...The two most influential and important theorists when examining and studying cognitive development would most certainly be Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. The definition of cognitive development can be explained as the ability to think, reason and remember; it is a vital part and plays an important role in the development of children into adults. Piaget believed that children were responsible for their own learning through explicit instructional and discovery learning; whereas Vygotsky’s theory concentrated on children learning through their Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and scaffolding. Vygotsky’s definition of the ZPD was the distance between the knowledge a child could gain on their own compared to what the child was able to learn with guidance (Duchesne, McNaugh, Bochrer and Krause, 2013). Although they take different approaches, both theorists agree that social interaction played a role in children’s development. This essay will link these theories and principles to the teaching strategies used in classrooms and in particular the practices used in the provided scenario of Ann’s Year 5 Science class. Piaget’s constructivist method adopted the idea that children build their own knowledge individually through the initial instruction from the teacher followed by the exploration of their own environment. This method is a balanced teaching practice that can be used in classrooms as it allows learners to be responsible for their own knowledge development (Lourenco, 2012)....
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...EDUC105: Major Essay- Due 29/4 Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky were two of the main instigators of the development of cognitive theories. These cognitive theories demonstrate the way in which we develop from infancy to adulthood and the mental processes in which each individual goes through (Slavin, 2009, p. 31). This essay will outline how the educational principles of Piaget and Vygotsky are utilized in Ann’s Classroom. Further, it will demonstrate that such principles are the basis for successful teaching. The essay will mainly focus on Piaget’s theory of disequilibrium, accommodation and assimilation, and Vygotsky’s theory of the Zone of Proximal Development and scaffolding. Paiget’s cognitive theory was that learning occurred through the interaction between the student and the environment. He advocated for discovery learning with little teacher intervention where children are impacted by their own personal experiences (Piaget, 1971). Piaget’s theory was a stage theory, where he believed that between particular age groups, certain skills and development would occur. In relation to Ann’s year five class, the children would be in the concrete-operations stage. During the concrete-operations stage, the child begins to develop a capacity for logical thinking charactized by mental actions that are reversible and therefore allow the child to arrive at a logical conclusion (Tuckman & Monetti, 2011, p.58). This stage is more advanced than the pre-operations stage, however...
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...1. From the perspectives of Piaget, Vygotsky, and today’s researches, how does a child’s mind develop? How does punishment differ from negative reinforcement and how does punishment affect behavior? Ans: knowledge that rational development reflects Piaget’s core to continuous struggle to make sense of our experiences. Brains build schemas concepts or metal molds of the abundant flow of experiences. He believed that children construct their understanding of the world while interacting with it. In Paget’s view cognitive development consists of 4 staged. Sensorimotor stage: birth-2years old using senses and actions, during which infants know the world, mostly in terms of their sensory impressions and motor activity. Preoperational stage: (from about 2 to about 6 or 7 years of age) words and images, using intuition rather than concrete logic. Concrete operational stage: give (physical) material, they begin to grasp conservation, during which children gain the mental operations that enable them to think. Piaget believed that children comprehend mathematical transformations, conservation and logically about concrete events. Formal operational stage: (normally beginning about age...
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...Main Ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky Valerie Smith Cognitive Development: Comparing the Main Ideas of Piaget and Vygotsky The benefits of understanding cognitive development are many and varied, and yet there is still much that we do not know. Understanding the main theories that already exist can help in furthering our knowledge, and will spark new ideas for furthering the study of cognitive development. In this paper, I will compare the sociocultural view of Lev Vygotsky with Jean Piaget’s cognitive developmental view. Before discussing how these theorists differ, it is helpful to understand the main points of their theories. Sigelman & Rider (2011) state that Vygotsky believed that the cognitive growth of a child occurs strictly in a sociocultural context and would change and grow based on the child’s social interactions. He believed that cultural and social experiences affected not only what we think, but how we think. Piaget, on the other hand, would have said that children are actively creating their own knowledge through both their experiences and “inborn intellectual functions, which he called the organization and adaptation.” (Sigelman & Rider, 2011) One of the main questions of any discussion on development would revolve around whether or not development is universally experienced in the same way by all persons, or if development is context-specific (in other words, does our environment affect how we develop, grow and learn?). While Piaget said that cognitive...
