In Vygotsky's sociocultural theory, the development of higher-order functions is influenced by which factor?

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Social and cultural context shapes how higher-order thinking develops. Vygotsky explains that cognition is mediated by language and other cultural tools and that children learn these functions through interactions with more knowledgeable others within their culture. Through dialogue with parents, peers, and teachers and participation in culturally valued activities, they first coordinate thinking in social settings and gradually internalize those processes as their own inner thinking. Because of this, the broader culture—the people around the learner and the practices they share—drives the development of these higher-order functions. Genetic factors may set potential, but they don’t by themselves determine how these complex skills actually emerge; the school curriculum is part of culture, but it’s the social context as a whole that serves as the primary influence.