Defining the process of learning as an apprenticeship--a social activity that is mediated by parents and peers who support and challenge the child's understanding and skills--Rogoff here explores the mental development of children. She draws from and expands on the work of Vygotsky in her examination of the dynamic relationship between thinking processes and the cultural context and gathers evidence from various areas--cognitive and developmental psychology, cultural psychology, anthropology, infancy studies, and communications research. By integrating available evidence and her own research, Rogoff provides a coherent and broadly based account of cognitive development in the sociocultural context.Written in a provocative and engaging style and supplemented by photographs and original drawings by the author, this book will be used by students as well as researchers in developmental, cognitive, and social psychology, and those in the related disciplines of communication, anthropology, and education.

PART I: The individual and the sociocultural context: Conceiving the relationship of the social world and the individual; The sociocultural context of cognitive activity; PART II: Processes of guided participation: Providing bridges from known to new; Structuring situations and transferring responsibility; Cultural universals and variations in guided participation; PART III: Cognitive development through interaction with adults and peers: Explanations for cognitive development through social interaction: Vygotsky and Piaget; Evidence of learning from guided participation with adults; Peer interaction and cognitive development; Shared thinking and guided participation.