Vygotsky’s Meta-theory of Development: Formal Description

Vygotsky’s text “The Structure and Dynamics of Age” contains a description of his meta-theory of development. However, psychologists have not understood this text because of its traditional philosophical character. The author of the article proposes a constructive reading of Vygotsky’s original text supplemented by his own formal description. This perusal of Vygotsky is based on the formula Si + 1 = (Si + I) * fi + 1, where i is the serial number of current age period, Si is the structure of the i-th age period, Si + 1 is the structure of the (i + 1)-th age period and fi + 1 is the social situation of development for the (i + 1)-th age period.

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