Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky were two influential theorists during the 20th cent

Question

Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky were two influential theorists during the 20th century each with a unique spin on how childdren best learn. In the essay describe what each theorist thought, compare and contrast theier theories on research, explain which theodrist you think best explained cognitive development in children and why you come to this decision, and explain why you feel this way based on your own life experienes. The essay should be at least 500 words in lenrth with references. This is Fundamentals of Psychology-- not listed below

Explanation / Answer

Since the early 1900’s psychologists have developed theories about how the human brain develops and how humans learn. Cognitive development is the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decision-making, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. There are many factors that play vital roles in how we learn, some of which are intelligence, reasoning and memory.

There are different theories as to how children learn. Some believe that babies are born with the ability to pay attention, sort information and develop perception. Jean Piaget believed that children develop cognitively through schemes that are constructed through trail and error. On the other hand, Russian Psychologist, Lev Vygotsky believed that children learn about their surroundings through speech. In essence, they talk their way though puzzling situations and problems.

Piaget believed that children learn through organization and schemes and that learning was biologically connected. According to this theory, children organize ideas.

Jean Piaget's theory of cognitive: development described and explained the changes in logical thinking of children and adolescents. Piaget proposed that children proceed through four stages based on maturation and experience.

Piaget's theory is guided by assumptions of how learners interact with their environment and how they integrate new knowledge and information into existing knowledge. Briefly, he proposed that:

children are active learners who construct knowledge from their environments

they learn through assimilation and accommodation, and complex cognitive development occurs through equilibration

the interaction with physical and social environments is key for cognitive development

development occurs in stages

Lev Vygotsky's cultural-historical theory: focused on the role of culture and social interactions. Vygotsky maintained that speech is a major psychological tool in the child's development of thinking. As children age and develop, their basic speech becomes more complex.

Vygotksy's theory is guided by six major assumptions:

children develop through informal and formal conversations with adults

the first few years of life are critical for development, as this is where thought and language become increasingly independent

complex mental activities begin as basic social activities

children can perform more difficult tasks with the help of a more advanced individual

tasks that are challenging promote cognitive development growth

play is important and allows children to stretch themselves cognitively

My Own Conclusion :

Vygotsky's theory differs from that of Piaget in a number of important ways are like Vygotsky places considerably more emphasis on social factors contributing to cognitive development.

Vygotsky states cognitive development stems from social interactions from guided learning within the zone of proximal development as children and their partners co-construct knowledge. In contrast Piaget maintains that cognitive development stems largely from independent explorations in which children construct knowledge of their own.

For Vygotsky, the environment in which children grow up will influence how they think and what they think about.

Vygotsky places more (and different) emphasis on the role of language in cognitive development (again Piaget is criticized for lack of emphasis on this). For Vygotsky, cognitive development results from an internalization of language.

According to Piaget, language depends on thought for its development (i.e. thought comes before language). For Vygotsky, thought and language are initially separate systems from the beginning of life, merging at around three years of age, producing verbal thought (inner speech)

According to Vygotsky adults are an important source of cognitive development. Adults transmit their culture's tools of intellectual adaptation that children internalize. In contrast Piaget emphasizes the importance of peers as peer interaction promotes social perspective taking.

In conclusion, this essay has given a brief description of Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories. This essay has proven how both Piaget and Vygotsky were important to understanding the cognitive development of children. Piaget and Vygotsky had similar views on how children should develop but there approach in teaching the children this varied considerably.

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