The Cultural-Historical Foundations of the Zone of Proximal Development

This theoretical article attempts to locate the concept of a zone of proximal development within the holistic context of cultural-historical theory. In order to analyze the psychological content of processes taking place within the zone of proximal development, special content of personality and mental development has been singled out. We propose methodologically correlating the concept "zone of proximal development" and personality development. It has been demonstrated that neoformations and leading activity, which serve as indicators of child development, also define the zone of proximal development at each specific psychological age. The article argues that only education that influences the zone of proximal development's boundaries is developmental education (as understood by L. S. Vygotsky).     

Art Comes to Life in a Steel Mill Town

In this article, the authors investigate how Korea's current educational policy's emphasis on artistic expression, and therefore music education, has been realized in the praxis of early childhood education. The authors view policy as discourses and texts that early childhood educators interpret and reinterpret within specific contexts. Policy rhetoric and practice fail to recognize the integration of musical conceptual development, expressive ability, creativity, and communication. The musical development of a child should be viewed as his or her right to nurture a musical self in a meaningful musical context.     

On the Structure of Learning Activity

The child's mind develops through learning. All that a child acquires during the course of his mental development is given to him in "ideal" form and within the context of a social reality, which is the source of development. Active learning is the lynchpin.     

The Zone of Proximal Development

This study adds content to the concept of the zone of proximal development (ZPD). First, it enables differentiation of the level of children's actual development and, second, through application of the concept of an aggregate action, it expands the range of ZPD, including in it not only children's assimilation of the operational-technical aspect of an external action but also their comprehension of the meaning of the action as something directed at another person. In L. S. Vygotsky's classical theory, the ZPD is determined by adult help provided in small doses in the form of hints, leading questions, and so forth. This study demonstrates that help can take other forms. Children's own actualized activity can be realized through various adult positions (active adult, neutral adult, inept adult, etc.) in relation to the assimilation of a new external action (orientation on a diagram of the action, real and vicarious trial and error, various types of speech utterances, the speed and temporal features of the action). Such parameters of ZPD as the level of adult help, stages of the assimilation of the integral structure of an external action, and the level of children's actual development comprise the main lines, the breadth and depth, along which ZPD can be analyzed and its content and structure can be represented.     

Post-embryonic development of amphipod crustacean pleopods and the patterning of arthropod limbs

Morphology and post-embryonic development of the pleopodal rami of the amphipod crustacean Gammarus roeselii Gervais, 1835 are described, with particular reference to the differentiation of limb articles. An article is the part of a limb between two complete arthrodial membranes and, in the pleopodal rami, most arthrodial membranes are accompanied by two plumose setae on the opposite faces of the article. During post-embryonic development, the rami acquire new plumose setae and new arthrodial membranes proximal to the already differentiated part; this implies that new articles are produced by the division of the most proximal article only. On the proximal article of the inner ramus there are also some bifid setae, whose number increases post-embryonically, most likely by proximal addition of new setae. Data from different limb types of different arthropod groups suggest that during post-embryonic development new articles are also produced from one or more specific zone(s) of the limbs. General aspects of these “growth zones” in arthropod limbs are discussed and their distribution, in respect to both different limb types and different taxa, is reviewed. The available data do not allow unambiguous conclusions about the evolution of growth zones and limb patterning, but the most relevant questions are nevertheless outlined.     

Psychological Features of the Narrative-Based Play of Preschoolers Today

In new guiding documents on preschool education in the Russian Federation, children's play is named as leading activity before school, which can create the zone of proximal development. This served as a stimulus to ask what is the present level of children's play? The level was evaluated on the basis of structural components of play in child groups by observing play activity in day care institutions. Five structural components were observed: play plot, methods of constructing role, play materials, use of space, and interaction with peers. General level of play was moderate and advanced forms hardly existed. Seventy-two percent of play was categorized having a story line or plot and 20% were adventure plays (mainly boys).     

A Step Towards a General Framework for Consequential Life Cycle Assessment

At the core of consequential life cycle assessment (CLCA) is a model of the economic system of which the activity that motivates the CLCA is a part. While there are several applications of CLCA in the literature, there does not appear to exist a formal, general mathematical framework. To address this gap, this article presents a general multi‐market equilibrium framework, which could be adapted to an arbitrary level of complexity depending on the context and data availability. A general expression for total pollution (of a given type) is derived, which highlights different factors that determine the impact on emissions. It is then illustrated how microeconomic theory can help predict the direction of price and quantity changes for each commodity within the modeled system simply based on an activity's relationship to the ultimate activity or service, which motivates the CLCA. The steps involved in converting the multi‐market framework to general equilibrium are also discussed.     

