Editing Lev Vygotsky (section)

=== Cultural mediation and internalization ===
Vygotsky studied child development and the significant roles of [[cultural mediation]] and [[interpersonal communication]]. He observed how higher mental functions developed through these interactions, and also represented the shared knowledge of a culture. This process is known as [[internalization (psychology)|internalization]]. ''Internalization'' may be understood in one respect as "knowing how". For example, the practices of riding a bicycle or pouring a cup of milk, initially, are outside and beyond the child. The mastery of the skills needed for performing these practices occurs through the activity of the child within society. A further aspect of internalization is ''appropriation'', in which children take tools and adapt them to personal use, perhaps using them in unique ways. Internalizing the use of a pencil allows the child to use it very much for personal ends rather than drawing exactly what others in society have drawn previously:

{{blockquote|The child acts and speaks at the same time, both are intertwined in one continuous operation for him. In this way, a blend of speech and action arises, a peculiar mixture from an adult's point of view, but a completely natural state for the child, who from the very first days of life, due to his helplessness, finds himself in conditions where the path from him to things and from things to him goes through another person.<ref>Vygotsky L. (1930) [https://psychlib.ru/mgppu/periodica/Pedologia051930/VOS-588.HTM#$p588 About connection between labor activity and child's intellectual development]</ref>}}