Syllabus Edition
First teaching 2025
First exams 2027
Vygotsky’s Theory (AQA A Level Psychology): Revision Note
Exam code: 7182
The zone of proximal development
Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development focuses on the social world of the child, with adults playing a key role in the process
Where Piaget saw cognitive development as an innate maturation-based process, Vygotsky placed social interaction at the centre of cognitive development
One of the key features of Vygotsky’s theory is that of the zone of proximal development (ZPD)
The ZPD conceptualises where a child currently stands in terms of their cognitive development
The ‘zones’ they must cross to reach the limits of their potential, i.e., the ZPD presents an aspirational model of what a child could achieve given the right conditions
Vygotsky argued that a child is only able to go beyond their current level of achievement with the help of a More Knowledgeable Other (MKO) in the form of an adult (parent, teacher, etc.) who can guide and assist them on their learning journey
Vygotsky (unlike Piaget) believed that children cannot progress intellectually without the help of a MKO i.e., they need to harness more than just discovery learning to be able to progress and deepen their understanding
The importance of social interaction and the guidance of a MKO led Vygotsky to claim that children are ‘little apprentices’ (as opposed to Piaget’s view, that they are ‘little scientists’)
The zone of proximal development indicates what a child may be able to achieve with the guidance of a More Knowledgeable Other.
Examiner Tips and Tricks
If you are writing about the differences between Piaget and Vygotsky, make sure to acknowledge that their theories are not diametrically opposed: they both believed that children are active, motivated learners and that the presence of other people can stimulate that learning. Vygotsky, however, emphasised the importance of social interaction, whereas Piaget placed much more emphasis on the individual child’s exploration of their world.
Scaffolding
Scaffolding is a term coined by other researchers (Wood, Bruner, and Ross, 1976) to explain how Vygotsky saw children’s learning as being like scaffolding from which support is given, then gradually taken away as the structure underneath gets stronger
Scaffolding is the process by which the MKO offers constructive help and guidance to the child for a particular task or skill to be completed or practised
The support and guidance is designed to be specific to the needs of each child, allowing them to achieve success in ways that might not have been possible without it
Scaffolding includes strategies such as
maintaining the child’s interest in a task
simplifying complex ideas or actions
giving specific verbal instructions
demonstrating the task
The MKO begins the scaffolding process by offering a clear guiding hand in the child’s learning, which the child may depend on heavily at first
As the child becomes more skilled and confident, the scaffolding is withdrawn, bit by bit, until the child can complete the task independently
Research which investigates Vygotsky’s theory
Conner & Cross (2003) - 45 mother-and-child pairs (the children were 16 months at the start and 54 months at the end of the research period) were observed engaging in informal problem-solving tasks over three years
The findings showed that successful scaffolding can enable a child to develop expertise at a task and a degree of independence
Shvarts & Bakker (2019) – a review article which concluded that scaffolding within a child’s ZPD may trigger further developmental milestones and lead to qualitative change far beyond the initial scaffolding period,
The skills learnt via scaffolding have long-term, deeply embedded positive effects
Evaluation of Vygotsky’s theory
Strengths
Vygotsky’s theory has had far-reaching influence on how children learn in schools, as evidenced by the role of teaching assistants and personalised learning programmes which are designed to both scaffold the child’s learning and help them navigate their ZPDs
Vygotsky placed the child squarely within social and cultural contexts, which means that his theory has good external validity
Limitations
Scaffolding is difficult to operationalise and measure, as its very nature tends to be subjective, i.e., what will work for one child may not work for another; thus, it lacks reliability
Although Vygotsky emphasised the importance of culture, some researchers have claimed that this is a universal view, lacking cultural relativism, e.g. Rogoff (1990) points out that scaffolding is largely dependent on verbal instruction, which may not be applicable/relevant to all cultures
Issues & Debates
Vygotsky strongly exemplifies the nurture side of the nature vs nurture debate, arguing that cognitive development is shaped primarily by social interaction and culture, not innate biological maturation
The concepts of the More Knowledgeable Other and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) both rely on external guidance and support, showing how learning is dependent on environmental input
Vygotsky’s theory reflects a nomothetic approach, as it aims to establish universal principles of learning, such as the Zone of Proximal Development and the role of a More Knowledgeable Other in guiding cognitive development
However, the individual nature of scaffolding introduces an idiographic element, as support is tailored to each child’s needs
Worked Example
Here is an example of an AO2 question you might be asked on this topic.
AO2: You need to apply your knowledge and understanding, usually referring to the ‘stem’ in order to do so
Professor Young has conducted a controlled observation of 3-year-old children and their mothers working on a jigsaw puzzle together. The professor is interested in how the mother uses Vygotsky’s concept of scaffolding during the procedure.
Q. Identify two behavioural categories that could be used to measure the variable of ‘scaffolding’ in his observation.
[2 marks]
Model answer:
Giving verbal instructions – e.g. the mother explains or directs what to do next in solving the puzzle [1 mark]
Demonstrating a task – e.g., the mother shows the child how to fit two pieces together or models the strategy [1 mark]
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