Three Theories of Cognitive Development

Vygotsky may have overplayed importance on social influences because he suggests that child’s cognitive development occurs through social interactions, for example children do internalisation of problem solving via mutual interactions. However, if social learning is the essence of cognitive development then learning would be a lot faster than it is. Thus Vygotsky ignores the biological aspects that aid or restricts the cognitive development such as the development of brain and maturation. Therefore Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is different to

In a general sense the theory of cognitive development is not just a single theory but a number of theories offered by a number of cognitive psychologists over the past century. In summary though, cognitive development is the processes by which learning is developed by the construction of thought processes, memory, solving problems, decision-making and covers the life span from childhood to adulthood, but learning does not necessarily stop with adulthood. This construction process is clinically known as “Constructivism”. In constructivism it is not the world, or society that is developing a child but it is the child that is taking in information and constructing themselves with the information that the

The study of Cognitive theories has many different aspects that have been debated many years ago. Developmental psychologists try to explain cognitive development approaches which describe the process of human 's thought. One of the developmental psychologist who studied on the area of cognitive was Jean Piaget. Jean Piaget a Swiss psychologist was the first developmental researcher who has extensive research on cognitive development. In addition, the revolution of Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory has changed the development psychology forever. In fact, although this theory is one of the most influential theories that have had a major impact on child’s cognitive development, many developmental psychologist has been criticized it as well(Miller,2007). Therefore, the limitations of this theory made the developmental psychologists thinking of information processing theory might complete Piaget’s Theory(Miller,2007). Information processing theory is another theory that was engaged in the era of cognitive development. It is possible to better understand Piaget theory and Information Processing theory by comparing several important aspects of developmental psychology: nature of humans, quantitative or qualitative, and nature or nurture.

Cognitive development is the term used to describe the construction of thought process, including remembering, problem solving and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. In this essay I will compare and contrast the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky, both of which were enormously significant contributors to the cognitive development component to/in psychology. In addition to this I will also weigh up the strengths and weaknesses of each theory and outline how they can be applied to an educational setting.

Discuss the concept of ‘constructivism’ (from Piaget’s theory of cognitive development). Use a mix of theory and research to back up your ideas about whether or not the child constructs his/her own development.

Jean Piaget developed a systematic study of cognitive development. He conducted a theory that all children are born with a basic mental structure. He felt that their mental structure is genetically inherited and their learning evolved from subsequent learning and knowledge. Piaget’s theory is different from other theories and he was the first to study a child’s learning by using a systematic study of cognitive development. His theory was only concerning the learning of children, their development and not how they learn. He proposed stages of development marked more by qualitative differences than by a gradual increase in number and complexities of behavior or concepts. His goal for his theory was to explain the mechanisms a child uses from the infant stage to the growing child who develops into a thinking and reasoning individual when reasoning and using hypotheses. His theory was that cognitive development was how the brain reorganized mental processes over time due to biological maturation and the experiences they have in an environment. The three basic components to Piaget’s cognitive theory is schemas, adaption processes that allow the child to transition from one stage to another, and the four different stages of development: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational.

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

The patriarch of cognitive theory was Jean Piaget(1896-1980). Piaget was a biologist, who became interested in human thinking while working to evaluate the results of child intelligence tests.  As Piaget worked he noted the correlation between the child's age and the type of error they made. Intrigued by the discovery that certain errors occurred predictably at certain age, he began to focus his time and energy to the further investigation of his findings. Starting with his children and moving on to other students, Piaget developed what is known as the Cognitive theory, a behaviorism theory which emphasizes the structure and development of thought

Jean Piaget, a Swiss psychologist (Presnell, 1999), is famously known for his theory of cognitive development. His theories focused on the intellectual development of children throughout childhood. He discovered that children fundamentally think differently than adults think. He assumed that infants are born with “reflexes”. These reflexes help babies adapt to the environment (Huitt, 2003). There are four stages within Piaget’s theory which include the sensorimotor stage, the preoperational stage, the concrete operational stage, and the formal operation stage. In the first stage, the achievement is to form a mental representation of an object, and

The essay is going to introduce short overviews of Piaget (1926) and Vygotsky’s (1978) theories to indicate their different approaches when considering cognitive development. Piaget (1926) developed a constructivist theory which is the basis for the other cognitive development theories that followed. He proposed the definition of schema which refers to children’s construction of shaping their thought and actions through the set of cognitive processes as assimilation, disequilibriums and accommodation. When encountering new experiences, children try to interpret them in terms of known cognitive schemas. In case of failing, they need to adjust their interpretation to the reality (Schaffter & Kipp,8th ed). Based on his assumptions, Piaget (1926) proposed that child as a lone individual progress through four main stages of cognitive development. On the other hand, Vygotsky (1978) presented sociocultural theory. Vygotsky (1978) concentrated on the social interaction between child and adult considering

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

Justification of this critique was also provided by Vygotsky theory of development .Vygotsky (1929) believes that adults and child’s peers are involved in shaping cognitive development of the

Several years ago, an insightful and profound man, Jean Piaget, established a theory of cognitive growth during childhood. This theory was viewed as a major model for understanding the intricate steps of mental development from the thinking to understanding for a child. This theory also gave rise to the mentality that cognitive processes during childhood are not minuscule versions of adults but rather an irrational yet unique process with its own rules. Even though Piaget’s theory seems quite reasonable and logical, under the light of recent speculation his theory has been widely challenged. However, Piaget’s theory holds great impact in today’s psychology.

Piaget's theory is known as developmental stage theory. Children are merely less competent thinkers than adults and their cognitive development takes places in stages. Piaget believe that children's thought processes changes as they mature physically and interact with the world around them. There are three basic components to Piaget's cognitive theory. One of the basic units of cognition is the schema, is the building blocks of knowledge. He also believe the as a children learn, they expand and modify their schema through the process of assimilation and accommodation. The second component is that humans are biologically drive to advance in intellectual development by innating the need to maintain cognitive equilibrium. The last component is the four stages of development sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

In the world of psychology, Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky are considered to be very prominent figures in the area of cognitive development. Both of these men considered themselves a constructivist, which entails a viewpoint that is concerned with the nature of knowledge. In their lifetime, both of them made contributions in the area of education and even after death, their theories still influence teaching methods. The purpose of this paper is to show some similarities as well as differences in the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky and what can be gained by having a better understanding of their theories.