56 OTHER THEORIES Vygotsky Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) was a Russian psychologist and teacher who theorised that a child s cognitive development is active, and is influenced and guided by social interactions, rather than being an independent process. In particular, two of his most popular tenets are: In play, the child is always above his average age, above his daily behaviour; play contains all developmental tendencies in a condensed form. Vygotskty Gardner defined intelligence as biopsychological potential to process information that can be activated in a cultural setting to solve problems or create products that are of value in a culture . the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO): a child can be guided in their learning by interacting with a person (parent, caregiver, teacher, mentor, or peer) who has a greater understanding of the task or concept that they are trying to complete or learn; the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD): the potential to be able to do a task or understand a concept which is slightly above a child s ability level thanks to an MKO. Gardner Howard Gardner (1943-) is an American psychologist who revolutionised the way we think about intelligence , proposing that it is not a single ability, but rather a collection of different types which may differ individually depending on genetics and experience. Spatial-visual: ability to perceive the world visually in an accurate way and create, understand, and manipulate visual information. Verbal-linguistic: ability to use language to express oneself at best. Logical-mathematical: ability to use logic, abstractions, reasoning, pattern: schema, modello to perceive: percepire tenet: principio, fondamento 118 BABIES AND CHILDREN and critical thinking to solve problems. Bodily-kinaesthetic: ability to unite mind and body to solve problems or perform skills. Musical: ability to perceive, create, and express musical patterns. Interpersonal: ability to understand and successfully interact with others. Intrapersonal: ability to understand oneself and identify one s goals to regulate one s life. Naturalist: ability to recognise and classify natural species. Bandura Albert Bandura (1925-2021) was a Canadian psychology who suggested the theory of social learning, according to which learning is the product of the interaction of environmental and cognitive elements and: it occurs through observation and imitation; it is influenced by one s own mental state and motivation; it does not necessarily lead to a change in behaviour. He identified four key stages in the learning process: Attention: necessity of focusing attention on the details of a specific behaviour we are observing; Retention: ability to remember what we observed; Reproduction: necessity of putting into practice in the real world the behaviour or skill observed; Motivation: necessity of believing that there is a benefit or reward associated with learning.