The Practitioner and School Age Child Problems

The extraordinary plasticity of the growing child offers the general practitioner an unusual opportunity to intervene either in a preventative or therapeutic manner. Such intervention, properly the task of any informed physician dealing with families, can alter unhealthy growth to healthier development. The whole child is just as important as his medical illnesses; the whole family usually needs help when there is an emotional disturbance in any child.Common problems that lend themselves readily to physician intervention are behavior disorders accompanying a neurological deficit, conduct disorders, enuresis and school phobias. Knowing how to elicit information, to evaluate clinical data and to utilize the findings of a skilled psychologist, and when to refer to a psychiatrist, plus a thorough knowledge of community resources are part and parcel of a physician''s equipment for dealing with children and families.     

Relief of pain by infiltration of autonomic ganglia with steroids.

When parents are concerned about the development of stuttering in their child they often consult their pediatrician or family physician. Theories on the development of stuttering are briefly examined in this article, and guidelines are provided to help the physician determine if the child''s dysfluencies are within the normal range. Referral to a speech therapist should be considered when any of the following are noted: excessive repetition of the first syllable of words; tremor of the muscles of mouth or jaw, increase in pitch or loudness, or evidence of fear or emotion as the child struggles with a word; evidence that the child avoids certain words or situations; and excessive concern of parents, teachers or the dysfluent individual. Two approaches to therapy, traditional and behavioural, are described. The latter has resulted in significant gains in fluency among stutterers.     

"The Key to Human Psychology"

This article investigates the notebook kept by Lev Vygotsky during the first half of 1926. In addition to discussing the notebook's structure, content, and time frame, the article analyzes its significance within the context of the development of Vygotsky's ideas. Among the notebook's content discussed here are: supplementary material to The Psychology of Art; a preliminary outline for "The Historical Meaning of the Crisis in Psychology"; the first propositions of cultural-historical theory associated with the idea of sign mediation; an outline for the unwritten monograph "Zoon politikon"; as well as thoughts on a general psychological theory of consciousness that assigns a key role to speech and communication in the genesis of consciousness. Particular attention is paid to Vygotsky's remarks on the ontological status of mental reality and the problem of the psychophysical.     

The ‘successful’ return: Caribbean narratives of migration,family, and gender

Research on female migrant caregivers has tended to focus upon the emotional and social problems they encounter working abroad, given women's traditional role as caregivers for their own families. This article analyses how Caribbean women who have returned after a period abroad as domestic workers inscribe their migration experiences within the gendered narrative of the good relative who migrates to help the family left behind and therefore deserves social recognition in the community of origin. It argues that this narrative allows the women to both affirm and reinterpret local family and gender roles within the context of migration. This analysis points to the close connection between narrative structures, accounts of migration experiences, and self‐presentations and suggests that narratives about family and gender roles not only reflect people's lives, but are also a malleable resource that can be (re)shaped to validate a variety of life‐courses.     

Learning Courage: Child Labour as Moral Practice in Northeast Brazil

This article explores the moral dimensions of child labour as cultural practice in Northeast Brazil. It reveals a link between children's participation in labour and local constructions of childhood as a period of ontological uncertainty and impending transition. Through detailed ethnographic exegesis, the article reveals the symbolic dimensions surrounding children's engagement in productive endeavours, and shows how the local opposition between ‘work’ and ‘play’ arises out of an encompassing moral process. The article critiques the tendency within protectionist influenced anthropological literature to acknowledge the important contribution that children make towards material survival, while denying that contribution any deeper cultural significance.     

Strategies for Protecting and Restoring Rhode Island's Watersheds on Multiple Scales

The Clean Water Act has traditionally preserved the quality and quantity of a region's water by focusing resources on areas with known or anticipated problems. USEPA Region 1 is taking the supplemental, longer-range approach of protecting areas of New England where natural resources are still healthy. As part of Region 1 's “New England Resource Protection” approach, stakeholders participate in an open process that identifies healthy ecosystems and characterizes how well they support aquatic life and human health. Since the concerns of stakeholders are usually local, the process also displays areas of nonattainment within individual watersheds and determines their likely causes. One of the most powerful ways to display these types of information on multiple scales is to use a geographic information system (GIS). The case of phosphorus in southern Rhode Island's Tucker Pond illustrates how a GIS can help integrate concerns from the public, data from Clean Water Act monitoring, and information from the New England Resource Protection Project to identify types of environmental assessment questions on scales ranging from states to subwatersheds. By involving the public at all stages of the process and better informing them about their watersheds, this new approach makes them better stewards of their environment.     

Play and Intentionality Among Today's Preschoolers

A comparison is made of data on the level of development of play activity and its influence on the volitional behavior of today's preschoolers and the preschoolers of the 1940s–1950s. The results of the comparison point to a substantial decrease in the level of narrative role-playing among children today. The study reproduces the widely known experiment of Z.V. Manuilenko (1948). The comparison of data on preschoolers of the mid-twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first shows a significant decrease in the level of volitional behavior in both play and nonplay situations. The results suggest that primitive, underdeveloped play cannot define a zone of proximal development and fulfill the status of primary activity.     

