Sociocultural Perspective in Psychology

Psychology is a broad area of study with several theories and schools of thought that help
us understand and make sense of human behavior. Perception, behavior, and personality are just
a few aspects that psychologists study. Some psychologists choose to study abnormal behavior
whilst others attempt to understand why we think the way we do and there are even those who
attempt to distinguish us as humans from other animals.

Definition

The sociocultural perspective is a theory used in various fields such as psychology and is
used to describe awareness of circumstances surrounding individuals and how their behaviors
are affected specifically by their surrounding, social and cultural factors.

According to Catherine A. Sanderson (2010) “Sociocultural perspective: A perspective

describing people’s behavior and mental processes as shaped in part by their social and/or
cultural contact, including race, gender, and nationality.” Sociocultural perspective theory is
a broad yet significant aspect in our being. It applies to every sector of our daily lives. How we
communicate, understand, relate and cope with one another is partially based on this theory.
Our spiritual, mental, physical, emotional, physiological being is all influenced by sociocultural
perspective theory.

Sociocultural approach
A common method of explaining what makes and defines us as individuals is the
application of sociocultural approach. This approach emphasizes the influence of the society
that we living on our learning process.

According to the sociocultural approach, cultural factors such as language, art, social norms and
social structures can play a significant role in the development of our cognitive abilities.

Introduction
In the social-cultural perspective, an individual is evaluated based on the social groups
they belong to. As there are different types of social groups that occur in society. These can
include age groups, gender groups and many others. Any group that restricts some individuals,
including clubs or organizations, can also impact an individual. This means that belonging to a
band, a gym, or a dance troupe can influence the way that you develop as well as religions and
gender groups. It considers not just childhood but adult life as well since different social
groups will come into the life of an individual at any aspect of their life. These groups can still
impact your life even if you are an adult.

What is the Social-Cultural Perspective?

The social-cultural perspective considers the way that different individuals interact with
their social groups and how these social groups influence different individuals and how they
develop throughout their lives.

The social group can consist of any group that the individual is a part of. In fact, most people
belong to a large number of different social groups. These include gender groups, racial groups,
religions and more. For example, your peers can influence you in a dramatic way but so can
your family, your social class and your ethnicity. Given all other characteristics exactly the same,
a female will develop differently than a male. A wealthy female will develop differently than
a poor female.

Impact of situations:

Different situations that you will find yourself in have a different impact on the way that
you continue to develop. For example, as you grow from childhood into adolescence your social
groups will affect you differently. Most find that family impacts the childhood of an individual
more than peer groups. When you get older however, such as in adolescence, peer groups are
more of an influence than family.

In the social-cultural perspective all of the groups that an individual belongs to will influence
their future. Only by understanding the full impact of social groups and understanding every
group that the individual is involved in will a psychologist be able to fully understand what that
individual will do. This will allow you to understand the behaviors of an individual both in the
past and in their future.

Who Founded the Social-Cultural Perspective?

Let’s get into an AP psychology review of this perspective to help you better understand
what’s going to be on your exam. The social-cultural perspective was founded by Lev
Vygotsky, a Russian psychologist. Also known as the sociocultural perspective, this theory
emphasized how a child would grow to become an adult and come to develop thoughts,
behaviors and beliefs.

Vygotsky felt that children were born with different beliefs in their minds. However, those
beliefs are subject to interpretation and change based on the groups that the individual belongs to
and which groups they are raised into. His theory was based off of Piaget’s perspective
concerning cognitive development.This theory believed that the interactions of children into the
world were the way that they primarily learned and developed.

On the other hand, Vygotsky focused more on social interaction rather than singular
interaction. By considering the differences between these two perspectives it is easier to
understand the ways that children come to understand and complete different actions.

The Sociocultural Perspective Defined

Psychologists use many different approaches that work together to understand and
explain human behavior. The sociocultural perspective is one approach to understanding why
humans behave the way they do. The sociocultural perspective seeks to understand human
behavior and personality development by examining the rules of the social groups and subgroups
in which the individual is a member. These rules are often unwritten guidelines that direct a
person's actions.

Groups Can Affect Behavior

Race and ethnicity, religion, gender, social class, family traditions, peer groups, and age
are some of the subgroups that may influence someone's behavior. Do students from poverty-
stricken areas learn differently than students in wealthy homes?

Do religious beliefs play a role in a teen's decision to delay premarital sex?

Do families that eat dinner together every night have more successful children than families who
don't eat together?

A psychologist could use the sociocultural perspective to help answer these questions.

