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Piagetian Theory And Vygotsky's Theory Of Cognitive Development

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Developmental psychology relates to the changes in behaviour and abilities that transpire over time as development advances. (Harwood & Miller, 2008). Infancy and childhood is a time of rapid development of social, sensory and cognitive abilities. Infants acquire perceptual and motor skills which allow them to comprehend the world they live in. Cognitive development is “the growth of cognitive abilities and capacities from birth to old age” (Colman, 2008). In this essay I will address Piagetian Theory, the cognitive performance of children from age seven to eleven, (the concrete operational period), and Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of cognitive development. This essay will begin by analysing Piagetian Theory. Cognitive development cannot …show more content…

Jean Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who regarded cognitive development as a maturational process (Martin, Carlson & Buskist, 2010). Piaget constructed his conclusions through the observation of his own children and children at his Centre of Genetic Epistemology in Geneva. Piaget observed that children depend on an altered type of thinking when compared to the way in which adults think. A child’s thinking is qualitatively different than an adult’s thinking. Through his study, Piaget found that children of a similar age are inclined to behave in a similar manner and make similar mistakes when problem-solving. According to Piaget, as children develop they acquire cognitive structures known as schemata and concepts. Schemata are mental representations / rules to help children understand their world and solve problems. Concepts are rules that describe properties of environmental events and their relations to other concepts (Martin, Carlson & Buskist, 2007). Children obtain schemata and concepts by engaging with their surroundings. The …show more content…

Conversely, Vygotsky disputed that the culture in which a person lives also plays a substantial part in cognitive development. Vygotsky believed that a child’s cognitive development was stimulated by the interaction of the child and its social environment (Vygotsky, 1987). Vygotsky also believed that children’s use of speech also influenced their cognitive abilities (Martin, Carlson & Buskist, 2010). Vygotsky stated that language was the basis for cognitive development, including the ability to remember, solve problems, make decisions and formulate plans (Martin, Carlson & Buskist, 2010). Studies have shown that children who use speech when met with difficult tasks are more focussed and show better improvement in cognitive performance then those who are less talkative (Behrend et al., 1992). While Piaget argued for a purely maturational outlook on children’s cognitive development, Vygotsky assigned superior significance of sociocultural influences such as interactions with other people and language (Martin, Carlson & Buskist,

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What are some important features of young children’s education? Piaget’s theory and Vygotsky’s theory and their difference of opinions were interesting to compare. Piaget’s theory that children develop their thinking and understanding through their actions with the physical world compared to Vygotsky’s theory that children develop their thinking and understanding through their social experiences I think social experiences have a higher influencing factor on a child’s development. “Buds” and “Flowers” Vygotsky referred to these two items as how children develop by having interaction

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Even in childhood, we can see that a child in toddlerhood has different capacities of those in middle childhood. Cognitive development is one psychological form that allows us to study these differences. One approach in particular, Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, is particularly useful in studying the differences between stages in childhood (Wadsworth 5). Jean Piaget is considered one of the most important researchers regarding children’s intellectual understanding and his studies are still incorporated in research and books today. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development begins with infants and toddlers between ages 0-2.

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The two theories I chose to discuss are Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s concepts of cognitive development. Both theories do have some similarities with each other. Piaget and Vygotsky thought differently on how high-level mental functions begin, Vygotsky stated that they started externally and then they are internalized versus Piaget who thought of high-level mental functions beginning more internally (Newman & Newman, 2015). Although they thought differently on a few things, I did notice some similarities with their theories. Each theorist discussed about how infants are able to develop some control over their environment, language and problem solving.

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b) “What is Child Psychology, The Open University (2014)” shows us some of the key theories in child psychology. ‘Piaget (1929, p.29), suggests that’ “learning is biologically driven”. Piaget’s theory connects with my own interests of observing child development because his theory shows that children develop through distinct milestones and these milestones occur in set orders throughout childhood which contribute to the child’s physical and mental development. I am interested to learn about the stages that occur during childhood and the complications that can occur in child development if milestones are not met. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development connects with the nature versus nurture debate.

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Vygotsky’s theory is called the “Social Development Theory” this theory focuses on the cognitive and social development of children, where as Piaget’s “Theory of Cognitive Development” focuses on the child’s interaction with their own abilities and their environment. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development will be looked at

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Piaget’s fourth stage of cognitive development is the formal operations stage. This stage goes from adolescence to adulthood; approximately from eleven years of age onward. Through this stage, the “ability to develop hypotheses and deduce new concepts” (“Child Psychology,” n.d.) flourish. Many concepts and ideas are developed through this stage because this is the longest stage during the average person’s lifetime. A couple different concepts learned are idealism, flights of fantasy, advanced understanding of language/advanced language facility, and advanced pragmatism.

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Piaget’s theory focuses immensely on how a child processes the experiences around them. He was drawn to their thinking pattern, and essentially studied how the intellectual development in children takes place and how they evolve from children to adults. He discovered that during the course of development, children are as intelligent as adults, the only distinction being their thinking processes which is relatively different. James, at ten years of age, is categorized under the concrete operational stage of Piaget’s developmental theory which age range is 7 – 11 years old.

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There are two theorists associated with cognitive development; Piaget and Vygotsky. Piaget believes that things children learn and do are organized as schemes, groups of similar actions and thoughts are repeated in response to the environment. Vygotsky believes that thoughts and language are separate functions for infants and toddlers. This is important for me to know because when teaching my first graders using Piaget’s belief that children curiosity to adapt to their environment, will help me in setting up my classroom so as to provide the friendliest environmental atmosphere. Another useful belief of Piaget that I intend to use, is by exploring and manipulating physical objects, children gain a relationship with their physical environment.

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Cognitive development is a process which enhancing the ability of learning. The cognitive theories emphasize on conscious thoughts which highlight the mental aspects of development such as logic and memory. The primary factors of cognitive theories is the structure and development of the individual’s thought processes and the means of these processes can effort the person’s understanding of the world. Therefore, the cognitive theories study on how this understanding, and the expectations it creates, can affect the individual’s behavior. There are three types of cognitive development theories in human which are Piaget’s Cognitive development theory, Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Cognitive theory and Information-Processing theory.

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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).

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One of the most well known theories in cognitive development is Piaget 's theory. The psychologist Jean Piaget theorized that as children 's minds development, they pass through distinct stages marked by transitions in understanding followed by stability. Piaget describes four different stages of development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operation, and formal operations. Each stage describes the thinking patterns of a child depending on his or her age. In order to compare the thinking processes of a three-year old and a nine-year old using Piaget 's theory, you must compare two sequential stages of cognitive development: preoperational and concrete operations.

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Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development Cognition is a process where different aspects of the mind are working together that lead to knowledge. Piaget’s cognitive development theory is based on stages that children go through as they grow that lead them to actively learn new information. Cognitive change occurs with schemes that children and adults go through to make sense of what is happening around them. The change that occurs is activity based when the child is young and later in life correlates to mental thinking. Piaget’s stages of cognitive development start from birth to adulthood

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