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Cultural-Historical Psychology
2026. Vol. 22, no. 1, 6–9
doi:10.17759/chp.2026220101
ISSN: 1816-5435 / 2224-8935 (online)

Speech in the debate on the report by K.S. Lashley (Moscow, 20 April 1931)

 
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Abstract

This is the first publication of the transcript of Lev Vygotsky’s speech during the debate on American psychophysiologist Karl Lashley’s report.2 After outlining the key innovations in Lashley’s theory concerning the localisation of psychological functions and the relationship between brain mechanisms and intelligence, Vygotsky proceeds to challenge the conventional view of the brain as a telephone switching station. An alternative to this view is the hypothesis of the “dynamic-structural nature” of the brain’s work. At the end, Vygotsky presented his long-standing idea of “psychological physiology” for the first time: the study of the brain should “proceed directly from data discovered in psychology”.

General Information

Keywords: psychoneurology, localisation, psychological physiology, brain and mind, human behaviour.

Journal rubric: Theory and Methodology

Article type: report

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2026220101

Received 05.12.2025

Revised 18.02.2026

Accepted

Published

For citation: Vygotsky, L.S. (2026). Speech in the debate on the report by K.S. Lashley (Moscow, 20 April 1931). Cultural-Historical Psychology, 22(1), 6–9. https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2026220101

© Vygotsky L.S., 2026

License: CC BY-NC 4.0

References

  1. Бергсон, А. (1999). Материя и память. Минск: Харвест. 1407 с. 
    Bergson, H. (1999). Matter and memory. Minsk: Harvest. 1407 p. (In Russ.)
    Original: Bergson, H. (1896). Matière et mémoire: Essai sur la relation du corps a l’esprit. Paris: Félix Alcan. 280 p.
  2. Лешли, К.С. (1930). Основные нервные механизмы поведения. Психология, III(3), 293–315. 
    Lashley, K.S. (1930). Basic nervous mechanisms in behavior. Psychology, III(3), 293–315. (In Russ.)
  3. Лешли, К.С. (1933). Мозг и интеллект. Пер. с англ. А.А. Нусенбаума под ред. Л.С. Выготского с предисл. И.Д. Сапира. М.; Л.: Соцэкгиз. 222 с. 
    Lashley, K.S. (1933). The brain and intelligence. Transl. by A.A. Nusenbaum, ed. by L.S. Vygotsky, with a Preface by I.D. Sapir. Moscow; Leningrad: Sotsegiz. 222 pp. (In Russ.)
  4. Lashley, K.S. (1929). Brain mechanisms and intelligence: A quantitative study of injuries to the brain. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 237 p. https://doi.org/10.1037/10017-000 
  5. Lashley, K.S. (1930). Basic neural mechanisms in behavior. Psychological Review, 37(1), 1–24. 

Information About the Authors

Lev S. Vygotsky, Founder of Cultural-Historical School in Psychology, Moscow, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

Ethics statement

The study was reviewed and approved by the Ethics Committee of Moscow State University of Psychology and Education (report no, 2025/01/10).

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