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Scaffolding within the Structure of Dialogical Self: Hierarchical Dynamics of Semiotic Mediation
Abstract
Scaffolding is a notion that allows us to conceptualize direction towards change. As a form of guidance, scaffolding may result in both change and non-change. In this paper I apply the notion of scaffolding by signs (semiotic mediation) to the theory of Dialogical Self (DS). The DS is a construct that brings into psychology a new way of theoretical thought—thinking in dualities. Dualities are systemic units of two opposites that are mutually related by functional dynamic relations. Within the theory of DS, human psychological functioning is explained by transformations of constantly changed I-positions that are mapped both structurally (internal/external) and temporally (past/present/future). Semiotic mediation within the DS guarantees the person's psychological distancing from the here-and-now setting. This distancing is guided by promoter signs—generalized meanings of field-like form that orient the self's transformation. These signs are parts of the semiotic mediating processes where higher-level signs guide the range of openness of the sign hierarchy itself for further transformation when that is needed.
... Селф се може посматрати као "посредована акција убеђивањаˮ себе и других о томе ко смо и какве ставове заступамо, у реторичком моделу идентитета Пенуела и Верша (Penuel & Wersch, 1995a), као саморазумевање у форми интернализованих социјалних и културних артефаката, укључујући и доминантне дискурсе о групама (Holland & Lachnicotte, 2007) или као децентрализован и дијалошки селф, о чему ће бити више речи (Hermans, 2001(Hermans, , 2003Hermans et al., 2016). Димитријевић (Dimitrijević, 2019) указује да поменути приступи имају неколико заједничких својстава: а) селф или идентитет је концептуализован као виша ментална функција посредована артефактима 4 (у вези са одређењем виших менталних функција видети Vigotski, 1977) и резултат семиотичке медијације 5 (видети Valsiner, 2005); б) представа о "другимаˮ, било да је реч о појединцима или групама, активно je интернализована и у двосмерном је односу са представама о себи/ сопственој групи (видети Hermans, 2001Hermans, , 2003Hermans et al., 2016;Holland & Lachnicotte, 2007;Penuel & Wersch, 1995a); в) поменути приступи су конструктивистички и блиски социјално-психолошким разматрањима стереотипа и уверења о групама из перспективе теорије социјалне репрезентације и дискурзивног приступа (видети Marková, 2000;Moskovici, 1988;Potter, 1998;Potter & Edwards, 2001); г) култура је одређена у складу са савременим схватањима културе у антропологији (видети Starčević, 2018). ...
... Селф, другим речима, у процесу саморефлексије заузима позицију онога ко врши рефлексију и онога над чим се рефлексија врши. Дијалошки селф је просторно структурисан 6 , укључује тело и "другогˮ (Hermans, 2003), односно све оно што су наизглед супротности (Valsiner, 2005). Херманс се ослања на Бахтинов концепт вишегласја различитих позиција у селфу -мноштва међусобно независних, некада супротстављених, али у основи равноправних погледа на свет који ступају у дијалошке релације (Hermans, 2001(Hermans, , 2003. ...
... Валсинер указује на то да би општи принцип семиотичке медијације могао бити инкорпориран у оквире модела дијалошког селфа, као организујући принцип дијалога (Valsiner, 2005). Покушаћемо да наведемо неколико примера. ...
Ученици из маргинализованих културних група који у просеку имају
значајно нижа образовна постигнућа опажени су од стране наставника у различитим
контекстима као да „не вреднују” образовање или „имају отпорˮ према образовању. У
овом раду упоредо ћемо размотрити питања развоја идентитета и претпостављеног отпора према образовању из перспективе теорије о опозиционом идентитету и опозиционом
културном референтном оквиру, као и културнопсихолошке теорије дијалошког селфа.
Основни циљеви овог рада су да се: а) критички размотре претпоставке обе теорије са
становишта унутрашње логичке доследности и усклађености са доступним емпиријским
подацима; б) предложи делимична реконцептуализација представе о опозиционом идентитету и културном референтном оквиру кроз повезивање са претпоставкама теорије о
дијалошком селфу; в) концепти настали и разматрани у специфичном контексту размотре са становишта применљивости у случају ромских ученика у Србији. Резултати спроведених анализа указују на следеће: а) мало је вероватно да маргинализовани ученици
опажају успешност у академском домену као негативно својство само по себи и да то
чине униформно, трајно и независно од тренутног контекста; б) у основи појаве отпора према образовању може бити стереотипно сагледавање успешних ученика које није
културно специфично; в) отпор према образовању може одражавати деловање феномена
самоиспуњавајућег пророчанства; г) дијалошки селф је оптималан оквир у коме можемо разматрати дијалошке релације позиција, као и дијалошке релације између селфа и
„стварног” другог; д) дијалошки селф је виша ментална функција посредована артефактима, која се развија путем семиотичке медијације. Примери дијалошких релација међу
позицијама „унутар” селфа, као и између селфа и других особа изложени су у тексту.
... Märtsin (2019) asserts that identity construction entails a (cultural) embeddedness into processes of meaning making. Indeed, a field of (future-oriented) hyper-generalized signs (Valsiner, 2005(Valsiner, , 2020 is construed to be constantly reconstructed in relationships with social others in cultural worlds, allowing persons to 'make sense' of themselves in lived pasts, experienced presents, and imagined futures (Märtsin, 2019). ...
... Hyper-generalization (of signs) is posited to involve a future-oriented mechanism for organizing the unknowable future by signs that are being made in the present (Valsiner, 2005). ...
Relevant to the emerging field of semiotic cultural psychology theory (SCPT), the present paper considers ‘We’, ‘Us’, ‘I’ and ‘Me’ as semiotic and cultural psychology phenomena. Drawing on the semiotics of Saussure, Peirce, Jakobson, and Cousins, a semiotic dynamic ‘double-dyadic’ model of the signifier and the referent is proposed. For each ‘We’, ‘Us’, ‘I’ and ‘Me’, the COVID-19 global pandemic related cases are used to analyse and illustrate the signifier-referent model. Implications are drawn from the new model for the complex systems entailed in organizing self and culture. Finally, suggestions are made for testing the model.
... Topological models-utilized by Kurt Lewin in his pioneering work in topological psychology (Lewin 1936)-can be used in the representation of phenomena modeled as open systems. This would allow for the temporal and spatial 2 representation of these phenomena (Valsiner 2005). Thus, "it is a necessity for theory construction in psychology to accept formal abstractions of the kinds of hyper-generalized fields" (p. ...
... The concept of entropy has been used, for example, in the social sciences for descriptions about culture and its role in the socialization of individuals (Bauman 2012) and in computer science (Berumen et al. 2014). According Valsiner (2005) "It is a necessity for theory construction in psychology to accept formal abstractions of the kinds of hyper-generalized fields" (p. 204). ...
Branco and Valsiner’s methodological cycle (Psychology and Developing Societies, 9(1), 35–64, 1997) opens the possibility of the development of axiomatic understandings for the comprehension of the psychological phenomenon. With the goal of turning cultural psychology into a subdiscipline of general psychology, proposing basic axioms means constructing assumptions to be adopted by psychologists as a theoretical, epistemological, and methodological lens. The axiomatic understanding proposed in this article is that the psychological phenomenon is an open, historic, complex, and multi-determinate system. This allows for the creation of the axiom and the defense of its use, avoiding the automatic incorporation of the roles of culture and history in psychology.
... Especially interesting for me is his description of the signs at the highest level of the sign hierarchy, the hyper-generalised meta-signs that are hard to articulate but nevertheless, guide the human conduct in the world in a powerful manner. Valsiner has mostly used the ideas about hypergeneralisation in order to not only explain how values guide our functioning in the world (Valsiner, 2002(Valsiner, , 2005(Valsiner, , 2007a) but also to explain how self could be understood (Valsiner, 2017). I suggest viewing identity in this manner-as a fuzzy field of hyper-generalised meta-signs about who we are, have been and are becoming. ...
... The signs that are created in the past are used and altered in the present to respond to the new experience and, therefore, create a bridge from the past through the present into the future. Yet, they are created ahead of time, setting up a range of possible personal meaning potentials for the anticipated future and, in this way, they have a feed-forward function (Valsiner, 2005). Marsico and Tateo (2017) use the notion of tensegrity to explain how this feed-forward function creates a dynamic stability for the self-system. ...
How can identity be thought of as a process that is always changing and evolving, yet also provides a sense of sameness and continuity across time and space? This chapter is guided by this question, as it provides an overview of the key conceptual tools that informed the research presented in this book and were developed through the case studies. Building on contemporary semiotic cultural psychology, the chapter introduces the idea that identity construction can be understood as part of our ongoing meaning-making process and identity can be seen as a field of hyper-generalised meta-signs about who we are, have been and are becoming that emerges as a by-product of this process and becomes activated in moments of rupture.
... Real, remembered, anticipated, or imaginary significant others may function as promoters, and promoters may be located within the internal and/or external domain (Hermans & Hermans-Konopka, 2010). According to Valsiner (2004Valsiner ( , 2005, promoter positions can be recognized by a number of characteristics such as openness toward the future and a potential to produce specialized and qualitatively different positions in the future self. This openness allows for the capacity to integrate new and already existing positions. ...
... Continuity was served by their capacity to link the past, present, and the future of the self, and discontinuity to a certain degree resulted from the fact that they served as a source of new positions (cf. Hermans & Hermans-Konopka, 2010;Valsiner, 2004Valsiner, , 2005. In the case of Emma, although with a higher degree of dialogical tension, her military I-position was allowed room in her future self. ...
