much time on shaking, taking apart, and throwing different objects, putting small objects into different holes, opening and closing boxes, and so forth. To be sure, these manipulations help infants understand physical properties of objects, such as size, shape, and weight, and the ways these objects behave in different situations (e.g., a ball will roll away if kicked). The Vygotskians, however, argue that these manipulations are not those that are the most important for infant development. Indeed, when manipulating objects in accordance with their physical characteristics, children, strictly speaking, do not need adult help: Physical characteristics of objects are surface, visible, and can be revealed in the course of independent explorations. For example, children can discover by themselves that a ball rolls away if kicked, or that a rattle makes a sound if shaken. Therefore, children’s independent explorations do not create a context for joint child-adult activity and, accordingly, do not provide an opportunity for adults to mediate children. In Vygotsky’s terms, children engaged in independent explorations are performing at the actual rather than proximal level of development of their mental processes. During the second and third years of life, however, infants become more and more engaged in another type of object-centered explorations: actions with objects in accordance with their social meanings, which include, but are not limited to, children’s play actions with different toys. For example, whereas a younger infant would bang a spoon on the table, an older one would use a spoon to eat. Or, whereas a younger infant would shake or suck a doll, an older one would feed it. According to the Vygotskians, these are the actions that become the most important for infants’ development during the second and third years of life. Indeed, when mastering actions with objects in accordance with their social meanings, children are in need of adult help: As opposed to physical characteristics of objects, their social meanings are not obvious, are not “written” on objects, and, therefore, cannot be discovered by children independently.

Introduction: The Problem of Determinants and Mechanisms of Child Development; The Structure and Content of the Book

Perhaps the most marked feature in the field of developmental psychology is the lack of satisfactory theories of child development. Many investigators seem to have coped with this problem by doing completely atheoretical research; others are busy patching, mending, and modifying old theories; and some are building mini-theories that deal with very restricted areas of behavior. Although some modest theoretical convergence between areas is occurring, notably in the increased awareness of the role of cognitive factors in a variety of behaviors, one comes away from a review of the literature feeling that developmental psychologists working in different areas don’t talk to each other. . . . The literature is replete with highly redundant, often trivial research or “single shot” studies that add little to our understanding of developmental processes. It seems to be an inefficient approach to the study of children’s behavior. . . . The current need is for a careful analysis, synthesis, and evaluation of the information we now have and an attempt to evolve theories which will result in more systematic and fruitful strategies of research. (pp. 125–126)