If you looked outside your window and saw a man speaking earnestly to a tree, what conclusions
might you draw? You may argue the man could be suffering from mental illness and needs
medication or treatment in a mental institution. But would your opinion change if you knew the
man was Native American, and Native Americans believe in a spiritual philosophy that trees can
speak if you listen to them? The context of culture makes a difference in how you view the
behavior, and the sociocultural perspective takes that into account.

Vygotsky: father of the sociocultural approach

Vygotsky’s Social Development Theory is the work of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky
(1896-1934). Vygotsky’s work was largely unkown to the West until it was published in 1962.
Soviet psychologist Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934), who became interested in
developmental psychology and helped to change the face of the field. He proposed that
interactions made by children can shape and influence both the way in which they perceive the
world and their cognitive processes. The way children learn and develop varies from culture
to culture and is sometimes specific to each individual society. While the resulting cognitive
processes may be unique to each culture, the way in which they are handed down from
generation to generation is often similar.

Three methods for teaching Children

Vygotsky cites three methods which are used to teach children skills. These tools are;

1- imitative learning,

2- instructed learning,

3- collaborative learning.

A central tenet of Vygotsky's studies is that children learn behavior and cognitive skills by
dealing with more experienced people, such as teachers or older siblings, using one or more of
these three learning methods.

Vygotsky goes on to explain that in order for the sociocultural theory to work, you need four
basic principles.

Key principles of Vygotsky's sociocultural theory

The core components within the theory are;

1- Learning:

Development of a child is contingent upon learning. As explained, learning is a crucial part of

passing down culture ideas from parents to children.

By doing so, the child also acquires cognitive skills that are specific to his or her culture.

2- Language

The second core principle; that a person's language is crucial to their mental development.

The Bifold Model (Animal VS Human Memory)

Many studies into memory have taken onboard the sociocultural approach. A common
example of how the approach works is by comparing a human's memory with that of an animal.
An animal's memory as we understand it is reactionary. A mouse, for example, lives in the
present and only associates an object to a memory when it sees that object. An animal's mind
may be unable to unlock experiences independently of the events it is experiencing at that
moment.

So, a mouse can recognize a predator when approached by one and can act accordingly, but can
not recall another predator, such as a snake, if one has not been present.

In case of humans, language provides us with the ability to recall experiences without them
having being immediately first-hand. An individual can see the word 'watermelon' and not only
recall what a watermelon is, but how one tastes and maybe a pleasant memory of eating one.

Vygotsky pointed out in his book "Thought and Language" that children at an early age
vocalize actions and thought processes, speaking out loud their reasoning. As children get older
that vocalization is internalized and becomes 'inner speech'. We see children talking to
themselves at early ages as they carry out mundane tasks. It is believed that they are forming
recall abilities, that will then be internalized later in life. Trying to remember what one did
yesterday would involve a series of prompts, starting with common events such as the commute
to work. This will then lead a person to recall what was on the radio and the color of the car in
front of them on their morning drive.
Language is crucial for this ability to recollect information, and is also one of the major building
blocks of our cultures and societies. It is language, many believe, that elevated humans from a
primitive species to a one that would one day dominate the world.

While animals may possess a form of rudimentary language, often consisting of more basic
signals, it is humans' linguistic abilities that distinguishes from other animals and has helped to
create a society full of art and thought. Therefore, the developmental progress of a child can not
be considered without also taking into consideration the child's upbringing and social context.

If a child is reared in a creative culture, the thought process and cognitive abilities of that child
will surely reflect that influence. Most interesting though, is that children are capable of creating
their own knowledge through experience and cultural tools. This knowledge is then referenced
later on in life.

KEY CONCEPTS

Vygotsky’s theory asserts three major themes regarding social interaction, the more
knowledgeable other, and the zone of proximal development.

1- SOCIAL INTERACTION
Social interaction plays a fundamental role in the process of cognitive development. In
contrast to Jean Piaget’s understanding of child development (in which development necessarily
precedes learning), Vygotsky felt social learning precedes development (social learning is
superior to development). He states: “Every function in the child’s cultural development
appears twice: first, on the social level, and later, on the individual level; first, between people
(interpsychological) and then inside the child (intrapsychological)”.

2- THE MORE KNOWLEDGEABLE OTHER (MKO)

The MKO refers to anyone who has a better understanding or a higher ability level than
the learner, with respect to a particular task, process, or concept. The MKO is normally thought
of as being a teacher, coach, or older adult, but the MKO could also be peers, a younger
person, or even computers.