In this article, we explore the process of transitions from a military life to a civilian life. Making use of the concepts offered by Dialogical Self Theory, we explore how individuals negotiate the acquisition of new, civilian identities by integrating different, sometimes conflicting, cultural I-positions. Moreover, in this article, we explore how this narrative process is reflected through embodied processes of becoming civilian. We do so by presenting an in-depth analysis of two case studies: that of former Lieutenant Peter, who fully transitions to civilian life, and of Sergeant Emma, who opts for a hybrid outcome, combining a civilian job with working as an instructor in the military. We will argue that the narrative and embodied process of transition are intertwined in self-identity work, and that attention to the specifics of this entanglement can be useful for professionals who counsel military personnel who transition to civilian life.
... Em vez de definir cultura como uma dimensão estática, presente no mundo exterior ou interior do homem, Valsiner (2007) privilegia os processos intra e interpessoais na constituição da cultura, destacando o papel ativo da pessoa na apropriação dos signos e seus desdobramentos no self (Eu) (VALSINER, 2005). Na concepção de Branco e Valsiner (1997) o self compreende a totalidade subjetiva organizada na linha do tempo, apoiada em processos de significação que se estabelecem através da matriz de sugestões socioculturais. ...
... A pessoa está constantemente envolvida na construção de uma estrutura dinâmica de Posições de Eu (VALSINER, 2005). Cada posição de Eu cria uma voz que se relaciona com outras vozes (de outras Posições de Eu), em uma relação dinâmica de dialogicalidade (VALSINER, 2012). ...
Este artigo teórico visa discutir o construto Self Educacional, baseando-se na noção de Self Dialógico e nos pressupostos da Psicologia Cultural. As narrativas produzidas no cotidiano escolar são apontadas como relevantes para a investigação do Self dos adolescentes os quais são ainda pouco estudados em profundidade no que tange a sua escolarização. A constituição do Self Educacional se dá a partir dos desdobramentos subjetivos e narrativos provindos dos discursos de pais e professores, entre outros, sobre os assuntos acadêmicos da vida do adolescente, especialmente seu desempenho. A escola dispõe, assim, de um espaço de relações, no qual os diálogos produzidos pelos distintos atores (pais, professores e estudantes) participam na configuração do Self Educacional.
... Sensitive to contextual changes, the dialogical self is highly dynamic. Innovation takes place through interactions between different I-positions, with the configuration of the dialogical self a result of tensional relationships between the I-positions that constitute its functional subparts (Valsiner, 2005). Because identities are created through observation of the self in relation to the social world, the manner in which a person responds to the shifting multiplicity of I-positions provides a key to understanding how identities are constructed and maintained (Salgado & Cunha, 2021). ...
... Reconsidering the reality perspectives past, and future) (Zittoun & Cerchia, 2013;Valsiner, 2005;Tateo, 2016). Our thoughts are, in other words, running in a time-reduced context (at a higher speed than the rest of our body -pure energy moving in its meta-spheres while the physical, driven by bioelectricity, needs to move our shell) while the experience of space becomes much more intensive. ...
Social sciences are fundamentally intertwined with every single scientific perspective and act of cultivation, whether in daily tasks, self-expressions, arts, or sports. It occurs to be difficult for the social sciences to integrate their own connective nature into research procedures. Frequently, we can retrace central intentions to overcome this challenge in the redefined notions of cultural Psychology. Nevertheless, this rethinking can still be seen as very young and anchors the potential of being dynamically cultivated further. Therefore, the organic perspective is introduced as a new approach to elaborate and position us toward how we can observe and reflect phenomenology. It is a positioning that integrates the central notion that the experience of time and space in daily life can differ between individuals. Furthermore, it can even be experienced as a polysemic experience, where the exact moment is perceived in a fragmental diverged experiencing of time. The method contrasts the fundamental mechanics of traditional positions towards the space and time dimensions by beginning with movement as the crucial starting point of making experiences. The organic perspective allows our methodological construction to learn from every process we can experience daily. At the same time, it underlines the fundamental notion of how we perceive and what we perceive. It is a process bonded to the act of living and profits essentially from being connected thoughtfully with its unique context. This process also includes the researcher’s individual approach in the context of phenomenological discovery.
... Probablemente, el abordaje del desarrollo de Jaan Valsiner sea uno de los pocos que no refleja la "ceguera", según Toomela (2021), de la psicología dominante en un ejemplar intento por construir un modelo sistémico no reduc-cionista. Permite y en los hechos ensaya (Valsiner, 2008) la posibilidad de analizar las prácticas educativas desde la mirada de los procesos de canalización del desarrollo -es decir, dar cuenta de la dirección que toman sus cambios-, los procesos de emergencia de novedad según una causalidad no lineal, la necesidad de comprender la lógica de los procesos de catalización y el papel clave de los recursos semióticos (Valsiner, 2006(Valsiner, , 2014. ...
Intentaremos plantear tres problemas que juzgamos centrales. Por
una parte, la necesidad de examinar las implicancias de las viejas y
vigentes críticas al aplicacionismo/reduccionismo y a la filosofía de
la escisión en los trabajos psicoeducativos.
De la mano de esta cuestión, en segundo lugar, consideramos
oportuno, recuperar ciertas distinciones de importancia entre las
categorías de desarrollo y aprendizaje, sumadas a la complejidad
de las situaciones educativas, de cara a lo que se ha descripto en
ocasiones como un ascenso acrítico de la llamada “cultura o sociedad del aprendizaje”.
En tercer lugar, nos interesa dejar bocetadas algunas ideas sobre la “autonomía funcional relativa” de los procesos de desarrollo, revisando el lugar de las formas de hibridación, canalización y
co-construcción de novedad. Será un modo de retornar al inicio, a
una suerte de dificultad en el discernir cuestiones “básicas” y “aplicadas” en nuestro campo. Para ello, proponemos abrevar en una
perspectiva psicoeducativa crítica, es decir, atenta a su naturaleza
epocal, sus efectos sociales y políticos (cf. Fleer et al., 2020; Parker,
2009) así como a sus propios supuestos de base (Castorina, 2007,
2011; Teo, 2005; Toomela, 2014).
... Hjelmslev's semiotic method allows for testing the potential of semiotics in explaining linguistic facts. Semantic analysis, which digs deeper into the meaning contained in language, can be used to analyse narrative schemata, while physiological study of sounds can be used to characterise phonological features [45]. To ensure data accuracy, data triangulation must be conducted, whereby external sources are utilized to authenticate the validity. ...
The song “Saat Kau Telah Mengerti” (lit. “When You Have Understood”), recorded by Virgoun, was streamed over a million times on YouTube when it was released in January last year and has been circulated in various edited versions on various online platforms. The lyrics present messages of hopes and wishes from parents to their children, thus touching the hearts of its listeners. Through the song's music, lyrics, and video clips, the objective of this research is to interpret and explore the meaning of parents' communication with their children. This study focuses its research question on elements utilized in the lyrics, music, and video clips of the song. This research analysis uses a qualitative approach with an interpretative paradigm based on Louis Hjelmslev's semiotic method and the validity test, which will be achieved through triangulation. Through Hjelmslev's semiotic research on forms and substance of expression and content, this research found that a communication gap exists between parents and their children. The gap stems from the generational differences between fathers and daughters, which this song seeks to bridge by encouraging the child to empathize with the parents. The actions of parents who strive for their children's benefit can occasionally be misinterpreted by their children as something negative. Based on the results, the study recommends music as an effective tool for conveying messages to mitigate parent-child communication gap
... It also shows that individuals might have various separate desires, real and imaginary options for the future, like being a dancer and getting married, that do not necessarily are perceived as contradictory, even if they are concurrent in a particular context. Decisions concerning the future at each bifurcation point depend on the hierarchical power of particular semiotic signs (and the desire which they evoke) that defines which of them will be followed by an individual (Valsiner, 2002(Valsiner, , 2005b(Valsiner, , 2013(Valsiner, , 2021. Besides, external developments in the sociocultural context set catalytic conditions that sometimes do not leave freedom of choice as it happens during the war. ...
This manuscript examines the theoretical subtleties of ethnocultural positioning and its relation to the dialogical and structural dynamics of self-construction through dramatic historical transformations. It is based on a phenomenon-centred methodological approach to cultural psychological research which involves fictional text`s qualitative content analysis. I consider Nino Kharatishvili`s monumental historical novel “Brilka-eighth Life” as a sociocultural artefact which informs us about the history of self-construction of several generations of various families throughout the twentieth century. Different cultural-historical contexts lead to the formation of binary oppositional forms of ethnocultural positioning inside the same societal group. It has been shown that I-positioning is always relational, which takes forms of dialogical or monological conversation. Transformative structural dynamics create the basis for the self and sociocultural transformations and intra-individual and inter-individual variety.
... Apart from that, modeling semiosis as a function type allows variations to be represented as different subtypes. This approach serves the basic purpose of CPT because semiosis in this model readily maps to the various uses of 'mediation' in the social sciences [69][70][71][72]. However, the elaboration of subtypes of semiosis is left for future development. ...
