ABSTRACT
One of the most interesting views of the growth of conceptual thinking has been put forward by the Russian psychologist Vigotsky. In a series of ingenious experiments he investigated the formation of concepts using a method which dealt successfully with the problem that concept formation and language are closely correlated. [21] Instead of using words that already carry with them elements of thought and possibly even fully developed concepts, Vigotsky used words which had no symbolic significance at all at the outset, but which gradually acquired such significance in the course of the investigations. He presented two sets of stimuli to the subject of the experiment, one set as the objects of his activity, the other as signs which can serve to organize that activity. The translators of Vigotsky's book give this description of the use of his apparatus.
The material used consists of 22 wooden blocks varying in color, shape, height, and size. There are 5 different colors, 6 different shapes, 2 heights (the tall blocks and the flat blocks), and 2 sizes of the horizontal surface (large and small). On the underside of each figure, which is not seen by the subject, is written one of the four nonsense words: LAG, BIK, MUR, CEV. Regardless of color or shape, LAG is written on all tall large figures, BIK on all flat large figures, MUR on the tall small ones, and CEV on the flat small ones. At the beginning of the experiment all blocks, well mixed as to color, size, and shape, are scattered on a table in front of the subject…. The examiner turns up one of the blocks (the sample), shows and reads its name to the subject, and asks him to pick out all the blocks which he thinks might belong to the same kind. After the subject has done so … the examiner turns up one of the wrongly selected blocks, shows that this is a block of a different kind, and encourages the subject to continue trying. After each new attempt another of the wrongly placed blocks is turned up. As the number of the turned blocks increases, the subject by degrees obtains a basis for discovering to which characteristics of the blocks the nonsense words refer. As soon as he makes this discovery the … words … come to stand for definite kinds of objects (e.g. LAG for large tall blocks, BIK for large flat ones), and new concepts for which the language provides no names are thus built up. The subject is then able to complete the task of separating the four kinds of blocks indicated by the nonsense words. Thus the use of concepts has a definite functional value for the performance required by this test. Whether the subject actually uses conceptual thinking in trying to solve the problem … can be inferred from the nature of the groups he builds and from his procedure in building them. Nearly every step in his reasoning is reflected in his manipulations of the blocks. The first attack on the problem; the handling of the samples; the response to correction; the finding of the solution – all the stages of the experiment provide data that can serve as indicators of the subject's level of thinking. The blocks used by Vigotsky in his investigagation of concept formation. Note that the blocks are also in five different colours, but that the colour is not a criterion in the required conceptual response. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9780203807392/36cd3b84-a292-4170-9bb3-346546b69862/content/fig7_1_B.tif" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
