Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist born in 1896 who developed the Social Interaction Theory. He believed that social interaction and language play fundamental roles in cognitive development. Children first develop skills and knowledge through social interaction, then internalize them. Vygotsky emphasized that learning leads development within the Zone of Proximal Development, which is the level of potential development through problem-solving guidance from others. Within the ZPD, "scaffolding" enables individuals to achieve more with assistance than alone, transferring intermental learning to intramental development.