What children can do with the assistance of others might be in some sense even more indicative of their mental development than what they can do alone
Lev S. VygotskyRead
Psychology teaches us at every step that though two types of activity can have the same external manifestation, whether in origin or essence, their nature may differ most profoundly.
Interpretation
Activities might look similar on the surface, but their underlying nature can be vastly different.
Vygotsky's quote emphasizes the importance of understanding the intrinsic motivations and origins behind seemingly similar behaviors. It suggests that two actions that appear the same can arise from entirely different psychological processes, underscoring the complexity of human behavior and the need for deeper analysis in psychology to grasp these differences.
In practice
In a psychology class discussion about behavioral analysis.
What children can do with the assistance of others might be in some sense even more indicative of their mental development than what they can do alone
The child begins to perceive the world not only through his [or her] eyes but also through his [or her] speech
It may be said that the basic characteristic of human behavior in general is that humans personally influence their relations with the environment and through that environment personally change their behavior, subjugating it to their control.
Language is the tool of the tools
There is reason to believe that voluntary activity, more than highly developed intellect, distinguishes humans from the animals which stand closest to them.
Thought is not merely expressed in words, it comes into existence through them
The importance of Liking Yourself is a notion that fell heavily out of favor during the coptic, anti-ego frenzy of the Acid Era--but nobody guessed back then that the experiment might churn up this kind of hangover: a whole subculture of frightened illiterates with no faith in anything.
We teach people that they upset themselves. We can't change the past, so we change how people are thinking, feeling and behaving today.
Wherever an inferiority complex exists, there is a good reason for it.
It's during dream sleep where we start to actually take the sting out of difficult, even traumatic, emotional experiences that we've been having. And sleep almost divorces that emotional, bitter rind from the memory experiences that we've had during the day.
Psychotherapy is a sanctuary; it is a battleground; it is a place I have been psychotic, neurotic, elated, confused, and despairing beyond belief.
The conflict between the will to deny horrible events and the will to proclaim them aloud is the central dialectic of psychological trauma.
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