Constructed Past Theory (CPT) is an abstract representation of how information about the past is produced and interpreted. It is grounded in the assertion that whatever we can write or say about anything in the past is the product of cognition. Understanding how information about the past is produced requires the identification and analysis of both the sources on which that information is based and the way in which the constructor approaches the task to select, analyze, and organize information to achieve the purpose for which the information was sought. CPT models this dual process, providing a basis for evaluation. It is descriptive, not prescriptive. CPT has been articulated using UML class diagrams with the objective of facilitating implementation in automated systems. This article reformulates CPT using type theory and extends its reach by applying and adapting concepts from semiotics. The results are more detailed models that facilitate differentiating what things meant to people in the past from how the constructor understands them. This article concludes with suggestions for applying CPG concepts in constructing information about the past and identifying areas where further research is needed.
... Taking into consideration that every organic lifeform is constantly, active or passive, in multiple dialogues with its environment and every behavior results in the influencing of the dialogue between environment and self (Bühler, 1990;Herman, 2001;Valsiner 2005). In other words, if it is impossible to cultivate privately the own self, how should such a concept as social cultures based on the collection of individuallycultivated-cultural fragments of individuals and assimilated through personal experiencing, be able to stay homogenous? 5 It simply is not possible. ...
Cultural Psychology (CP) is a relatively young perspective, growing in the field of
social sciences, nevertheless, its ideas are found throughout the fields and its ances-
tors’ -Naturwissenschaften and Philosophy- history. CP has several central notions
which are introduced in the following paper. Thru their introduction, the central
goal of the revelation of the essence of the idea of CP is proffered. The core idea
of CP is a general psychological concept that should be considered as a starting
point from where new ideas, innovations and challenging theories can emerge. In
other words, a new general psychological perspective we can use as a starting point.
... This means when you want to describe or reflect something of the past, you have to use the data you currently have in your current bookshelf-the present as process initialization point (Abbey & Valsiner, 2005). A process that clearly contaminates the Gestalt of the memory-experienced and memorized information-and leads to inner dialogue between memorized knowledge and in the now analyzed material (Valsiner, 2005;Diriwächter & Valsiner, 2005). In an exaggerated example, this could be visualized by an individual trying to write a new adaptation of a Jane Austen book based on the stylistic concepts of Alice in Wonderland (Lewis Caroll), or vice versa, leading to an in meaning identical book, whereby the outcome is certainly not possible to be defined as identical product Figure 4. ...
By introducing Taoism—the understanding of flow—and the meaning of cultivation as a basic human ability, an essential challenge in our current understanding of science can be discovered. Human interaction with nature is a meaningful process, which can reveal a better understanding of the inner cultivation processes and with it a multidimensional field of endless inputs triggering an ongoing process of growth. For this purpose, MyCu-cultivation (My cultural cultivation) is introduced as new terminology. A construct that allows to separately elaborate the social concepts of culture and the process of metaphysical reality perception—generated in our mind. At the same time, the layers of physical experienced reality and imagination are reintroduced in an alternative interrelation, leading to new insights in the layers of metaphysical understandings. Therefore, the central manifestation of meaning-making will be elaborated through the metaphorical use of bookshelves, allowing to perceive new insights in the raw information processing of individuals—underlining the human limitations, in processing the overwhelming meaning flow. This theoretical knowledge leads us further to a new possibility of understanding the constructive externalization of the imagination, highlighting the diversity of phenomenological insights in our everyday life, resulting in a complex theoretical repositioning between semiotics, cultural psychology, and Naturwissenschaften.
... 10. For the 'semiotic scaffolding' see (Hoffmeyer, 2015;Kull, 2014;Valsiner, 2005). ...
Borders are present in each form of human activity. Probably the most common representation of border is the separation, yet borders are implied in many operations enabling development, action, thinking, sense-making and relation-making. In this work, borders are considered as dynamic semiotic devices enabling many functions relevant for each living organism and psychic systems as well. Taking into account several border-focused models from psychoanalysis, psychology and semiotics, the author identifies and discusses eight operations carried out by borders: Distinction, Differentiation, Separation, Containment, Protection, Mediation, Transformation and Regulation. Each function is not mutually exclusive but it is recursive in time and works respect to intra/inter-subjective contextual conditions. The meta-model offers relevant developments for the study of psychological processes in dynamic, topological and systemic terms.
... Beyond psychology, the 'Aesthetics' of Felix Baumgartner was also oriented on understanding the interdependence of emotions and rational thinking (Gamsakhurdia, 2019a;Tateo, 2018a). Unfortunately, the integrative look on affective semiosis and humans indissoluble connection to the sociocultural environment was gradually (mainly) lost after the creation of Wundt's laboratory and the rise of American psychology until contemporary cultural psychologies reintroduced focus on sociocultural, dialogical and semiotic aspects of mental dynamics (see for various versions of cultural psychologies: Rosa & Valsiner, 2018;Tateo, 2018b;Valsiner, 2000Valsiner, , 2005Valsiner, , 2007Shweder, 1991). ...
Jaan Valsiner’s contribution to psychology is immense. It includes not only the fascinating theory of cultural psychology of semiotic dynamics, studies in human development, and imaginative explorations in the history of human sciences but also diverse organisational achievements all over the world, to mention just a few. In the search for innovative theoretical synthesis and moving against existing fashionable tendencies, he almost single-handedly ‘reanimated’ particular authors’ (JM Baldwin, Felix Krueger, etc.) ideas that were long-forgotten. Rebelling against various reductionistic mainstreams of psychology, he built the holistic theoretical framework that reflects the hierarchical organisation and developmental/irreversible nature of the human psyche, the liminality of higher mental experiences and its cultural/dialogical basis. I consider Jaan Valsiner as one of the founding fathers of new general psychology who pawed the way to construct transdisciplinary, culturally sensitive and global human sciences.
... 1. Semiotic mediation responds to the function of offering a plastic organization of signs that works as a scaffolding for personal identity, for goal-oriented action and for the relationship with other people (Valsiner, 2005(Valsiner, , 2014a. In biosemiotic terms, Hoffmeyer (2014) and Emmeche (2015) define semiotic scaffolding as the interlocking of a number of enabling processes of sign action unfolding at several levels of organization, focusing energy flow and agency of the system or subsystem upon a constrained repertoire of possibilities, thus guiding the system's behavior to follow a more definite sequence of events (Favareau, 2015). ...
The human psyche is relational, transient, and tensional. It instantiates itself by an ongoing constructive process of sensemaking in terms of dynamic configurations of person/world/others systems. Semiotic mediation (namely the sign interface in the course of the experience and the development) offers the conditions for the possibility of thinking, feeling, acting, and constructing systems of relationships. Valsiner elaborates three universal tenets of the human psyche: normativity, liminality, and resistance. In my opinion, they address three major concerns: (a) tension between “stability” and “change,” (b) relation between “immediacy” vs “mediateness of the experience,” (c) ambivalence between “substance” and “relationality.” Following I consider the notion of “modal articulation” as my contribution to develop in semiotic terms the dynamic core of human psyche. Modal articulation refers to processes of sensemaking of one’s experience mediated by the modal categories of necessity, possibility, will, and knowledge. The modal articulation allows a dynamic focus on sensemaking processes in terms of affective, identity, relational and agentive construction. Modal articulation works alongside the three main functions of connection (between affects and meaning), mediation (in terms of identity-intersubjectivity bonds), and vectorization (by directing the agentive trajectory).
... Voices (sign) signify real or imaginary actors (object), Ipositions (sign) signify the inner 'I' (object). Furthermore, each semiotic sign obtains a personal sense 1 (interpretant in Peircean terms) through the establishment of paradigmatic relations with other signs in each particular situation (Valsiner 2005). For example, imagine a person with a sword running after someone and shouting threats aggressively against him in the two different contexts: at the street during an evening in front of ordinary passers-by for whom such development would be probably shockingly unexpected and unpleasant or at the stage of the theatre where "aggressor" is dancing a war-related folk-dance and is dressed in the traditional clothing in front of the thrilled audience who are watching exactly what they were expecting for. ...
This paper explores proculturative semiotic dynamics underlying self-construction in emigration that reveals various forms of the self’s positioning through the processes of relating to the native and foreign socio-cultural environments. The self is conceptualised as the heterogeneous entirety of voices and self-related positions which are hierarchically organised. Hierarchical organisation implies the dominance of certain voices and I-positions at the expense of silencing others. Moreover, external societal voices promote hegemonic social representations which are represented as promoter I-positions/signs in the self-structures and have the power to regulate individuals’ mental activity. Therefore, it is argued that selves’ relations to the environment are not always symmetrically dialogical. The compelling power of hierarchically ordered external meaning systems that are conceptualised as “objective culture” is illustrated in the best manner when a person occurs in emigration where the native organisation of voices and I-positions is being semiotically ruptured due to the meeting with a foreign configuration of a hierarchy of external I-positions and gets “attacked” by alien promoter signs. External promoter voices and I-positions have the power to take the dominant position and establish asymmetric relations with other self-related elements. They can significantly influence intra-psychological negotiations by vocalising hegemonic social representations which exist in any community. The case study of a Georgian emigrant’s living in Germany vividly reveals the wave of self-transformations which she undergoes after the liberation from the pressure of native promoter signs and engagement with the German ones. Specific microgenetic experiences leading to the transformations at the ontogenetic level are highlighted. Symmetric and asymmetric forms of communication are conceived as particular instances of relating. This paper vividly reveals the significance of the exploration of the forms of dynamic relations between various components of the self and socio-cultural environment and entailing intra-psychic and external negotiations for better understanding of the nature of humans’ epigenetic development.
