Relation of Thinking and Speech in the Works of L.S. Vygotsky and A.R. Luria in the Case of Sensory Aphasia

Background. The problem of the relationship between thinking and speech is fundamental for psychological science: it underlies the understanding of formation and functioning of human consciousness, marked by its speech form. The study of aphasia is one of the promising areas of research into the relationship between these functions, which also has important practical significance in the field of neuropsychological rehabilitation. Objective. The aim of the study was to compare the views of two researchers working within cultural-historical psychology on the subject of the relationship of thinking and speech, using the example of sensory aphasia. Methods. The principles underlying the supposed mechanism of aphasia were compared to the principles of the relationship between thinking and speech, as revealed in general psychology. From the side of aphasic disorders, the main emphasis was placed on the analysis of the works of A.R. Luria and the disciples of his school, while a more general analysis of the connection between thinking and speech is based on the classical works of L.S. Vygotsky and his student R.E. Levina. The history of the development of the view on the problem of thinking and speech in the works of representatives of structuralism, functionalism, gestalt theory, and other schools was also briefly considered. Results. As a result, a discrepancy in understanding the relationship between these two mental functions was revealed: according to L.S. Vygotsky’s view, thinking and speech are in unity and mediate each other, therefore different forms of aphasia are different variants of the impairment of this unity. While, based on the analysis of A.R. Luria’s works, it can be concluded that aphasia is a primary impairment of speech with or without slight secondary thinking disorder. Conclusion. The difference in the approaches of the two scientists to the problem of relationship between thinking and speech revealed in the work allows us to move on to the further application of L.S. Vygotsky’s ideas about the inextricable unity of speech thinking in the study of aphasia. Variants of aphasic disorder can be understood as various forms of disturbance of mental-speech unity, and not as a primary speech disorder.