100 Years of the Development of Cultural-Historical Psychology: Milestones and Directions

Abstract

The article gives a brief overview of the emergence and development of the cultural-historical theory of higher psychological functions over the century after it was created. Lev Vygotsky began the development of his theory with the study of the instrumental function of “cultural signs” (primarily words) and therefore he gave it the name “instrumental psychology”. The formation of human personality was understood by Vygotsky as the “ingrowing” of social relations into the individual mind and the conscious “mastery of the self”, its psychological functions and affects, by means of signs and basing on concepts. The authors of the article point out the main milestones in the development of cultural-historical psychology, briefly characterise its key concepts, methods and the most important tendencies of its development, up to its most recent trends in Russia, which have already emerged in the 20th century.