Open AccessThe Concepts of “Tool”, “Psychological Tool”, “Sign” and Their Relationship
Author(s) -
Valentyna Pavlenko
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
kulʹturno-istoričeskaâ psihologiâ
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.261
H-Index - 3
eISSN - 2224-8935
pISSN - 1816-5435
DOI - 10.17759/chp.2020160112
Subject(s) - sign (mathematics) , function (biology) , interpretation (philosophy) , epistemology , transition (genetics) , psychology , key (lock) , cognitive psychology , computer science , mathematics , philosophy , mathematical analysis , biochemistry , chemistry , computer security , evolutionary biology , gene , biology , programming language
The article focuses on a number of key concepts for cultural-historical psychology — ‘tool’, ‘psychological tool’, ‘sign’ — and their relationship, both in the past and modern researches. It analyses different approaches to the interpretation of the concept of ‘tool’ and proposes an alternative version of its understanding. Notably, L.S. Vygotsky moved away from the concept of ‘psychological too’ to the concept of ‘sign’, and this transition is discussed in terms of Vygotsky’s understanding of the latter. The paper presents a comparative analysis of tools and signs in their plain, historically original forms. It is suggested that the main difference between tools and signs is that the function of tools is to replace the individual as a participant of collective activity in its various specific operations, while the function of signs is to replace the individual in just one aspect — in the regulation of social interaction in joint activities. Such understanding is consistent with the idea of the social nature of signs as well as with the idea of the possibility of forming self-regulation on this basis.