... В зарубежных системах образования, в том числе и в цифровой педагогике, имеется немало положительного. Представляют интерес перспективные исследования по когнитивной педагогике и проблеме скаффолдинга [1,2]. Вместе с тем, перенос всего комплекса практикуемых за рубежом образовательных систем в нашу социально-экономическую систему и культурную почву, с нашей точки зрения, не оправдано. ...
Обсуждаются концептуальные вопросы содержания образования в аспекте достижения основной цели образования - овладения школьником умением учиться самостоятельно. Предложено структуру содержания образования представить в виде модели «древа целей образования», которое даст ориентировку участникам образовательного процесса, а главное - учащемуся как субъекту учебной деятельности - при отборе учебного материала для реализации личностного образовательного проекта. Определено содержание методологического компонента знаний как важной составляющей общеучебных умений, рефлексивных способностей и теоретического мышления учащихся. Результаты работы могут быть использованы для совершенствования образовательных систем среднего общего и среднего профессионального образования.
The article discusses the conceptual issues of the content of education in the aspect of achieving the main goal of education - mastering the ability of a student to learn independently. Proposed structure of education content represented in the form of the model - «financing education», which will offer guidance to participants in the educational process, and most importantly, the student as a subject of educational activity selection of educational material for the implementation of personal educational project. The content of the methodological component of knowledge as an important component of General educational skills, reflexive abilities and theoretical thinking of students is determined. The results of the work can be used to improve the educational systems of secondary General and secondary vocational education.
... In short, every I-position is supposed to have an experiential field (Lichtenberg 2012) or what I would call it in the present paper: a sign-manifold 1 . What Hermans (1999Hermans ( , 2001 has shown in this dialogical context is that increasing novelty often happens within the process of self-opposition, self-contradiction which Valsiner elaborated in his reconstruction of the classic notion of Gegenstand (Valsiner 2014(Valsiner , 2019 where (I)positions and (I)-counterpositions are in a tensive relationship, struggling with each other trying to synthesize a new adjusted/actualized position that circumvents an initial conflict/tension (see Hermans 1999, p. 84;Valsiner 2002Valsiner , 2005. But how do these abstract theories apply to leadership? ...
The paper is a novel extension of the Dialogical Self Theory (DST) to organizational psychology. In organizations there are rich conflicts and ambiguous situations in which joint meaning making is indispensable for future trajectories of the follower, the leader and the organization itself. This negotiation process is influenced by power imbalances within the organization, mostly between leader and follower. In their multiple emerging fields and their interrelatedness these agents have to find a way of neutralizing the tension of highly ambiguous situations in order to account for the discovery of commonly adaptive, future trajectories. I introduce the concept of the Existential-Humanistic Leadership style (EHL) that through the emergence of existential I-positions and sign-manifolds neutralizes previous power imbalances. The Trajectory Equifinality Approach (TEA) of Tatsuya Sato is used for elaboration of the ongoing dialogical processes. The TEA-modelling shows that an existential-humanistic leader tries to unite opposite trajectories within one dynamically adaptive system through phenomenological/democratic attunement towards the follower and through the assessment of follower’s needs for development. These two conditions of EHL make it more likely that a leader externalizes existential I-positions which create local sign-worlds where leader and follower meet as human beings in absence of prior role asymmetry. Central concepts of existential psychology, DST and cultural semiosis are combined in a microgenetic and phenomenological research design. Based on the partnership model of Valsiner, Bibace, & LaPushin, a co-constructive interview guide has been created, in which a scenario-completion task is established and worked through with the participant. The Trajectory Equifinality Model of a football trainer is used for generalization of the generic structure of an existential-humanistic leader-system being a crucial condition for leading in and through curvilinearity.
... As a result a new I-position may evolve on a temporal level and thus support reorganization and innovation of the self as a whole by bringing a new empowering identity to a person. According to Valsiner (2004Valsiner ( , 2005, promoter positions can be recognized by a number of characteristics such as openness towards the future and a potential to produce specialized and qualitatively different positions in the future self. Through this openness they host the capacity to integrate new and already existing positions. ...
This longitudinal study has followed nineteen Swedish service members as they have transitioned from military to civilian life and grappled with their own questions of losing profound military identities, communities, meanings, and purposes in life, in addition to exploring alternate cultural identities. The empirical findings present alternate ways of reconsidering the uniform through new and/or preexisting identities. The findings also served as the foundation for the construction of a contextual theological theory on transition from military to civilian life which elaborates upon spiritual depths of life. Challenges in transition from military to civilian life include addressing and answering the existential and implicit religious dimensions in the process and likewise connecting spiritual depths of life to the evolution of the process.
... Channelling is difficult at the edges of an agent's ZPD, and also if the ZPA/ZPD complex is broad and unfocused. The ZPD can be crossed when agency is enacted, and can be managed by an individual without outside intervention (Valsiner, 2005). Thus Valsiner's theory is attractive as it provides an illuminating perspective on agency as developed by external environment, social participation and internalisation. ...
Young people’s use of technology has been extensively explored in the literature. However, there has been less work theorising their technology-enabled behaviours, integrating understandings of adolescence into explanations of technology use. The study reported here begins to address this gap. It explores the digital lives of 15 young women in the United Kingdom over one year, using the tools and conceptual categories of social cognition in novel ways. An adaptation of Valsiner’s Zones makes it possible to offer an account of technology use which avoids romanticism and pessimism, and enables us to: (i) recognise choice and agency; (ii) articulate technology-mediated development across disciplines and paradigms; and (iii) locate physiological development within the broader social, psychological and socio-technical realms. The paper concludes by applying the adapted framework to a single case, Megan, illuminating unresolved issues for future studies and theorising technology as shaping, rather than defining, adolescent perspectives, behaviours and relationships
... As a result, a new I-position may develop on a temporal level and thus support reorganization and innovation of the self as a whole by bringing a new empowering character to a person. Valsiner (2004Valsiner ( , 2005 suggested that promoter positions can be recognized by a number of characteristics, such as openness toward the future and a potential to produce specialized and qualitatively different positions in the future self. Through this openness, they host the capacity to integrate new and already existing positions. ...
The purpose of this article is to further advance the understanding of self-identity work amid transition from military to civilian life, with emphasis on the complexities between and within the military and civilian cultural I-positions of a dialogical self. An analysis of a longitudinal case study of an aborted transition leads to the hypothesis that a culturally dominant military I-position that sustains a cultural dichotomy may hinder dialogical advancement toward reintegration into civilian life. The insights from this article can be used to better understand self-identity issues amid transition and may also have relevance for nonmilitary persons who are exposed to cultural transitions.
... At first, the learner consciously regulates the acquired skill, whereas later, when the new skill would be initiated many times in a variety of internal and external conditions (repetition without repetition), internal mechanisms may elaborate their own system of regulation, the skill becomes automatized and self-scaffolding will not be needed any more. There is some literature on self-scaffolding (Bickhard, 2005;Holton & Clarke, 2006;Valsiner, 2005), which we argue needs further elaboration. In these publications, self-scaffolding is mostly considered as a metacognitive process when a child deliberately functions as an adult in relation to his own behavior. ...
Given the growing interest in the scaffolding process, it is worthwhile to address competing accounts about the origin of this term. The concept was empirically introduced by Wood, Bruner, and Ross in 1976 and has often been associated with the “zone of proximal development” in the writing of L.S. Vygotsky. We trace the origins of it in instances of the term being used by Nikolai Bernstein and Alexander Luria, as well as in Vygotsky’s notebooks. Our historical search helps to highlight the theoretical connection between this metaphor and the teaching/learning versus development opposition, and its relation to motor control development.
... (Valsiner, 2017, p. ix) Context -Cultural psychology, semiotics and Vico I will argue in this article that what makes Vico useful and accessible for psychological thought is today's cultural psychology's move towards an inherently semiotic approach. Eminent cultural psychologists have repeatedly demonstrated the need to integrate semiotic concepts into psychology (see Innis, 2016aInnis, , 2016bValsiner, 2005Valsiner, , 2016. Jaan Valsiner states that 'in the work of the human psyche the centrality of semiotic mediation is the starting point for our investigation' (Valsiner, 2016, p. 4) -in other words, the world of humans is semiotically mediated and this fact needs to be acknowledged before any further investigations into the human psyche can be made. ...
Giambattista Vico is a visionary author whose work has ties to most human and social sciences. How to transform these ties from mere implications to explicit applicable principles for a new methodology in psychology and other human sciences? As an answer this article analyses from the point of view of semiotics the ideas set forth by different authors in the book ‘Giambattista Vico and the new psychological science’. From the analysis emerges a set of methodological principles rooted in the ideas of Vico. Cultural psychology and semiotics provide the human sciences with a methodology that enables the researcher to recognise and preserve the otherness of its subject – and still have access to it. The key principles of this methodology are: awareness of the nature of human Umwelt (rootedness in bodily being and practical needs); the heterogeneity of sign systems and the limits of their translatability; historic, social and processual nature of human phenomena and last but not least: putting human rational thought in a context – of the human body, feeling and imagination.
... The study is based on perspectives of the semiotic regulation model and the theory of dialogical self (DS). Within the theory of dialogical self, human psychological functioning is explained through transformations of constantly-changing I-positions that are mapped both structurally (internal/external) and temporally (past/present/future) (Valsiner 2006). ...
