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In psychology, perspectives are ways to understand human behavior. Social Cultural is one of those perspectives and it's a way of understanding humans by how their actions are influenced by the people and situations around them. It is the belief that social and cultural factors impact a child's behavior and higher order functions. Things like social class, race, age, ethnicity, gender, religion, family and friends affect an individual’s development. Psychologists believe, for example, when a child is growing up, their personalities and behavior are heavily affected by their surroundings. If the child grows up with a certain ethnicity, they will learn family traditions and what family says is good and bad according to their culture and beliefs. |
Key PeopleLev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist who developed the theory on socio-cultural psychology. He believed that social factors such as parents, peers, and culture influences the development of a child. He stated: "Every function in the child's cultural development appears twice: first, on the so cial level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people and then inside the child. This applies equally to voluntary attention, to logical memory, and to the formation of concepts. All the higher functions originate as actual relationships between individuals." Lev Vygotsky died at the age of 38 but his work went on to become influential, especially in the fields of educational and cognitive psychology.
Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who focused on cognitive development in children. He believed there are a series of four stages children go through to understand the world around them. Unlike Vygotsky, Piaget believed that a child's development was greater influenced by interactions and exploration rather than social or outside factors. BF Skinner was an American psychologist who is best known for his influence in behavioral psychology. Several of his theories and concepts have been used in understanding sociocultural psychology. |
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