While working on a jig-saw puzzle, 5 years old Najma says to herself, "Where is the blue piece ? No, not this one, darker one that would go here and make this shoe".

This kind of talk is referred to by Vygotsky as

The correct option is private speech.

Lev Vygotsky, a prominent socio-cultural psychologist, emphasized the role of language in cognitive development. According to Vygotsky, young children talk to themselves while performing tasks to direct and self-regulate their own actions. This self-directed speech, which is audible to others but intended for oneself, is called private speech.

In the given scenario, 5-year-old Najma talks to herself ("Where is the blue piece? No, not this one, darker one...") to guide her own thinking and actions while completing the jig-saw puzzle. This is a classic example of private speech in childhood development.

Let's briefly examine why the other options are not the correct choices according to Vygotsky's theory:

• Talk aloud: While the child is speaking out loud, "talk aloud" is a general description rather than the specific psychological term used by Vygotsky.

• Scaffolding: This refers to the support given by a more knowledgeable other (like an adult or peer) during the learning process, not self-directed talk.

• Egocentric speech: This term was used by Jean Piaget (not Vygotsky) to describe children's self-talk, which Piaget believed reflected an inability to see things from another person's perspective.