The objective of this paper is to analyze how the maternal bond in first-time pregnant women emerges from bodily experiences in the pre-semiotic level and leads to the emergence of the semiotic field. The bond as a sign field is internally structured and enables the regulation of connections with other signs outside the field. As a result of the dialogue between biological and sociocultural imperatives, sociocultural meanings are turned into personal meanings and presented by women through behavior. This study is based on longitudinally-collected interview data consisting of six interviews with women from the time they were pregnant until their child turned one year old. During this period, three ruptures as turning points in the formation of the bond were identified. Based on idiographic analyses, it was concluded that body signals caused by the development of the fetus are coded by women into signs of various kinds, which define the status of mother and create the foundation for the mother-child relationship which continues throughout the lifespan.
It seems that music in early childhood is often taught without reflective process. To break an ‘I cannot sing’ cycle, I imagined change in my professional development approach with teachers. I sought an enabling vocal-play-based process to create awareness, guidance and motivation to develop change through understanding of reflective pedagogy, self-trust, self-beliefs, self-efficacy and metacognition. Vocal-play process is largely omitted in early childhood settings and pre-service teacher training, with focus on song or performance. This self-reflective action research case study developed as I, mentor-researcher, challenged myself to change my professional practice to introduce musical process to generalist educators. The ‘Contour Vocal Play’ Framework emerged.
In a boundary-crossing and globalizing world, the personal and social positions in self and identity become increasingly dense, heterogeneous and even conflicting. In this handbook scholars of different disciplines, nations and cultures (East and West) bring together their views and applications of dialogical self theory in such a way that deeper commonalities are brought to the surface. As a 'bridging theory', dialogical self theory reveals unexpected links between a broad variety of phenomena, such as self and identity problems in education and psychotherapy, multicultural identities, child-rearing practices, adult development, consumer behaviour, the use of the internet and the value of silence. Researchers and practitioners present different methods of investigation, both qualitative and quantitative, and also highlight applications of dialogical self theory.
In a boundary-crossing and globalizing world, the personal and social positions in self and identity become increasingly dense, heterogeneous and even conflicting. In this handbook scholars of different disciplines, nations and cultures (East and West) bring together their views and applications of dialogical self theory in such a way that deeper commonalities are brought to the surface. As a 'bridging theory', dialogical self theory reveals unexpected links between a broad variety of phenomena, such as self and identity problems in education and psychotherapy, multicultural identities, child-rearing practices, adult development, consumer behaviour, the use of the internet and the value of silence. Researchers and practitioners present different methods of investigation, both qualitative and quantitative, and also highlight applications of dialogical self theory.
Individuals psychologically process their experiences while involved in dialogue in daily situations. In psychotherapeutic sessions, we can appreciate the ongoing process of constructing meaning when focusing on a microgenetic level during the exchange of child and therapist. We examine an excerpt from a therapeutic process with a sexually abused child from a socio-genetic perspective, with a focus on the display of semiotic fields, meaning growth and balancing tension and as a mean to deal with the painful consequences. Self-regulatory mechanisms are displayed in dialogical chains, providing insight into processing strategies to cope with a traumatic experience. Ambivalence and tension are essential to elaborate new meanings as well as a therapist willing to accompany the child.
In a boundary-crossing and globalizing world, the personal and social positions in self and identity become increasingly dense, heterogeneous and even conflicting. In this handbook scholars of different disciplines, nations and cultures (East and West) bring together their views and applications of dialogical self theory in such a way that deeper commonalities are brought to the surface. As a 'bridging theory', dialogical self theory reveals unexpected links between a broad variety of phenomena, such as self and identity problems in education and psychotherapy, multicultural identities, child-rearing practices, adult development, consumer behaviour, the use of the internet and the value of silence. Researchers and practitioners present different methods of investigation, both qualitative and quantitative, and also highlight applications of dialogical self theory.
In a boundary-crossing and globalizing world, the personal and social positions in self and identity become increasingly dense, heterogeneous and even conflicting. In this handbook scholars of different disciplines, nations and cultures (East and West) bring together their views and applications of dialogical self theory in such a way that deeper commonalities are brought to the surface. As a 'bridging theory', dialogical self theory reveals unexpected links between a broad variety of phenomena, such as self and identity problems in education and psychotherapy, multicultural identities, child-rearing practices, adult development, consumer behaviour, the use of the internet and the value of silence. Researchers and practitioners present different methods of investigation, both qualitative and quantitative, and also highlight applications of dialogical self theory.
This study examined my experience as a doctoral student following the death of my son. The focus of this research is on the interaction of paternal grief and adult learning in the context of higher education. The central emphasis seeks to offer existential bearing to the interplay between the narrative identities of adult learner and paternal griever that is seldom considered in combination for adult learning scholarship. I employed the reflexive process of autoethnography through free writing and review of personal journals. I used the analytical lens of a dialogical narrator who held two opposing I-positions of the self, adult learner and grieving father. This methodological approach allowed the pursuit of adult learning to emerge into a position that promoted reorganization of my grief, bridging the divergence of loss and gain. This study placed focus on the dialogical I-positions of self as a vector for growth. The novelty of this research is the placement of andragogical considerations in adult learning following paternal grief. These considerations have capacity to endorse the paternal griever I-position to begin understanding grief transition through pursuit of knowledge. Characterizing the embodied transition is central to the bereavement process. Bringing the transition into dialogue with adult learning can provide educators with enhanced instructional precision when planning and conducting learning activities in a grief environment.
Humans live in a world of possibilities that is sustained by semiosis, that is, the dynamic construction of symbolic systems through which we coordinate action and imagine possibilities. In this chapter, I draw on the work of Valsiner to explore the ways in which culture, as a symbolic system, can either expand or restrict this process of guiding ourselves into the future. I examine two extreme cases: first, expansive semiosis is observed in Samuel Beckett’s short story Company; second, restrictive semiosis is observed in an intergroup context. Both cases illustrate the possibility for reversals between “I,” “you,” and “they”; but, while Beckett deliberately proliferates these reversals, in the intergroup context, multiple strategies are used to limit such reversals so that they only occur when there is strategic benefit. These dynamics, of dissolving and reifying the distinctions between self and other, can only be understood by considering the actual semiotic content of the stream of semiosis.
This chapter explores the relationship between creativity and culture by arguing not only that the creative process is intrinsically social and cultural but, most of all, that the emergence, diffusion and transformation of culture are, ultimately, creative processes. This sociocultural proposition is supported by the sociogenetic diffusion of cultural innovations, the ontogenetic emergence of creativity and culture in early episodes of pretend play, and the microgenetic negotiation of cultural elements taking the form of tinkering and experimentation. The chapter ends with a few reflections on the theoretical, methodological and practical implications of understanding culture as a creative process.
O livro reúne estudos realizados, durante 15 anos, por um grupo de pesquisa, em torno da mais universal e partilhada das realidades humanas: o nascer. A obra é dividida em quatro seções temáticas e cada uma possui capítulos-comentários feitos por pesquisadoras convidadas. Os comentários, além de romperem com a tendência endógena, representam a abertura para outras perspectivas e questões e contemplam uma função avaliativa. Assim, o livro interessa a leitoras e leitores que lidam com o nascer, a maternidade e a paternidade. Interessa a quem pesquisa, a quem atua na atenção à saúde e no cuidado de famílias e a quem pensa a questão da mulher, cuja voz fala mais alto ao longo dos estudos.
O livro reúne estudos realizados, durante 15 anos, por um grupo de pesquisa, em torno da mais universal e partilhada das realidades humanas: o nascer. A obra é dividida em quatro seções temáticas e cada uma possui capítulos-comentários feitos por pesquisadoras convidadas. Os comentários, além de romperem com a tendência endógena, representam a abertura para outras perspectivas e questões e contemplam uma função avaliativa. Assim, o livro interessa a leitoras e leitores que lidam com o nascer, a maternidade e a paternidade. Interessa a quem pesquisa, a quem atua na atenção à saúde e no cuidado de famílias e a quem pensa a questão da mulher, cuja voz fala mais alto ao longo dos estudos.
This book is the first to discuss in detail the different sides of Jaan Valsiner’s thought, including developmental science, semiotic mediation, cultural transmission, aesthetics, globalization of science, epistemology, methodology and the history of ideas. The book provides an overview, evaluation and extension of Valsiner’s key ideas for the construction of a dynamic cultural psychology, written by his former students and colleagues from around the world.
