S u m m a r y

Puustinen M (1999)

Regulating help-seeking behavior in school age

Psykologia 34(1):30-37. Helsinki, ISSN 0355-1067.

 

The adaptive role of help-seeking behavior in learning was not studied until the 1980's. Nelson-Le Gall (1981) and Ames (1983) first argued that children's capacity to selectively ask for help in the classroom can be regarded as a learning strategy. Winnykamen (1992, 19993) later emphasized the interactive nature of the help-seeking process. Help-seeking can be seen, according to her, as a kind of tutoring, but also as a manifestation of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development. In this study, help-seeking behavior was analyzed in relation to cognitive self-regulation. Vygotsky's theory, which accentuates the role of interactions in development, was chosen as the teorethical framework.

 

Key words:

Children, help-seeking, problem-solving, cognitive self-regulation, Vygotskian perspective.

 

Minna Puustinen, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, FIN-40351 Jyväskylä, Finland.