The Theories Of Piaget And Vygotsky

In current educational psychology, both the works of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky have become prominent in an understanding of developmental cognition in childhood (Duchesne, McMaugh, Bochner & Karuse, 2013, p. 56). Their theories are complimentary and provide a more rigorous comprehension of childhood development (Shayer, M., 2003, p. 465). Their varying principles are applicable to many situations concerning the development of children. The focuses of Piaget and Vygotsky on the ways of childhood development differ. Piaget was focused on the four developmental stages of cognitive growth in his Theory of Cognitive Development, whilst Vygotsky’s principles were based on development in a societal manner with his

Jean Piaget was a Swiss clinical psychologist who believed that children go through four stages of cognitive development at various age levels. Piaget’s studies help us to understand what to expect from children, why they are so inquisitive and why they think much more differently to adults. Piaget firmly believed that children are not less intelligent than adults but that their brain functions differently in certain situations and as children gain more experience in the real world, that is when their cognitive thinking starts to develop. Piaget started his research in the 1920’s and his theory is still widely considered throughout the world today as it is still considered by many people to be valid. (Pulaski, 1971). Piaget based his research around qualitative, not quantitative characteristics that children develop over these four stages stated below. (Singer, 1978) (page 3)

The preoperational stage is when infants become older, young children and they are able to think in a more symbolic way. In this stage children start to learn the difference between real and make believe, past and future. They tend to have more of an imagination as they grow older. Children in the preoperational stage still are not completely logical with their thinking. They go more off intuition. Do more of what they want to do, not what is the best thing to do. They are still too young to grasp the concept of cause and effect. They also do not understand time and comparison yet.

At the centre of Piaget's theory is the principle that cognitive development occurs in a series of four distinct, universal stages, each characterized by increasingly sophisticated and

The first stage is called the Sensorimotor stage. It occupies the first two years of a child's life, from birth to 2 years old. It is called the Sensorimotor stage because in it children are occupied with sensing things and moving them. From these activities they learn what makes things happen, what the connections are between actions and their consequences. They learn to grasp and hold and what happens when they let go.

Both Piaget and Vygotsky agreed that children's cognitive development took place in stages. (Jarvis, Chandler 2001 P.149). However they were distinguished by different styles of thinking. Piaget was the first t reveal that children reason and

According to Piaget, the Pre Operational stage begins when children reach the ages of two up to six years old. The Pre operational stage is considered the stage in which children operate in a world that revolves around

1.     Sensor motor Stage (birth – 2 years) – The child, through physical interaction with his or her environment, builds a set of concepts about reality and how it works. In this stage a child still do not know that physical objects remain in existence even when out of sight. They haven’t developed object permanence.

The sensorimotor stage lasts from birth until the baby is about 24 months. These first two years of life is where an infant understands the world by using sensory experiences with motor skills. According to an article titled “How Kids Learn”, a newborn brain is one-third the size of an adult's, and trillions of its neural connections remain incomplete. At 3 months the brain synapses reach maximum density in areas that control vision. Babies distinguish colors well and track movement smoothly. At 6 months, growth in the brain area that makes it possible to understand and produce

Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory required insight into definition and structure prior to comparison with Vygotsky’s. Cherry (2015) outlined Piaget’s learning theory as consisting of four clearly-defined stages for cognitive development from birth through adolescence: sensorimotor stage (birth to age 2), pre-operational stage (age 2 through age 7), concrete operational stage (age 7 to age 11), and formal operational stage (adolescence to adulthood). According to Piaget, children learn from their environment through self-discovery. The main locus of control for Piagetian theory was centered on the individual, and development began within. “Creation of knowledge and

Children gain knowledge through physical interaction and experience, however, knowledge is limited at this stage. They learn through trial and error since they cannot predict reactions. However, as children become more mobile, their abilities for cognitive development increases and early language development begin. Between seven to nine months, children develop object permanence, and they realize that an object still exists even after it is out of their sight (Keenan, 2009, p.24).

This essay will compare Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories of cognitive development in children. Also, show the differences between the two psychologist’s theories. Thus, by showing their similarities like in language and adaptation theories. Further, differences like Piaget’s theory on cognitive developmental stages and the schemas which are build to learn or accommodate new words or things. Vygostky’s theory differs to Piaget’s theory by his socio-cultural and language theories. Finally, bring all this points together by drawing a conclusion.

In the sensorimotor stage the child discovers the environment through physical actions such as sucking, grabbing, shaking and pushing. During these first two years of life children realize objects still exist, even if it is out of view. This concept is known as object permanence. Children in the preoperational stage develop language skills, but may only grasp an idea with repeated exposure. As Piaget describes in the next stage, children draw on knowledge that is based on real life situations to provide more logical explanations and predictions. Lastly, in the formal operational stage children use higher levels of thinking and present abstract ideas.

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.

The first stage of Piaget’s development theory is the sensorimotor stage which takes place in children most commonly 0 to 2 years old. In this stage, thought is developed through direct physical interactions with the environment. Three major cognitive leaps in this stage are the development of early schemes, the development of goal-oriented behavior, and the development of object permanence. During the early stages, infants are only aware of what is immediately in front of them. They focus on what they