See: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030778910#aboutAuthors
Este trabalho se inscreve no âmbito da psicologia social da religião, adotando como quadro de referência a Teoria do Self Dialógico (TSD) que desde seu início, na década de 1990, vem esposando uma perspectiva cultural. Esta teoria aponta o caráter plural do self, assim como sua natureza multiposicionada e multivocalizada, e vem se desenvolvendo no sentido de consolidar uma compreensão da mutualidade constitutiva self-cultura. A pesquisa teve como objetivo geral explorar a identidade docente situada num contexto confessional, buscando uma aproximação à estrutura e organização do self dialógico. O método partiu de uma abordagem hermenêutica com recurso à utilização de narrativas que emergiram no contexto de um encontro para interação dialógica. O encontro foi norteado por um roteiro estruturado em três momentos visando a montagem do Repertório de Posições da Identidade Docente, a apresentação das posições e de suas mútuas relações, e a exteriorização de diálogos sobre ciência e religião. O campo empírico foi o Centro Universitário Adventista de São Paulo, campus Engenheiro Coelho, onde participaram vinte docentes de ambos os sexos. A análise envolveu a organização dos participantes em três grupos conforme tempo de docência, a categorização das posições dos repertórios e uma sequência procedimental analítica criada a partir de quatro binômios, monólogo-diálogo, assimetria-simetria, conflito-ambivalência, estabilidade-mudança, visando acessar e caracterizar as dinâmicas intrapessoais. Os resultados indicam que a identidade docente confessional se estrutura num conjunto de posições pessoais e sociais, especificamente familiares, acadêmicas, profissionais, religiosas e de fronteira entre ciência e religião, que funciona como um sistema de base, marcado por um padrão de positividade, pelo senso de integralidade/unidade e pela abertura à multiplicidade. Em sua organização, se destacou um modo de funcionamento narrativo que entrelaça tensão e cooperatividade, o qual se expressa por um conjunto de movimentos relativamente regulares. Esse conjunto viabiliza processos de produção de sentido, predominantemente marcados por relações de integração que combinam hierarquias e predominâncias relativas. O conjunto de movimentos foi orquestrado pela metaposição Eu como docente de uma instituição confessional, na medida em que diferentes posições pessoais e sociais se encontram e se articulam para dar sentido não somente ao seu conjunto identitário, mas também às relações entre ciência e religião. Esta complexa rede de interlocuções se deu num campo aberto entre pares dialógicos postos em interação, denominado espaço mediacional, o qual permitiu a emergência e interconexão de posições que, juntas, protagonizaram o entrelaçamento da tensão e da cooperatividade no sentido da integração identitária. De modo geral, aponta-se que a concomitância de tensão, na forma de assimetrias, ambivalências e hierarquizações, e de cooperatividade, na forma de coalisões e flexibilizações, se mostrou funcional na medida em que desencadeou uma dinâmica predominantemente integrativa, evidenciando a capacidade autorreguladora do self. Finalmente, indica-se a possibilidade de utilização da noção de sistema de tensegridade para ampliar a compreensão das dinâmicas do self na perspectiva da TSD.
Across history and among diverse civilizations, human beings have been interested in attaining a state of peace of mind and how to educate people in attaining so. However, the conceptualization of such phenomenon has not been accurately discussed within psychology and furthermore is a lack of awareness on the diversity between conceptualization and the experience of a state of “peace of mind”—this being one of the main aims of the present article. Though this transitory and dynamic state of mind has been related to affective processes such as acceptance, contentment, and surrender, more descriptive and explanatory accounts about the emergence and experience of peace of mind could expand our understanding meaning-making and affective processing in everyday life. Dimensions of semiotic mediation theory are beneficial in the exploration and understanding of the phenomenon of “peace of mind”, as well as this phenomenon greatly can illustrate dynamics of sign levels. In order to expand the theoretical understanding of what peace of mind entails, we make use of an innovative method: using literature as data that allows peace of mind to be investigated from a perspective of cultural psychology.
Our knowledge is trapped in the discourse about causality. This trap is set by the common language notions of something causing something else and its penetration into scientific domains. The crucial feature of the phenomena in the social sciences is the flexibility for intentional coordination of conditions of personal and collective cultures with social representations which is a feature absent at the lower levels of catalysis. This is made possible for the use of sign systems at various levels—personal, communal, societal, economic, and political. We can look at human phenomena as semiotically catalyzed. Social sciences introduce a new demand for philosophy of science—to account for the agency of purposeful actors and their co(unter)-actions in any generalized scheme of catalytic processes. This demand is an opportunity that may lead all social sciences toward understanding the dramatic realities of the human condition.
How can we study processes that are unique, varied and always in the process of changing? How does one make generalisations about psychological processes by examining the idiosyncratic life experiences of single individuals? These questions are discussed in this chapter that introduced the methodological approach used in the research presented in this book. It builds on Valsiner’s (From methodology to methods in human psychology, Springer, 2017) notion of the methodology cycle that is seen as a dynamic intertwinement between the theoretical assumptions of the researcher, the way the phenomenon is understood and the manner in which data collection methods are constructed. The chapter also gives a brief overview of the data analysis steps and the study participants.
“mestiza consciousness” o il “sé in negoziazione”, che mettono in discussione il rigido dualismo tipico dell’approccio psicosociale allo studio dell’identità. In particolare, le appartenenze multiple che caratterizzano l’esperienza femminile mostrano i processi di sense-making interessati in tale unità ibrida, ancorché non frammentata.
La complessità delle storie di vita impegna a decentralizzare i repertori interpretativi connessi all’ideologia femminista occidentale valorizzando gli aspetti “locali” delle soggettività, come la religiosità e l’etnia.
Il presente contributo mira ad esplorare le pratiche psico-discorsive attraverso le quali alcune donne islamiche in Italia esprimono i propri diritti ed esplicitano le loro appartenenze culturali e religiose, attraverso retoriche che appaiono ancorate in un diverso femminismo. I dati discorsivi sono stati ottenuti mediante focus group discussion, tecnica considerata come particolarmente adeguata per cogliere la co-costruzione discorsiva delle soggettività ibride. L’uso del T-Lab ai “testi dell’identità” delle donne musulmane evidenzia che le loro credenze sono configurate mediante una costante negoziazione di valori. Tale indicazione è supportata dall’analisi diatestuale incentrata sull’interpretazione di alcuni marcatori di argomentatività e sull’assetto retorico dell’interazione discorsiva.
Gli aspetti polifonici del sé emergenti dalle pratiche psico-discorsive suggeriscono di inquadrare le dinamiche delle soggettività femminile in complessi scenari ideologici.
The schooling experience is characterized by changes and challenges throughout the process, and parents are viewed as one of the most important actors in the educational development of children and adolescents. This study aims to understand the mechanisms involved in the dialogical construction of the educational self in the academic trajectories of adolescents, emphasizing the dialogical dynamics established in the child–parent relationships during this process and the positions (I-Positions) that emerge during self-configuration. This study is grounded in the formulations of the semiotically oriented Cultural Psychology of Development, particularly Valsiner’s concept of semiotic mediation; Hermans, Kempen, and van Loon’s concept of the dialogical self; and Iannaccone, Marsico, and Tateo’s concept of the educational self. A qualitative research approach with an idiographic nature that used the narrative interview technique was adopted. Out of three adolescents between 17 and 18 years of age, Elias was chosen to compose this study report derived from the first author’s master’s dissertation. The interviews were analyzed according to (1) the division of the school trajectory into periods marked by moments of rupture-transition; (2) the selection of periods in which situations of dialogical interaction with parents regarding academic life emerged; (3) the selection of excerpts from the participant’s narrative that discussed dialogical situations with parents and significant social others; and (4) the analysis of narrative excerpts based on the concepts of Cultural Psychology. In Elias’s narrative, the parents had a decreased, and sometimes muted, power to act in the dialogical space of the educational self. Nevertheless the I-student-empowered is established in front of the parents as dialogical characters Intervention projects should include the studentes' voices in their processes, considering they need to respond to others in their delicate task to construct who they are in schools e out of them.
This article explores the transition to first-time motherhood and focuses on the analysis of integration in the self-system of a new I-position – the maternal one. This dialogical interchange between dynamically related I-positions (I-as-pregnant and I-as-mother) is the arena where the personal affective core of the self and the sociocultural background of social role demands are intertwined. During pregnancy and childbirth, the I-as-pregnant position becomes transformed into the lasting I-as-mother I-position. This process is seen as an activity of the subject to organize general dialogical relations within the self under conditions of bodily transformations which result from fetal development.
Development of individuals, social groups and societies has been considered under the influence of two opposite and interrelated types of social interactions: (a) support of, and (b) counteraction and inhibition of learning, instruction, education and development. Reasons for the counteraction, and types of its interrelations with help in different areas of human activities have been described. Negative and positive effects both of help and counteraction have been analyzed. A conceptual system of various zones of development through different social interactions in education is presented. It is shown that complex of cognitive and motivational factors, related to the counteraction, can lead to both regression and progress in development with unpredictable results.
The fields of cross-cultural and cultural psychology both acknowledge the role of `culture' for the constitution of a meaningful practice. There are notable differences as well as remarkable commonalities between nomologically oriented cross-cultural psychology on the one hand and interpretive cultural psychology on the other. Contributions to this book discuss recent theoretical and methodological approaches from both fields in order to explore their joint potential for an advancement of the concept of culture, for the theoretical conceptualization and methodical completion of comparative cultural studies and the scientific understanding of cultural difference. This volume includes contributions by Ernest E. Boesch, Kenneth J. Gergen, Rom Harré, Gustav Jahoda and Jaan Valsiner.
A duality of sense categories and choice categories is introduced to map two distinct but co-operating ways in which we as humans are relating actively to the world. We are sensing similarities and differences in our world of objects and persons, but we are also as bodies moving around in this world encountering, selecting, and attaching to objects beyond our sensory interactions and in this way also relating to the individual objects' history. This duality is necessary if we shall understand man as relating to the historical depth of our natural and cultural world, and to understand our cognitions and affections. Our personal affections and attachments, as well as our shared cultural values are centered around objects and persons chosen as reference points and landmarks in our lives, uniting and separating, not to be understood only in terms of sensory selections. The ambition is to bridge the gap between psychology as part of Naturwissenschaft and of Geisteswissenschaft, and at the same time establish a common frame for understanding cognition and affection, and our practical and cultural life (Mammen and Mironenko 2015). The duality of sense and choice categories can be described formally using concepts from modern mathematics, primarily topology, surmounting the reductions rooted in the mechanistic concepts from Renaissance science and mathematics. The formal description is based on 11 short and simple axioms held in ordinary language and visualized with instructive figures. The axioms are bridging psychology and mathematics and not only enriching psychology but also opening for a new interpretation of parts of the foundation of mathematics and logic.
