Brief History Jean Piaget was a Twentieth century Swiss psychologist and was the first psychologist to systematically study the cognitive development of children. Thomas (2005) wrote that early in Piaget’s career he worked with children and his observations and interactions with the students led him to the theory that a young person's cognitive processes are inherently different from those of adults (pp. 188-9). According to Ahmad, et al. (2005), Piaget showed that when compared to adults, young children think in differently and he then came to the conclusion that cognitive development was an ongoing process which occurred due to maturation and interaction with the environment (p. 72). Lev Vygotsky was a Russian psychologist of the early Twentieth century. He was an intellectual contemporary of Piaget, however a meeting …show more content…
His greatest strength was his research which has allowed educators, psychologists, and parents to have a greater understanding of a child’s developmental level. According to Lourenco (2012), Piaget believed that children would find the most benefit by working and learning in an educational setting that was at their own level (p. 284). As a result of his research, Piaget encouraged a comprehensive educational system that focused on the understanding of children. Thomas (2005) describe some of the weaknesses of Piaget’s theory, which include the fact that he often underestimated the ability of a child’s intellect. Furthermore, most of his research subjects were from a middle-class background, so therefore he failed to take into consideration children from other backgrounds. Finally, his theory only focuses on children who follow normal development and he does not account for children experiencing adolescence or who are impaired (pp.