Cognitive Development

8 Pages 2022 Words

“Drawing on both theory and research, compare and contrast the Piagetian and Vygotskian models of cognitive development”




I will start off this essay by introducing Piaget and his model of cognitive development

by briefly explaining schema’s and then the four developmental stages of sensori- motor,

pre-operational, concrete-operational and formal operational. I will then move on to Lev

Vygotsky and compare and contrast his theory with Piaget’s focusing mainly on the idea

of the zone of proximal development, social interaction and egocentrism in language and

thought. I will conclude this essay by summarizing the main comparisons and contrasts,

between Piaget and Vygotsky’s model of cognitive development, which have been made

throughout the essay.



Prior to Piaget, psychological thinking about children’s cognitive development was

dominated by two perspectives; the biological maturation, which emphasized the ‘nature’

component of development, and the environmental –learning perspective, which

emphasized ‘nurture ‘ (Gross, 2001). Piaget opened up a whole new world and

focused on interaction between the child’s naturally maturing abilities and his

interactions with the environment. He saw the child as an active participant in this

process rather than as a passive recipient of the environment. In other words, children

must interact with the environment to develop, but it is of extreme importance that it is

they, and not the external influences, who build new cognitive structures through their

own activities. The results of these activities are used to construct so-called schema’s

which are theories about how the physical and social world operate. These schemas are

made up out of three aspects of thought. These are the organization of schemas through

assimilation and accommodation. Organization to Piaget means the innate capacity...