Piaget Vs Vygotsky Compare And Contrast

Piaget vs. Vygotsky

Piaget and Vygotsky both provided the psychology world great insight into the cognitive development of children. Although there are some major differences between Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories there are some similarities. Together their theories, research, and methods have greatly influenced education. Their work has given educators and students more knowledge about the cognitive ability they have inside and outside the classroom. Piaget and Vygotsky have helped identify major factors that will continue to improve learning for children. Piaget introduced the clinical method and the four stages of cognitive development. The four stages are, sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operations, and formal operations. The

The first was the sensorimotor stage which begins at birth and is focused on the idea that infant’s behavior is part of their reflexes. They interpret their world through their senses and body movement. The preoperational stage begins around age two and focuses on the beginning of early thought processing. This involves language skills, early logical thinking skills and egocentrism. Egocentrism is the inability to perceive any other view but your own. The concrete operations stage begins at about age six or seven and focuses on the capability of viewing others perspectives, thinking concretely, logically, and possibly abstractly. The formal operations stage begins at about age eleven or twelve and focuses on the capability of thinking completely abstractly. This being that they are able to think about things that have little or no basis in physical

The main differences were, the actual focus of each theory, the importance of language, and the role educators should play in cognitive development of their students. Piaget’s focused on how children construct knowledge on their own. Whereas Vygotsky focused on how children understand situations and learn from the interactions with adults and peers. Piaget also felt interactions with others may cause disequilibrium which can be beneficial but is not the foundation or a necessity for cognitive development like Vygotsky believed. Although Vygotsky and Piaget had different beliefs there are some themes that their theories share. The themes are, constructive processes, readiness, challenge, and the importance of social interaction. Many psychologists agree that both these theories are important in the cognitive development of