The Socio-Cultural View of Psychology
200840-PSY-2012-21Z-General Psychology 1
Word Count: 1,205
The Socio-Cultural View of Psychology
Introduction
The effects of Socio-Cultural development and learning can be seen in many facets of life in the twenty first century. When first beginning to write this essay, I had no clue where it would lead, and believed that it would be somewhat boring. Much to my surprise I was able to tie it into something that I was involved with a few years ago. This essay will show how unbeknownst to me, I witnessed difficulties in learning due to cultural differences while teaching people from other countries to fly helicopters.
Description of Socio-Cultural Psychology:
Socio-Cultural psychology is a new and constantly evolving perspective that subscribes to the view that ones behavior is influenced by one’s social and cultural context. (Coon/Mitterer). Generally speaking we are influenced by the environment in which we are born and live in. Those who are born and raised in Accra, Ghana for example will have a completely different experience growing up than those born and raised in New York. All of these outside influences will combine to create our personality, views on life, and how receptive we are to new experiences.
The primary Founder who popularized researched this area.
The primary psychologist who popularized and researched the theory of Socio-Cultural psychology is Lev Vygotsky, (1896 1934). Vygotsky did not initially study psychology but in fact received a law degree from the University of Moscow. His research was probably influenced by the fact that he began his psychology work shortly after the Russian Revolution., where people were encouraged to work for the good of all rather than for oneself. It was a time of great change for the Russian people with respect to their daily lives and their underlying culture. He then started to study the individual human development with respect to their...