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...Vygotsky and Piaget Theory Vygotsky and Piaget Cognitive development can be described as the process in which a person constructs their thoughts for example, remembering things, problem solving and attention. In this essay I am going to evaluate the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. I will look into the weaknesses and strengths of the theories with supporting evidence and also the similarities and the differences of the two theories. Piaget believed that children develop through the interaction of innate capacities with environmental events (Gross 2005). He saw children as scientists and he also argued that cognitive development consists of four evident phases the first phase being the sensorimotor stage, the pre-operational, the concrete operational and the formal operation. Piaget argued that cognition development in children developed through these four stages and that the thinking patterns always happened in a sequence with four key features. It also happened in the same order and no stage was skipped, each stage was an important change than the stage before it. In the sensor motor stage from birth to two years, Piaget observed that childrens cognitive development was limited to natural involuntary response. Children build on these responses and develop complicated processes through physical interaction and experience (Gross 2005). At around seven months, the child learned that even if an object is out of sight the object still existed. This is what Piaget...
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...development. All theorists agree that people go through specific steps and/or stages of learning and understanding. Along with the fact that there are certain principles must be meet before learning can occur. There are many ideas and opinions that cognitive theorist have about the development of a person’s cognition. Two theorists that are commonly known in the field of cognitive development are Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. These two theorists agree on the several concepts of cognitive development but differ on others, the most commonly agreed difference among all theorists involved in cognitive development is the simple yet complex question of how cognitive development occurs. Jean Piaget, born 1896 and died 1980, was a Swiss psychologist; his focused was on the way an individual child acts upon an object in their environment, in order to build mental models of the way the world works. Piaget believed that the physical environment was important to a person’s cognitive development. Ensuring that the environment was rich and stimulating was the adult’s role, according to Jean Piaget. The adult, whether it be a parent, a teacher, or an older sibling is to occasionally ask questions that challenge children’s...
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...------------------------------------------------- Reg No: R09135w ------------------------------------------------- Level: 4.1(Conventional) ------------------------------------------------- Module: African Psychology (PSY 404) ------------------------------------------------- Lecturer: Mr. Mtemeri J. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Assignment: Compare and contrast the concept formation according to Piaget and Vygotsky. How applicable are their theories to the African context. ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Due Date: 15 March 2012 Concept formation according to Muthivhi, (2009) refers to the development of ideas based on the common properties of objects, events or qualities using the process of abstraction. Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) proposed the classical constructivist theories of concept formation or cognitive development. Their contributions to developmental psychology, albeit different, are similarly remarkable and unique. These two theories have some noted resemblances and differences. This essay will give an overview of these two theories, outlining their similarities and differences and their applicability to the African context with special reference to the Zimbabwean context. In Jean Piaget’s research, the main...
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...Piaget Versus Vygotsky Jean Piaget (1896-1980) and Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934) proposed the classical constructivist theories of cognitive development. Although often compared, the concepts differ significantly. Indeed, the purpose of this essay is to argue that Piagetian theory marginalizes the social contribution to intellectual development and that, consequently, the Vygotskian approach offers a more accurate and comprehensive analysis. This paper will begin with an explanation of the theories of cognitive development propounded by Piaget and Vygotsky followed by a definition of constructivist and social constructivist theory. The superiority of Vygotsky’s theory will be established via a critical examination of Piaget’s stages of intellectual development, his perspective on language acquisition, and the methodology of his classic tests. Piaget maintained that cognitive development is a continuous progression of assimilation and accommodation and that these complementary processes lead to adaptation. Knowledge is constructed progressively via a sequence of behaviours or mental operations, what Piaget termed schemas. Piaget proposed that children develop mental representations of the world based on physical or mental actions, which they execute on the environment. These initially reflex behaviours are repeated while intrinsic motivation encourages the child to apply schemas to different situations. Assimilation occurs when the new experience is incorporated into an existing...