3- THE ZONE OF PROXIMAL DEVELOPMENT (ZPD)

One key element of Vygotsky's sociocultural approach is his idea of a Zone of Proximal
Development. Commonly abbreviated as ZPD, the Zone of Proximal Development is a way to
gauge a child's ability to learn and grow. Vygotsky believed that the ZPD was a far better way to
gauge a child's intelligence than through the standard academic testing, which can often fail to
account for cultural differences with regards to learning.

At the core of Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, there is the area containing
the cognitive abilities which we have acquired so far in life. At an earlier age, these are
limited. As we travel further outwards from this core, we reach the outer reaches of the zone,
which represents the potential of the human mind. This inner potential can be realized through
social learning situations.

The ZPD is the distance between what is known and what is unknown by the learner. It is
the difference between the ability of learner to performer a specific task under the guidance of
his MKO and the learner`s ability to do that task independently. Basically, the theory explains
that learning occurs in ZPD

Vygotsky focused on the connections between people and the sociocultural context in
which they act and interact in shared experiences. According to Vygotsky, humans use tools
that develop from a culture, such as speech and writing, to mediate their social
environments. Initially children develop these tools to serve solely as social functions, ways to
communicate needs. Vygotsky believed that the internalization of these tools led to higher
thinking skills.

Vygotsk
y's Zone of Proximal Development, part of the social-cultural approach in psychology.

Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) expanded on Vygotsky's theory, adding the concept of
scaffolding. This terms refers to the activities and environment that more knowledgeable people
may provide to someone younger, in order to assist their cognitive abilities. Such people may
include parents, caregivers, teachers and older siblings or peers. Scaffolding may include playing
games, role playing, singing (to encourage language acquisition) and other social situations
where cognitive abilities may be nurtured.
APPLICATIONS OF THE VYGOTSKY’S SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
THEORY
Many schools have traditionally held a transmissionist or instructionist model in which
a teacher or lecturer ‘transmits’ information to students. In contrast, Vygotsky’s theory promotes
learning contexts in which students play an active role in learning. Roles of the teacher and
student are therefore shifted, as a teacher should collaborate with his or her students in order to
help facilitate meaning construction in students. Learning therefore becomes a reciprocal
experience for the students and teacher. This means that the teacher also learns from the students
as the students learns from her.
With the sociocultural approach in mind, researchers have begun to look over the course
of human history to see how language has shaped and defined entire societies. The results are
somewhat surprising, with several anthropologists claiming that our more complex emotions,
such as love and loyalty, are really learned behaviors that we have come to associate with those
words, and are not ingrained behavior that is hard-wired into our brains.
In an attempt to understand cognitive processes, several psychologist have applied
Vygotsky's work have began to look not only at an individual's biological makeup, but also at the
culture and society which surround and inform the individual.

For many years, researchers have been attempting to explain behavior, memory, and
cognition in biological terms. With Vygotsky's work as a guide, researchers are now using a dual
approach to understand what makes and shapes a person's reality and identity. Researchers are
taking the social background, language, beliefs, and other cultural and social influences into
consideration instead of regarding the mind as nothing more than a collection of neurons and
synapses.

Examples of Social-Cultural Perspective

Example 1:

Megan grew up in the country. Her family has always raised animals and she is responsible for
feeding the chickens every morning. The chickens get up early and they need to be let out of
their pen before breakfast. She also needs to make sure that the eggs are gathered before she goes
to eat her own breakfast. So every morning Megan gets up at 6 am because that’s when she needs
to start her chores.

Eliza grew up in the city. Before she eats breakfast all she needs to do is get dressed. She hates
getting up early and so often she doesn’t even get up until 7:30 am so that she can eat breakfast
quickly and catch the bus at 8 am.

The two girls are the same age and they both have to go to school but they get up at different
times of the day because of the way they were raised. They have different actions that need to be
completed and they also have different interests. Eliza doesn’t like to get up early and she
doesn’t need to, her social groups don’t require her to do so. Megan does like to get up early
however and her social group definitely does require her to do it.

Example 2:

Peter is Catholic and grew up going to church every Sunday. He never misses a church service
and makes sure that he prays before he eats any meal. His family has taught him this and they
make sure that he continues to follow all of these traits. Even when his family is not present
however, Peter continues to follow these same traits and continues to pray and attend church.

The traits that Peter follows began as something that his parents pushed him into. As he grew
older however, he continued to carry out these traits. He did this because he was interested in
what he had been raised into and he believed that it was something he wanted to continue. The
social group he was raised in (Catholic) influenced his life and his behavior even as he grew
older.