This brief note considers Peirce's strategy of terminating potentially evil infinities - concerning relations, continuous predicates, leading principles, habits - by appeal to the Nota Notae principle.
Methodology is not a "toolbox" of different methods from which the researcher selects some on the basis of personal or social preferences. If the Ganzheitspsychologie traditions of the last century have taught us anything, then it is the importance for scientific investigation to consider the developmental processes of the whole phenomena. We have taken a closer look at the fundamental ideology underlying qualitative and quantitative methodology in the context of development. For a thorough understanding, we must look critically at the meaning of "development," that is, the directional transformation of wholes. Through a historical overview of "lost" developmental perspectives, we discuss the possibility of a unification of qualitative and quantitative methods. We hope to make clear that methodology is an integrated structure of epistemological processes that can equally reveal and obscure the empirical reality in the knowledge construction process of social scientists. The coordination of the different perspectives depends on the interpretation of phenomena as well as the specific research questions.
URN: urn:nbn:de:0114-fqs060189
This article presents a new characterization of the concept and experience of intersubjectivity based on four matrices that we see as organizing and elucidating different dimensions of otherness. The four matrices are described through key references to their proponents in the fields of philosophy, psychology and psychoanalysis: (1) trans-subjective intersubjectivity (Scheler, Heidegger, Merleau-Ponty); (2) traumatic intersubjectivity (Levinas); (3) interpersonal intersubjectivity (Mead); and (4) intrapsychic intersubjectivity (Freud, Klein, Fairbairn, Winnicott). These intersubjective dimensions are understood as indicating dimensions of otherness that never occupy the field of human experience in a pure, exclusive form. The four matrices proposed need to be seen as simultaneous elements in the different processes of the constitution and development of subjectivity.
Abstract. The dialogical self works as a society with oppositions, conflicts, negotiations, cooperation and coalition between positions. As society becomes more heterogeneous, more relatively autonomous spatial domains emerge in the self. Like a society, the self is based on two principles: intersubjective exchange and social domination. The article briefly discusses the different contributions in the light of the developing theory.
Keywords: Dialogical self, multivoicedness, domination, conflict, cooperation
Contemporary sociocultural theories of the development of the self in society need to explain how the social becomes personal and how development can occur in each domain. George Herbert Mead' s concept of the `Generalized Other' gives an account of the social origin of self-consciousness while retaining the transforming function of the personal. Contextualized in Mead's theory of intersubjectivity, the Generalized Other is a special case of role-taking in which the individual responds to social gestures, and takes up and adjusts common attitudes. By role-taking people adjust and adapt in exchanges based on social gesture-response action sequences. Self-consciousness is developed through action in the social domain that is completed in personal reflection. The paper traces the development of the Generalized Other concept in Mead's published and unpublished work, locating it within the framework of intersubjectivity and role-taking. A theoretically and historically embedded interpretation of the Generalized Other reveals that both the personal and the social evolve and each is open to activities that bring about change. Grounded in Mead's refusal to reduce the part played by the social or the personal in the development of the self, the Generalized Other is a concept of continuing usefulness to development psychologists.
Psychology is focused on variation between cases (interindividual variation). Results thus obtained are considered to be generalizable to the understanding and explanation of variation within single cases (intraindividual variation). It is indicated, however, that the direct consequences of the classical ergodic theorems for psychology and psychometrics invalidate this conjectured generalizability: only under very strict conditions-which are hardly obtained in real psychological processes-can a generalization be made from a structure of interindividual variation to the analogous structure of intraindividual variation. Illustrations of the lack of this generalizability are given in the contexts of psychometrics, developmental psychology, and personality theory.
This book brings together a group of scholars from around the world who view psychology as the science of human ways of being. Being refers to the process of existing - through construction of the human world – here, rather than to an ontological state. This collection includes work that has the goal to establish the newly developed area of cultural psychology as the science of specifically human ways of existence. It comes as a next step after the “behaviorist turn” that has dominated psychology over most of the 20th century, and like its successor in the form of “cognitivism”, kept psychology away from addressing issues of specifically human ways of relating with their worlds. Such linking takes place through intentional human actions: through the creation of complex tools for living, entertainment, and work. Human beings construct tools to make other tools. Human beings invent religious systems, notions of economic rationality and legal systems; they enter into aesthetic enjoyment of various aspects of life in art, music, and literature; they have the capability of inventing national identities that can be summoned to legitimate one’s killing of one’s neighbors, or being killed oneself.
The contributions to this volume focus on the central goal of demonstrating that psychology as a science needs to start from the phenomena of higher psychological functions, and then look at how their lower counterparts are re-organized from above. That kind of investigation is inevitably interdisciplinary - it links psychology with anthropology, philosophy, sociology, history, and developmental biology. Various contributions to this volume are based on the work of Lev Vygotsky, George Herbert Mead, Henri Bergson, and on traditions of Ganzheitspsychologie and Gestalt psychology.
Psychology as the Science of Human Being is a valuable resource to psychologists, sociologists, philosophers, biologists, and anthropologists alike.
Twenty years is a long time in the lives of the authors of a treatise – but a minuscule period in the development of core concepts in a science. When we addressed the issue of the zone of proximal development (ZPD in the English version, but zona blizhaishego razvitia – ZBR – in the original Russian) two decades ago (Valsiner and van der Veer, 1993; van der Veer and Valsiner, 1991) we traced its up-and-coming role in developmental psychology and education. Our goal was to trace the origins of the idea in Lev Vygotsky’s thought in the early 1930s. We partially succeeded in the latter. At that time, it seemed that the notion of ZBR had great promise for developmental psychology and education. Now – two decades later – it still has such promise, which, however, has not been fulfilled. Why? Back in 1993 we detected a number of issues that the ZBR (ZPD) notion forced researchers to tackle: The concept of “zone of proximal development” poses a number of theoretical problems that need to be addressed quite separately from the ongoing social discourse that tries to fit a multitude of approaches under the somewhat mystical umbrella of that concept. First, it entails a reference to a “zone” – essentially a field-theoretical concept – in an era of psychology that has largely forgotten the gargantuan efforts by Kurt Lewin to adopt topology for purposes of psychological discourse. Secondly, the understanding of “development” has been highly varied in contemporary psychological discourse, ranging from loosely formulated ideas about “age-group differences” (or “age effects”) to narrowly definable structural transformation of organisms in irreversible time and within context…Finally – to complicate the matters even further – contemporary psychologists have to wrestle with the qualifier of “proximal” (or “potential,” or “nearest”), as it is the connecting link between the field-theoretic “zone” and the concept of “development” in this complex term. (Valsiner and van der Veer, 1993, p. 36, added emphases)
How do we understand and explain phenomena in psychology? What does the concept of “causality” mean when we discuss higher psychological functions and behavior? Is it possible to generate “laws” in a psychological and behavioral science―laws that go beyond statistical regularities, frequencies, and probabilities? An international group of authors compare and contrast the use of a causal model in psychology with a newer model―the catalytic model. The Catalyzing Mind: Beyond Models of Causality proposes an approach to the qualitative nature of psychological phenomena that focuses on the psychological significance and meaning of conditions, contexts, and situations as well as their sign-mediating processes. Contributors develop, apply, and criticize the notion of a catalyzing mind in hopes of achieving conceptual clarity and rigor. Disciplines such as philosophy, psychology, semiotics and biosemiotics are used for an interdisciplinary approach to the book. Research topics such as history and national identity, immigration, and transitions to adulthood are all brought into a dialogue with the concept of the catalyzing mind. With a variety of disciplines, theoretical concepts, and research topics this book is a collective effort at an approach to move beyond models of causality for explaining and understanding psychological phenomena.
Three innovations are necessary in psychology if it were to become person-oriented: (1) looking for the universal in the particulars, (2) accepting the irreversibility of developmental life events, and (3) conceptualizing transformation of complexity in terms of qualitative structures of dynamic hierarchical order. Psychology can only be a science if it resolves its ideological opposition to conceptualizing the work of general developmental principles in each and every particular instance of human experience. Wilhelm Windelband's introduction of the concepts of nomothetic and idiographic perspectives in science in the 1890s has been misinterpreted in psychology by treating these as if they were irreconcilable opposites, while the original intention was to show how generalizations can be possible precisely on the basis of single specimens. Each experience—given the irreversibility of time—is necessarily unique (with maximum frequency of occurrence 1). Considering similarity of the new with what had occurred before leads to looking at qualitative transformation of psychological phenomena—hence allowing a focus on development. Person-Oriented developmental psychology has the chance to study the emergence and disappearance of Gestalts of various levels of organization– as was suggested by Christian von Ehrenfels hundred years ago– through considering the temporal unification of the real (what has already emerged) and the imaginary (what might emerge–leading the possible emergence). This requires a radical change in the formal languages used in developmental science. An extension of the use of number system from real to complex numbers is suggested, with a focus on the dynamics of vector movements in the plane of the complex number.
