The Essential Vygotsky

Seventy years after his death, the visionary work of Lev Semenovich Vygotsky (1896-1934) continues to have a profound impact on psychology, sociology, education, and other varied disciplines. The Essential Vygotsky selects the most significant writings from all phases of his work, and material from all six volumes of his Collected Works, so that readers can introduce themselves to the pioneering concepts developed by this influential Russian therapist, scholar, and cultural theorist, including:

• The cultural-historical approach
• The role of language in creating the mind
• The development of memory and perception
• Defectology (abnormal psychology/learning disabilities/special education)
• The Zone of Proximal Development

Each section features an insightful introduction exploring relevant aspects of Vygotsky’s life and illuminating the revolutionary historical context in which these writings were conceived. Together, they reflect the studies he was conducting at the time of his death and the pathbreaking clinical observations that made his reputation.

For years, these papers were available mainly in hastily translated underground editions; now The Essential Vygotsky distills them into their most accessible form. Readers will be impressed and inspired by his insights, his optimism, his prescience, and his humanity.

These papers are particularly relevant for students of developmental psychology, language, special education, and the history of these fields.

A Dialogue with Vygotsky.- Section I: Problems of General Psychology: Thinking and Speech.- 1. The Problem and the Method of Investigation.- 2. The Genetic Roots of Thinking and Speech.- 3. Thought and Word.- 4. Perception and Its Development in Childhood.- 5. Emotions and Their Development in Childhood.- Section II: Fundamentals of Defectology (Abnormal Psychology and Learning Disabilities).- 6. Introduction: The Fundamental Problems of Defectology.- 7. The Difficult Child.- 8. The Dynamics of Child Character.- 9. The Collective as a Factor in the Development of the Abnormal Child.- Section III: Problems of the Theory and History of Psychology: Crisis in Psychology.- 10. The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology: A Methodological Investigation.- Section IV: The History of the Development of High Term Mental Functions: Exegesis of Vygotsky’s Text.- 11. The Structure of Higher Mental Functions.- 12. Mastering Attention.- Section V: Child Psychology: Vygotsky’s Conception of Psychological Development.- 13. Development of Thinking and Formation of Concepts in the Adolescent.- 14. Dynamics and Structure of the Adolescent’s Personality.- 15. The Crisis at Age Seven.- Section VI: Scientific Legacy: Tool and Sign in the Development of the Child.- 16. The Problem of Practical Intellect in the Psychology of Animals and the Psychology of the Child.- 17. The Function of Signs in the Development of Higher Mental Processes.- 18. Sign Operations and Organization of Mental Processes.- 19. Analysis of Sign Operations of the Child.- Bibliography of Works about Vygotsky in English.