Forms of exclusion in child custody law

This article examines how and to what degree child custody law curtails contact with children by parents who exhibit socially undesirable behavior. It briefly reviews the historical development of custody law, noting the ways in which changing social judgments have shaped legal doctrine. Current custody law is then examined from the same perspective, revealing that similar forces continue to affect the content, form, and consequences of child custody law. Finally, the article identifies increasing normative pressures, supported by recent findings from the behavioral sciences, that favor maintaining a child's contact with its natural family. The article concludes that the degree to which this development will effectively supplant more traditional efforts to ostracize some family members remains to be seen.     

Uneasy translations: vernacularizing demography for post-Soviet statecraft

The article explores a series of professional development seminars for state bureaucrats in the context of the moral panic over Russia's ‘demographic crisis’. It follows the vernacularization of social knowledge for state bureaucrats – a central practice that marks these pedagogical engagements. The article explores this practice's potentialities and limitations for effectively communicating social knowledge to administrative audiences. It grounds itself in the theoretical discussions of expertise and demonstrates how vernacularizing social knowledge for post-Soviet statecraft shapes the social and political meanings of Russia's demographic crisis, investing state policies and discourses with authority.     

German law on circumcision and its debate: How an ethical and legal issue turned political

The article aims to illuminate the recent debate in Germany about the legitimacy of circumcision for religious reasons. The aim is both to evaluate the new German law allowing religious circumcision, and to outline the resulting conflict between the surrounding ethical and legal issues. We first elucidate the diversity of legal and medical views on religious circumcision in Germany. Next we examine to what extent invasive and irreversible physical interventions on infant boys unable to given their consent should be carried out for non‐medical reasons. To this end, the potential benefits and harms of circumcision for non‐medical reasons are compared. We argue that circumcision does not provide any benefits for the ‘child as a child’ and poses only risks to boys. We then set out to clarify and analyse political (rather than ethical) justifications of the new circumcision law. We demonstrate through this analysis how the circumcision debate in Germany has been transformed from a legal and ethical problem into a political issue, due at least in part to Germany's unique historical context. Although such a particular political sensibility is entirely comprehensible, it raises particular problems when it comes to framing and responding to medical ethical issues – as in the case of religious circumcision.     

Like one of the family: race,ethnicity, and the paradox of US national identity

The tensions between individual rights promised to US citizens and group discrimination targeted against African Americans and similar racial/ethnic groups constitute one enduring paradox of US society. This essay examines this paradox by exploring how a gendered family rhetoric contributes to understandings of race and US national identity. Using African American women's experiences as a touchstone for analysis, the article suggests that African American women's treatment as second-class citizens reflects a belief that they are 'like one of the family', that is, legally part of the US nation-state, but simultaneously subordinated within it. To investigate these relationships, the article examines 1) how intersecting social hierarchies of race and ethnicity foster racialized understandings of US national identity; 2) how the gendered rhetoric of the American family ideal naturalizes and normalizes social hierarchies; and 3) how gendered family rhetoric fosters racialized constructions of US national identity as a large national family.     

Women's health. The childbearing years and after.

Health and development planners have tended to see women primarily in context of their reproductive role. As a result, solutions to women''s health needs have been restricted to expanding and improving maternal and child health systems. There has recently been a major shift in direction, largely because of the influence of the world conference on population and development held in Cairo in 1994. Dr Guiseppe Benagiano, director of the special programme of research, development and research training in human reproduction based at the WHO, says, "We need to remind ourselves constantly that reproductive health is not simply a biomedical issue but one with serious implications for our general health and by extension, for all our efforts in human social and economic development." The 1993 world development report on health identified the lack of a clear strategy for engaging women in health care and suggested that child health services, prenatal care, treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, and family planning services should be provided jointly at convenient times. In an example of this, the Chilean Institute of Reproductive Medicine now offers integrated family planning services at the same time as child health services, and Thailand is experimenting with mobile health clinics to reach women in their homes. As the proportion of elderly women increases, old age is increasingly being seen as a female issue. With the impact of urbanisation and industrialisation, more of these women are living isolated lives, often suffering from chronic debilitating diseases. In his opening statement to the global commission on women''s health in April 1995 which focused on health conditions of women in old age, Dr Hiroshi Nakajima, the WHO''s director general, said: "Our goal should not be solely to extend lives in the physical sense, but to ensure that the added years are worth living."     

The development of spatial behaviour and the hippocampal neural representation of space

The role of the hippocampal formation in spatial cognition is thought to be supported by distinct classes of neurons whose firing is tuned to an organism''s position and orientation in space. In this article, we review recent research focused on how and when this neural representation of space emerges during development: each class of spatially tuned neurons appears at a different age, and matures at a different rate, but all the main spatial responses tested so far are present by three weeks of age in the rat. We also summarize the development of spatial behaviour in the rat, describing how active exploration of space emerges during the third week of life, the first evidence of learning in formal tests of hippocampus-dependent spatial cognition is observed in the fourth week, whereas fully adult-like spatial cognitive abilities require another few weeks to be achieved. We argue that the development of spatially tuned neurons needs to be considered within the context of the development of spatial behaviour in order to achieve an integrated understanding of the emergence of hippocampal function and spatial cognition.