William Stern developed his Critical Personalism as a philosophical foundation for a science of the person. Despite its age, it is a very modern approach to the task of formulating and grounding a methodology tailored to the reality of personal entities. This chapter provides a condensed treatment of certain of the core ideas within the critical personalist framework, followed by a discussion intended to position critical personalism within the larger intellectual landscape, highlighting its fundamental compatibility with humanistic thinking more generally, and with the investigative methods of phenomenology more specifically. Sterns psycho-physically neutral concept of a personal teleology offers solutions to philosophical problems encountered by similarly oriented approaches like Humanistic psychology, with which it shares a person-centred view of values and a holistic concept of human goal-directedness. The compatibility of critical personalism with a phenomenologically oriented psychology in the tradition of Edmund Husserl is shown and the key concept of empathy which was the research interest of a common student of Stern and Husserl, namely Edith Stein, is highlighted and likened to Stern's “understanding introception”. Their similar historical relation to a psychology of understanding in the tradition of Dilthey and the intrinsic connection of phenomenological and personalistic ideas in Stern as well as Husserl is shown. An example of a phenomenological investigation by Stern is given.
This chapter makes two foundational claims about psychological phenomena and uses these to articulate three conclusions. The claims are in short that psychological phenomena, at least in their developed human manifestations, should be seen as (1) doings that are (2) conversational. This approach is traced to Aristotle and reflected in Arendt’s work of the distinction between life as zoe (biological life) and bios (mental life). I argue that we need to conclude that, as a study of mental life, a causal vocabulary is inappropriate in psychology; the normativity of psychology is embedded in cultural practices; and finally that psychology is and ought to be a normative science.
The chapter uses the history of the concept of imagination as example of how psychology creates a normative model of mental processes that affects our understanding of development. Following the traditional hierarchy of psychological functions, with abstract rationality on top, we fail to understand psychological life as it develops in its manifold manifestations. In such a way, we have neglected the role of imagination as higher mental function despite large evidence. In the second part, the chapter presents a new way of understanding imagination. Imagination is neither bringing us in fictional world where we can find relief to the disquieting spectacle of the world, nor a sandbox in which we can play with alternative futures. It is one of the higher mental functions that makes the world how we experience it and how we are striving to experience it. The imaginative process plays a self-regulative function toward the ambivalent nature of experience and uncertainty of change during development, through semiotic elaboration of meaning in both linguistic and iconic form.
Hans Ulrich Obrist, curator of art at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris interviews the late Ilya Prigogine, Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Prigogine restates his belief in the centrality of the arrow of time in the explanation of physical reality, and explains why he came to work on nonequilibrium and bifurcations. He also explains the relation of his scientific views to the philosophy of Henri Bergson. He proceeds to discuss the universe as the creation of possibilities and shows the relation of this concept to art. He speaks of his own collection of pre-Columbian sculpture as an inspiration for his scientific work. He explains how he has sought to suppress the supposed contradiction between science and art. He then discusses the role of human groups in creativity and the limitations of Eurocentrism. He says of the future of science that it must become more conscious of social problems and base itself on the end of certainties. Asked what in his own life at 80 he did not complete, Prigogine says that he did not become a good pianist.
Throughout its history as a science, psychology has been plagued by a double standard in its treatment of the individual subject. In research; psychologists often distrust their observations of an individual subject and strive toward an aggregation of data across many subjects, expecting that idiosyncratic “errors” can be eliminated if a sufficiently large number of subjects is studied. Psychologists justify this expectation by relying on the basic ideas of the statistical world view, which has become the epistemological basis for the activities of most psychologists over the past century.
In this commentary we offer a critique of the task devised by Hermans (2001): the PPR (Personal Position Repertoire). We first emphasize the important contributions made by Hermans and collaborators toward improving our understanding of the dialogical self, and then analyze several problems raised by this new method of studying the self. The issues we address are: the meaning of the concept of prominence; the possible reification of the positions adopted in this task; and the problem of the power differential between clients and psychologists.
The distinction between norms and facts is long-standing in providing a challenge for psychology. Norms exist as directives, commands, rules, customs and ideals, playing a constitutive role in human action and thought. Norms lay down ‘what has to be’ (the necessary, possible or impossible) and ‘what has to be done’ (the obligatory, the permitted or the forbidden) and so go beyond the ‘is’ of causality. During two millennia, norms made an essential contribution to accounts of the mind, yet the twentieth century witnessed an abrupt change in the science of psychology where norms were typically either excluded altogether or reduced to causes. The central argument in this book is twofold. Firstly, the approach in twentieth-century psychology is flawed. Secondly, norms operating interdependently with causes can be investigated empirically and theoretically in cognition, culture and morality. Human development is a norm-laden process. © Cambridge University Press 2006 and Cambridge University Press, 2009.
Although the investigation of persons should be natural for psychological science by its inherent logic, this has not been the case in the history of the discipline, where selected other species - rats, dogs, pigeons, and chimpanzees - have been made to "stand in" for human beings. Consequently the knowledge of human psychological processes has been slow to advance, and recurrent calls for "bringing the person back" into psychology are needed. Moving beyond such calls, I dis- tinguish the Person-Oriented and Person-Centered perspectives that both have had times of appearance, disappearance, and re-appearance in the history of psychology. In the search for new forms of person-centered research, unpacking the processes that remain hidden behind the generic term relationship makes it possible to advance consistently qualitative perspectives on human life course. These processes operate at the border of the person and environment, and in the quest for understanding what happens at that border Person-Oriented and Person-Centered approaches of today are complementary.
The role of passion and more generally irrational elements in processing knowledge are discussed. This seems to be a paradox, as science by definition is beyond passion. At the same time science is the expression of a culture. This paradox is examined through the experience and work of crucial figures in physics such as Newton and Einstein. Science is a dialogue between man and nature: part of the search for the transcendental which is common to many cultural activities: art, music, literature. Our time is one of expectation, anxiety, and bifurcation. Far from there being an “end” of science, our period will see the birth of a new vision, a new science whose cornerstone encloses the arrow of time: a science that makes us and our creativity the expression of a fundamental trend in the universe.
The dialogical self entails relations between perspectival positions (I-positions) that maintain and develop within the self as a field. A typology of such relations is outlined, and related with the process of semiotic mediation. Semiotic mediation takes the form of flexible control systems that regulate the relations between I-positions. These autoregulatory processes generate both the meaningfulness of the flow of experience, and meta-level meanings that constrain the extent of construcion and loci of application of the direct semiotic regulators to the flow of experience. The dialogical self is an autocatalytic system that orients itself towards the future by either enabling or blocking the emergence of its own new states.
This contribution is written as a challenge to Schmitz, Filippone and Edelman’s (2003) analysis of the clinical diagnosis ADHD from the perspective of social representations theory. The focus of the present article is on the implications of a clinical diagnosis for the organization and reorganization of the self. As an illustrative example, a client is presented who seemed to be ‘enslaved’ to the diagnosis depression, incorporating it as a central element in the construction of his identity. Two observations were discussed: (a) a precious memory of the contact with a former teacher who served as ‘protected area’ in the client’s self; (b) an increasing opposition between ‘I as depressed’ as a dominant I position and ‘I as a fighter’, an emergent I position in the self. These observations led to the question whether social representations theory takes sufficiently into account the self as a dynamic multiplicity of relatively autonomous parts of a system that is capable of organizing and reorganizing itself.
The purpose of this article is to propose the Generative Life Cycle Model (GLCM) in two versions. The ecological version of the GLCM focuses on the cyclical images of successive generations beyond an individual’s life and death within ecological contexts. The spiral version of the GLCM is represented by the repeated spirals with variants, and is characterized by the multiple time concepts and the generative processes of life and death. The linear time concept, represented as a horizontal arrow, reflects an individual’s life characterized by a single stream of time from birth to death. Certainly, each individual is unique and can never be reproduced. Nevertheless, people can image and narrate stories in which their lives are regarded as being reproducible. These life stories based on repetition, reproduction, recovery and renewal have significant meanings for generative connections from past generations to future generations, and for the imaginations of continuities of multiple human lives within different historical eras
The investigation of selfhood and the various ramifications thereof have acquired a special ‘position’ in recent writings. Hermans’ theory of the dialogical self has provided the discipline with a useful model to work with. Yet again, as psychologists from a ‘non-Western’ community, we find ourselves having to adjust in the process of ‘acculturating’ with the theoretical proposals and corresponding methods. The idea of a dialogically created and socially sustained dynamic self, which supposedly transcends cultures, is more comforting to the Asian mindset. However, there are several assumptions that need to be addressed. This commentary enunciates some of the implications of the theory from the standpoint of a distant culture.
Miltenburg and Singer outline a direction of analysis of therapy processes that go beyond the realm of therapy and touch upon basic processes of human cultural development. Human beings regulate their conduct by creating hierarchically organized and often personified semiotic means to regulate their ongoing relationships with the environment. These means allow for changing, maintaining, and aggravating current psychological states. The structure of these control mechanisms entails multiple levels that regulate one another, aside from organizing thinking, feeling, and action. I will argue that personal contruction of goal orientations becomes a necessary super-organizer of such complex system of personal-cultural means, such that examination of phenomena of volition returns to the stage of the theater of psychological research as a centrally relevant topic.
In speaking of play and its role in the preschooler's development, we are concerned with two fundamental questions: first, how play itself arises in development — its origin and genesis; second, the role of this developmental activity, which we call play, as a form of development in the child of preschool age. Is play the leading form of activity for a child of this age, or is it simply the predominant form?