The Theory Of Cognitive Development

Since Vygotsky’s theory on development has gained more popularity and acknowledgement there has been numerous ways, many have adopted Vygotsky’s theory and incorporated its fundamentals into different aspects of development. According to Jaramillo from Arizona State University, Vygotsky’s theory became the framework to the development of the constructivist theory (1996). Although these are relatively different theories, Vygotsky advocated a learning environment that focuses mainly on the interactions between peers and teachers. And similar to this, the constructivist’s view on education focuses on students independently constructing their own view of the world (Jaramillo 1996). Vygotsky’s influence was not simply on the how people understood development but also how others evolved and developed their own theories. Thus, theories of development continue to evolve and a better understanding of how development occurs in an individual is acquired.

The approach is based on the idea that an individual’s activities occurs in a cultural context and can be best understood in their historical development (Kagitcibasi, 2012). Vygotsky developed this theory with the intent of coming up with a way to explain human behavior. The theory examined various subjects including the psychology of art, thought and language; and also focused on education of students with special needs. Vygotsky believed that caregivers, parents, peers, and culture at large play an important role in developing an individual’s higher order functions. There are various modern time interpretations of this theory with one focused on explaining human development. In this context, the sociocultural theory explains that learning is a social process and the society makes a significant contribution to individual development. The theory states that learning is based on interactions with other people and once this has happened, the information is then incorporated on a personal level (Hutchison,

The cognitive developmental theory comes from the work and research done by Jean Piaget which we believe is an empiricist approach which goes hand and hand with Piaget’s constructive approach. Empiricism is a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience. The constructive approach is viewed as children discovering all knowledge about the world through their own learning and knowledge. According to Piaget, children pass through these stages at different times in their lives and cannot skip a stage which causes them to be seen as invariant.

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive development and lev Vygotsky's sociocultural theory delve into the utmost specificity of a child's cognitive development. Each theorist developed knowledgeable understanding as to how children learn cognitively. Piaget observed how children would solve problems and believed cognitive development was influenced by social transmission.

Learning, according to De Houwer, Barnes-Holmes, & Moors (2013), “has been defined functionally as changes in behavior that result from experience or mechanistically as changes in the organism that result from experience”. Throughout the years, a number of psychologists have come up with different theories to try and explain how young children develop and learn. Lev Vygotsky, a Russian theorist and psychologist that was born in 1896, constructed his own child development and learning theory that has strongly influenced the world of education (Nordlof, 2014; Dahms, Geonnotti, Passalacqua, Schilk, Wetzel, & Zulkoqsky, n.d.). His theory is created from concepts of both behaviorist and constructivist. Vygotsky’s theory suggests that learning and development occurs through social function as well as intentional teaching (DeVries, 2000; Nordlof, 2014; Slavin, 2015).

Vygotsky’s main Theory is the Social Development Theory. He was known for his Sociocultural Theory. With this theory, he talks about how children’s behaviors, as well as their thoughts, can differ because of cultures and how they are raised. The children’s interactions change according to their cultures and teachings.His theory suggests that the children’s development is according to their cultures and how they are raised, the children have their own view of their world depending on their way they are taught and the tools that they are given as they grow up. Vygotsky talks about imitative learning, instructed learning, and collaborative learning. Imitative learning is where the child learns from watching

In Study Guide (2017:4), it is stated that there are three perspectives that play a role in the development and learning processes:

Developmental psychology focuses mainly on development during childhood because it is the period when most change is occurring biologically, socially, emotionally, and cognitively. Amongst these areas of developmental psychology, I will focus on cognitive development in children between the ages of 1 and 4. In adulthood, cognitive performance is correlated with the amount of sleep. Sleep allows for consolidation of memory and neural mechanisms (Bernier,2013). Therefore, an increase in sleep duration and quality should improve cognitive performance in children. Amongst college students, various links have been demonstrated to indicate that the amount of sleep reflects academic performance. Neural imagines reveal that grey and white matter in the frontal lobes increase steadily between the ages of 2 and 4 (Bernier, 2013). In references to this one can hypothesize that if in adulthood sleep is linked with higher executive functioning than during infancy and pre-k age when our brain is the most plastic sleep should be an important role in development. Cognitive development in infancy and pre-k undergoes rapid and dynamic structural and functional changes (Bernier, 2013). Sleep helps integrate neural networks and consolidate complex processes in cognition facilitating childhood cognitive development. In the link between sleep and cognition, critical importance must be emphasized in the role of sleep during child development. A higher duration and quality of sleep results in

Jean Piaget was born on August9, 1896, in the French speaking part of Switzerland. At

His sociocultural theory suggests, “that social interaction leads to continuous step-by-step changes in children's thought and behavior that can vary greatly from culture to culture. (Gallagher, 1999)” Each child’s development depends on the interactions they have with people and what the culture provides them with to form their view of the world. The children will figure out their ways of thinking and behaving by interacting with older, more knowledgeable people. Vygotsky believes that, “social interaction will lead to ongoing changes in a child’s thought and behavior. (Gallagher,

In the world of cognitive development , two of the most influential psychologists are Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and Vygotsky's sociocultural theory had a profound impact on the field of cognitive development, and their contributions continue to influence psychologist, educators and researchers today. Both Vygotsky and Piaget's theories provide a different perspective on how children learn, and by looking at both theories, we can better understand a child's cognitive development.

My first award is my Kindergarten certificate. My emotional development was impacted the most because I learned so much my first year of school it’s just a jumble of feelings. I learned how to make friends. I also learned how to draw, read, and write. Kindergarten taught me so much and I had so much fun, I wish I never had to leave.

There are many different things that shape the cognitive development of children. To begin with cognitive development is when a child develops how to process, solve problems, and start making decisions. Once they have learned this they take everything they have learned into their adolescence. An example, of what can shape the cognitive development of a child can be an educational game. Educational games can be very useful in shaping a child’s development because they are having fun while learning at the same time and what kid doesn’t like to play games, the fact that it is even educational makes it even better for them. Not only are they having fun but there are many different games that help in different categories of development in

A pioneer of the sociocultural approach was psychologist Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). L. Vygotsky believed that children’s learning and development is strongly influenced by child’s culture and how children develop and learn can be different from culture to culture. He proposed that children, in order to learn, need to be supported by other people. For example, teachers and peers, who already gained particular knowledge.

Vygotsky’s sociocultural theory of development suggested that to develop cognitively, children must have social interaction. He also “believed that this lifelong process of development was dependent of social interaction and that social learning actually leads to cognitive development” (Riddle, 1999). Vygotsky believed that children 's social learning must come before social development. Vygotsky also believed that "human activities take place in cultural settings and cannot be understood apart from these settings" (Woolfolk, 2004). Therefore, our culture helps shape our cognition.