Editing Developmental psychology (section)

===Zone of proximal development===
{{Main|Zone of proximal development}}
[[Lev Vygotsky]] was a Russian theorist from the Soviet era, who posited that children learn through hands-on experience and social interactions with members of their culture.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Schacter DL, Gilbert DR, Wegner DM | title = Psychology | volume = 2 | location = New York, NY | publisher = Worth Publishers | date = 2011 }}</ref> Vygotsky believed that a child's development should be examined during problem-solving activities.<ref name="Yamagata-Lynch">{{Cite book |last=Yamagata-Lynch |first=Lisa C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nAFT-zyrtEC |title=Activity Systems Analysis Methods: Understanding Complex Learning Environments |date=2010-07-15 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4419-6321-5 |language=en}}</ref> Unlike Piaget, he claimed that timely and sensitive intervention by adults when a child is on the edge of learning a new task (called the "zone of proximal development") could help children learn new tasks. Zone of proximal development is a tool used to explain the learning of children and collaborating problem solving activities with an adult or peer.<ref name="Yamagata-Lynch"/> This adult role is often referred to as the skilled "master", whereas the child is considered the learning apprentice through an educational process often termed "[[cognitive apprenticeship]]" Martin Hill stated that "The world of reality does not apply to the mind of a child." This technique is called "scaffolding", because it builds upon knowledge children already have with new knowledge that adults can help the child learn.<ref name="vygotsky782">{{Cite book|title=Mind in society: the development of higher psychological processes |publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1978|location=Cambridge, MA | jstor = j.ctvjf9vz4 | oclc = 3517053 | isbn = 9780674576285       |vauthors = Vygotsky LS |doi=10.2307/j.ctvjf9vz4 | url = https://archive.org/details/mindinsocietydev0000vygo }}</ref> Vygotsky was strongly focused on the role of culture in determining the child's pattern of development, arguing that development moves from the social level to the individual level.<ref name="vygotsky782" /> In other words, Vygotsky claimed that psychology should focus on the progress of human consciousness through the relationship of an individual and their environment.<ref name="vygotsky20102">{{cite book | vauthors = Yamagata-Lynch LC |title=Activity Systems Analysis Methods: Understanding Complex Learning Environments |date=15 July 2010 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |isbn=978-1-4419-6321-5 |edition=illustrated |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4nAFT-zyrtEC}}</ref> He felt that if scholars continued to disregard this connection, then this disregard would inhibit the full comprehension of the human consciousness.<ref name="vygotsky20102" />