Effective Communications: Compare And Contrast Using APA Style

Effective Communications: Compare and Contrast Using APA Style Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky theories influenced developmental psychology. The purpose of this paper is to summarize Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories, find the similarities in the theories, find the differences in the theories, and gain a better understanding of these theories.

A Brief Summary of the Theories of Piaget and Vygotsky Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories have similarities and differences, but before discussing them, the summaries of the two theories are discussed.

Piaget’s Theory Piaget’s theory states that people learn by themselves. Individuals learn material and compute the material on their own (Lourenco, 2012).

Vygotsky’s Theory Vygotsky’s theory states that

Developmental Perspective

Both theorists believe that developmental perspective is essential for understanding the psychological process. Piaget believed that developmental perspective played a role in mental operations, and Vygotsky believed that developmental perspective played a role in symbolic operations (Lourenco, 2012).

Dialectical Approach

Both theorists also believe in the dialectical approach that psychological development involves an interaction among interdependent process. It is seen in Piaget’s “assimilation/accommodation” (Lourenco, 2012, p. 283) theory and in Vygotsky’s “internalization/externalization” (Lourenco, 2012, p. 283) theory.

Non-Reductionist View of Human Intelligence and Consciousness

Vygotsky’s view is that two activities can have the same outcome, but the source is different, which is similar to Piaget’s idea of a child’s answer and how did it form (Lourenco, 2012).

Non-Dualistic

Piaget believed that the individual had to know something to act on it, and Vygotsky believed that the action was first (Lourenco, 2012).

Primacy of Processes over External Contents Piaget and Vygotsky had interest in the process of development and not the external outcomes. Piaget’s interest was the psychological process behind an answer, and Vygotsky’s interest was the psychological process behind an activity (Lourenco, 2012).

Qualitative Changes

Piaget and Vygotsky valued qualitative over quantitative thinking. Piaget’s thinking was “the emergence of formal operations after the appearance of concrete operations” (Lourenco, 2012, p. 284). Vygotsky’s thinking was “the appearance of mediated memory after the emergence of natural memory” (Lourenco, 2012, p. 284).

Differences Between the Theories of Piaget and Vygotsky The differences in the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky are where knowledge is created and motor development, how relationships influence learning, the method of analyzing the learning process, interest in necessary knowledge, and the role of construction vs. instruction in the developmental and learning processes (Lourenco, 2012).

Where Knowledge is Created and Motor