Question 1: Egocentric speech
Both Piaget and Vygotsky have different approaches towards defining what egocentric speech is. According to Piaget, children are not born social or with the ability to relate well with others. When they are born, children entirely focus on themselves; their thoughts and desires. It is because of self-centered purposes that children talk to themselves. Children are not fully-developed, hence the do not have the thoughts of talking to others. The fact that they cannot communicate with their peers means they can only talk to themselves. This approach differs from the Vygotsky's (Goswami, 2008).
Vygotsky’s approach is based on the notion that egocentric speech is internalized and when nurtured, it becomes a verbal thought. This means that children/babies already have speech when they are born, but they cannot communicate with others. After being nurtured, they are able to bring out this speech in terms of communication. As such, it is right to argue that at birth, children have speech which they cannot express to other people.
Question 2
I belong to a church group which advocates for the rights of the youth. In most cases, the youth are misunderstood in the society. Taking into account that the youth form the future generations, it is important that they are given adequate platform to air their grievances. This is what the group is all about. In practice, we are a common-bond group because we are attracted to one another. We share similar beliefs and faith; hence we have many things in common. Unlike common-identity groups, we are united by the fact that we understand the delicate nature of the youth. Without this, every member would not be considered as being part of the group. It is also our belief that one should live morally in the society without going against the set morals. Our group has feeling rules which guide us in determining the reaction we have towards certain emotions and social norms. In social relations, we all try to take a similar approach. Whereas we are all different, sharing a problem strengthens our membership in the group. This has been our major uniting factor.
Normally, the group has collectivist group norms. Although the group is made of individuals, we appreciate the importance of working together as one. This is very consistent to the definition that Vygotsky gives about collectivist group norms ((Baron et al. 2007). As such, we set rules which guide us in a collectivist manner. In several occasions, we have been subjected to group polarization. When this is the case, we end up making extreme decisions. This is the case when it comes to spending. Most members of the group do not like overspending; hence the group adopted that policy o the extreme.
References
Baron, R., & Byrne, D. (2007). Mastering social psychology. Princeton, N.J.: Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic.
Goswami, U. (2008). Cognitive development: The learning brain. Hove, East Sussex: Psychology Press.
