THE

DEVELOPME
NT OF
THOUGHT
AND
LANGUAGE
 LEV
VYGOTSKY
Lev Vygotsky was a Russian
psychologist who made a great
contribution in the fields of child
development and cognitive
psychology. He was born in
Western Russia (present day
Belarus) in 1896, same year as
another famous psychologist, Jean
Piaget. Vygotsky came up with
several different theories in a short
span of time, demonstrating his
ingenuity. However, his life was
cut short by tuberculosis and he
died at the age of 38 leaving many
of his theories incomplete.
STAGE 1: THINKING IN
UNORGANIZED
CONCEPTS OR HEAPS
The young child takes the first step
toward concept formation when he
puts together a number of objects in
unorganized by chance in the
child’s perception. At that stage,
word meaning denotes nothing
more to the child than a vague
syncretic conglomeration of
individual objects that have
somehow or other coalesced into an
image in his mind.

STAGE 2: THINKING IN
COMPLEXES
Vygotsky describes what he calls
“thinking in complexes. In a
complex, individual objects are
united in the child’s mind not only
by his subjective impression but
also by bonds (actually existing
between these objects)
FIVE SUB-PHASES
1. Associative complexes
Which is described to be an
understanding of an object that is
linked to the nucleus of the group
to be built if the child can make any
concrete associative relationship
(by similarity or by contrast)
2. In collection complexes
There is no hierarchical bond
between the various characteristics.
Objects are linked on the basis of
some feature in which they differ
and complement one another.
(Heterogeneous, complementarity)
Example: a glass,
spoon and plate.
Pillow, bed and
blanket)
3. Chain complexes
Focus on objects that have nothing
in common with some of the other
elements either, and yet be parts of
the same chain and the strength of
sharing an attribute with still
another of its elements.
Example: the sound a child used
in imitating animals:
Dog (aww, woof) may be the same
sound he or she vocalize when milk
is accidentally split)
4. Diffuse complexes
Where relationship between object
is mark by the fluidity of the
attribute that unites its single
elements.
For instance yellow triangle,
triangles,trapezoids
squares,hexagon, circles.

5. Pseudo-concept
complexes
Refer to ways that externally looks
like a concept but inside it is a
complex. This makes for a situation
where the child may appear to have
a valid concept, but in reality, is
still confused. for instance, if the
child gathers all the triangles it is
because in fact they are really look
like one another.

Example the word dog for

the child's fits in with the
real concrete complex, for
adult with abstract one.

STAGE 3: THINKING IN
CONCEPT.
Synthesizing of phenomena that
share common aspects and
analyzing phenomena by singling
out or obstructing elements from
them a single attribute is abstracted
to form the basis of a collective, the
child has begun to operate with
concepts to practice conceptual
thinking before being aware of the
nature of these operations.