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...mental processes and develop many new ways to adapt and accept knowledge and interact in their environment and with others around them. It is defined as being about Human mental (cognitive) development. The first theorist to establish the concept was Dr. Jean Piaget. Another contemporary of his was Dr. Lev Vygotsky. Both men offered new insights into a nascent field of study of how children develop and learn as they grow. B1. Similarities on the Nature or Development of Intelligence Piaget believed that childhood played a vital part in a child's development. Children increase their intelligence through active learning and exploring of their world. The child is the center of his or her learning through self discovery. Vygotsky also believed that children actively participate in their own learning and are curious to know more and they do so through social interactions with adults and peers. Both Piaget and Vygotsky agreed that children needed to be in groups with peers and should work together cooperatively. Piaget held to the constructivist view that teaching needs to take into account the stage the child is at and teach to children at their level, but it should be challenging enough to hold their interest. Vygotsky similarly held that children should be taught in groups of mixed ability to allow for the social interaction of apprentice learning from peers that are just ahead of their group members. This is espoused in his Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). Both researchers...
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...Human Development & Learning FHT 4 601.2.1-02 During the last few decades, psychologists have put forth many theories regarding cognitive development, especially as it relates to education. Two that I feel align most with my own ideas of how children best learn are the theories of Jean Piaget and Lev S. Vygotsky. They both developed theories that have been accepted throughout the educational arena, and in fact are still taught in education classes to today. They strived to learn and understand the best way, the best age, and the best environment for children to develop their cognitive ability. Before we discuss their theories we first need to define cognitive development. The literal meaning of cognition is “knowing,” defined as the “mental act or process by which knowledge is acquired” (Mcleod, 2007), and development is defined as “orderly and lasting growth, adaptation, and change over the course of a lifetime” (Slavin, 2009, p30). To simplify cognitive development means the acquisition of knowledge that grows, and lasts throughout a life span. Before cognitive development can take place, there must be cognitive learning. Cognitive learning is the process of acquiring knowledge for processing. The acquired knowledge is processed by our brain into higher thinking skills in a, “a series of gradual, orderly changes by which mental processes become more complex and sophisticated.” That is cognitive development, (Slavin, 2009, p31). The first stage...
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...and the Developing Child Piaget VS Vygotsky 1/22/2013 In 1896 there were two well-known psychologists born, Jean Piaget which he was from Switzerland and the other Lev Vygotsky was from Russia. Both Piaget and Vygotsky had similar and differences on how they viewed their theories. Each found a common ground, where both theorists offered major contributions to the areas of developmental psychology as it applies to education. Throughout the reading we will compare the similarities and differences of both highly respected psychologist. Piaget and Vygotsky were similar in their views in certain ways. What they most had in common was a shared interest in the study of cognitive development of children. How they viewed the importance of varying factors is where they differed. Piaget viewed cognitive development primarily from biological perspective. He believed that the two major principles operating in intellectual growth and development are adaptation and organization. Piaget believed that humans desire a state of cognitive balance or equilibration. When the child experiences cognitive conflict (a discrepancy between what the child believes the state of the world to be and what s/he is experiencing) adaptation is achieved through adjustment or accommodation. Organization refers to the mind's natural tendency to organize information into related, connected structures. On the hand, Vygotsky, however, believed that...
