Chapter 4: Internalization of Higher Psychological Functions
From WikEd
In this chapter, Vygotsky continues his discussion of tool and sign/symbol, and their commonality as types of mediated activity. He then enters into his theory of how events that occur in the external world become internalized in an individual's psychological state (although the individual in question is a child, in Vygotsky's discussion, many would argue that similar processes occur in all forms of learning, regardless of the age of the learner).
[edit] Tool
To Vygotsky, a tool is a (generally physical) artifact that results in change in the physical state of the world. It is externally-oriented. Artifacts that primarily act on the internal psychological state of individuals are not tools, in the sense that Vygotsky uses the word (Seymour Papert would not agree with this usage).
[edit] Sign
Vygotsky uses sign to refer to artifacts that are intended to change the internal psychological state of human beings. Vygotsky (or, more likely, his translators) seem to use sign and symbol interchangeably. Some authors draw a distinction between these two concepts, using sign for an iconic artifact (such as a picture of a fire over a fire escape) and symbol for artifacts that represent an arbitrary coding (such as the word "fire").
[edit] Mediated Activity
While drawing a distinction between tool and sign, Vygotsky does see both as forms of mediated activity. In both cases, the human actor is not effecting the change (physical or psychological) through direct action, but rather through an intermediate construct (the tool or the sign).
[edit] Problems with this Dichotomy
Though it seems generally useful, Vygotsky's distinction between tool and sign becomes problematic when one considers more sophisticated techniques of mediation. Suppose I type a command at my keyboard. Am I using a "tool" or a "sign"? The action itself is clearly using symbolic communication, but the result of that action could be either physical or psychological. If my typing causes a computer-controlled milling machine to create a metal part, it would seem to be more tool-like, while if my typing causes this WikEd article to be posted for other to read, the function is closer to pure symbolism. But suppose I'm the CEO of an automobile manufacturer and I'm typing an email directing my subordinates to open a new plant in some city and start producing cars. This produces physical results (cars are produced) but will almost certainly produce large-scale psychological results as well (people now have jobs, and are probably happy about that, while other people may be unhappy due to potential negative effects on the local environment). Vygotsky also appears to consider only one level of mediation, but to be an accurate picture I think that one needs to allow for multiple (potentially recursive) levels of mediated activity. The CEO's email will generate other communications, some of which will result in physical changes (buildings are constructed, machinery and raw materials are moved to the site), but others will almost certainly generate another, subsidiary round of symbolic activity.
Also, Vygotsky doesn't consider the semiotic and McLuhan-esque implications of selecting one sign or communicative medium over another.
[edit] Internalization
Vygotsky argues that every higher mental process (by which he means phenomena that aren't modeled well by appeals to reflex or naive behaviorist explanations) begins first in the social sphere. His canonical example is the situation where a child attempts to grasp something that's out of his or her reach. An adult sees the attempt and (perhaps) gives the child the desired item. Through this process, the child internalizes the gesture as a symbolic act to represent desire or to direct another's attention in a particular way. Vygotsky says that the gesture then becomes formalized as pointing.
Vygotsky's process of internalization proceeds thusly:
[edit] An operation that initially represents an external activity is reconstructed and begins to occur internally
In the pointing example, this occurs as the initially tool-like attempt to grasp the object becomes formalized as a symbolic gesture.
[edit] An interpersonal process is transformed into an intrapersonal process
This occurs when the child begins to understand that pointing is a communicative sign, rather than an action that attempts to change the physical state of the world. Vygotsky says that this can only occur in the social sphere (i.e., the grasping gesture would never become internalized as a sign without another person to respond to the symbolic behavior).
[edit] The transformation of an interpersonal process into an intrapersonal one is the result of a long series of developmental events
Some signs never become fully internalized (we rarely point at things unless others are present), but some do (e.g., language). Vygotsky argues that the ability to develop internal symbologies (albeit through a long process) is the critical distinction between animal and human psychology.
