Luria

I have had a long-standing interest in the work of Alexander Luria.

In a paper with Rashad Bagus, we responded to an article on the translation of the Luria Neuropsychological Investigation into Zulu. The paper is largely of historical interest, but it gives some idea of exactly what Luria and Vygotsky thought (or at least 'what we thought Luria and Vygotsky thought') about the role of culture on mental life. It was also a very early example of my being able to critique some poor science.

Turnbull, O.H. & Bagus, R (1991) The translation of the Luria Neuropsychological Investigation into Zulu: Its relationship to the work of A.R. Luria and L.S. Vygotsky. South African Journal of Psychology, 21 (1): 61-63. (download)

For historical reasons I should also note the ('no one ever cites it') book chapter on Luria and neuropsychological rehabilitation

Turnbull, O.H. (1996). Neuropsychological Rehabilitation: Modern approaches, and their debt to Aleksandr Luria. In S. Della Sala, C. Marchetti & O.H. Turnbull (eds.). An Interdisciplinary Approach to the Rehabilitation of the Neurological Patient. A Cognitive Perspective. Pavia: PI-ME Press: pp.33-46.