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...Contrasting Theorists- Piaget, Vygotsky and Erikson Piaget, Vygotsky and Erikson all had great impact on the research of how the human mind develops. Personally I believe that Jensen would agree with both Piaget and Erikson theories because they both tie to his four stages of development and Gladwell would agree with the three. Nonetheless, I believe that all, Jensen, Erikson, Vygotsky, and Gladwell would agree with Jean Piaget that “ the principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done.” Piaget’s theory of cognitive development focused on children’s intellectual development, the nature of thought and how it developed. He believed in self-initiated discovery and learning by doing. According to Piaget, “ children sort the knowledge they acquire through their experienced and interactions into groupings known as schemas”(Cherry, n.d.). He also believed that learning occurred through 4 different stages, sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operations stage, and formal operations stage (Boeree, 2006). He believed that in order for learning to happen, students must interact with their environment in a new way and apply their previous schema to their interaction. I work with middle school students so they like learning from their own mistakes. I’ve learned that at middle school age, students do not want to be told what to do and that they...
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...Over the years there have been a countless number of theorists developing their own models on Cognitive Development, with the two most recognised being the theories of Jean Piaget and Lev Semenovich Vygotsky. Although it is difficult to present the title of ‘superior theory’ to either one of these theorists, the merging of certain aspects of each scheme provides teachers with an ability to devise effective learning strategies that cater for individual students. As a direct result of these Piagetian and Vygotskian concepts, students possess the ability to develop and learn at a rate more specified to their learning ability. Review of Literature Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development, the assimilation-accommodation model, is composed of four stages, sensorimotor (0 - 2 years), preoperational (2 – 7 years), concrete operational (7 – 11 years) and formal operational (11 – adult). Candida Peterson (2004) claims that within Piaget’s theory, each stage must be sufficiently achieved by the individual in order to advance to the next stage, although there is debate about whether we all do reach the final stage. Piaget believes that the most significant aspect of a child's cognitive development is the interaction between peers, rather than elders, the outside environment, as illustrated by Youniss (1982). Piaget recognised that the rate of cognitive development is determined by four factors, biological maturation, activity, social interaction and equilibration, as illustrated in Woolfolk...
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...Learning and Instruction 13 (2003) 465–485 www.elsevier.com/locate/learninstruc Not just Piaget; not just Vygotsky, and certainly not Vygotsky as alternative to Piaget Michael Shayer ∗ King’s College, University of London, 16 Fen End, Over, Cambridge CB4 5NE, UK Abstract There have been many interpretations published on the relative importance of the work of both Vygotsky and Piaget: often to the detriment of the latter. This article represents an attempt to discover the meaning and intention of the former by going back to the specifics of what he said and wrote. By reference to what they said of each other it is argued that by the early 30s they had reached almost identical positions regarding child development, and that the work of each is complementary to that of the other. The implications of this position for a theory of intervention for cognitive acceleration are then discussed. 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction As we know from investigations of the process of concept formation, a concept is more than the sum of certain associative bonds formed by memory, more than a mere mental habit; it is a complex and genuine act of thought that cannot be taught by drilling, but can be accomplished only when the child’s mental development has itself reached the requisite level. (1) Throughout the history of the child’s development runs a ‘warfare’ between spontaneous and non-spontaneous, systematically learned, concepts. (cf...
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...Vygotsky`s Sociocultural Theory Lev Vygotsky is often called the "Mozart of psychology." Similar to the famous composer, Vygotsky applied his genius early in life to many different areas. And like Mozart, Vygotsky died young, at age 37, after a battle with tuberculosis. Born in 1896 in Belorussia, he began his career as an educator and a psychologist at the time of the 1917 Russian revolution. After moving to Moscow in 1924, Vygotsky set out to create what he hoped would become a new way to understand and solve the social and educational problems of his time. At the core of Vygotsky's theory, called the Sociocultural Theory, is the idea that child development is the result of the interactions between children and their social environment. These interactions include those with parents and teachers, playmates and classmates, and brothers and sisters. They also involve relationships with significant objects, such as books or toys, and culturally specific practices that children engage in the classroom, at home, and on the playground. Children are active partners in these interactions, constructing knowledge, skills, and attitudes and not just mirroring the world around them. Vygotsky opposed the psychologists who believed that children's development occurs spontaneously and cannot be affected by education. He also differed with those who claimed that teaching had the power to alter development at any time regardless of the child's age or capacities. Instead, Vygotsky felt...
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