Compare and Contrast Using APA Style Humans are, by nature, filled with curiosity. We incessantly seek to learn about the universe. Not surprisingly, we simultaneously strive to learn about ourselves. What is our place in the world? How do we grow into the people we are meant to be? Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky spent their lives constructing theories to explain human growth and development. Both theorists are, today, considered leading contributors to the field of developmental psychology. The purpose of this paper is to explain how a better understanding of Piaget’s and Vygotsky’s theories will provide you with a better understanding of how we ourselves learn and grow as students in today. This will be accomplished by summarizing, comparing, …show more content…
According to Piaget’s theory of development, we are influenced intrinsically (Lourenco, 2012). We set out create our knowledge of the world using the mental tools available to us at whichever stage of development we are in (Bruner, 1997). As we grow, we test our notions of the world in order to expand our understanding of it. If the results of our experiment support our current notion of the world, we fit this information into our existing conceptual network (1997). Vice versa, if the results differ from our current conceptions of how the world works, our mental network is modified in order to incorporate this knowledge into the network …show more content…
First, both theories believe that a person mentally develops overtime rather than being born with everything they need to know (2012). Secondly, both theorists believe that in order for a person to develop, he or she must be regularly partake in the actions that simulate development (e.g. Piaget states a person must continually test their theories and expand their mental network in order to grow) (2012). Thirdly, both theorists believe a person must act in order to continue developing (2012). In other words, a person will learn nothing if they simply stand by and do nothing as the world passes them by. Finally, rather than focusing on the amount of information learned, both Piaget and Vygotsky focus on the quality of the content learned
Piaget (1936) was the first psychologist to make a systematic study of cognitive development. Piaget placed great importance on the education of children. According to Piaget, children are born with a basic mental structure on which all learning and knowledge is based. They challenge the behaviourist theory as most of their research was done on animals and is missing knowledge. The implications of this theory are that not only should we be interest in the answer the learner gives but also the method of how they got there. I find that due to the gaps in the learner’s education, they may be missing important parts that they have had to find out for themselves these methods are not always the easiest ways of calculating. I try and make it as stress free as possible so will demonstrate other methods that may be easier for them. Piagets theory accepts that children go through the same development stages but that they may go through at different times, I ensure I make effort to cater for these different paces and ensure tasks are differentiated to accommodate this. I am aware however that this theory relates to children’s development, and I work with adults, I can still apply parts of this
Methods and approaches to teaching have been greatly influenced by the research of Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Both have contributed to the field of education by offering explanations for children's cognitive learning styles and abilities. While Piaget and Vygotsky may differ on how they view cognitive development in children, both offer educators good suggestions on how to teach certain material in a developmentally appropriate manner.
Piaget’s theory is developed from the idea that the child constructs their knowledge individually whereas Vygotsky argued that children develop tools of learning by communicating with more knowledgeable others (O. Lourenco 2012). Piaget suggested that children develop through a series of four stages in their thinking – the sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational stages each of which causes broad changes in the child’s intelligence structure and their logic (reference). These four structures are mental operations which are applied to anything in the child’s world these mental operations are referred to as schemas which grow and change from one stage to the next (book). Vygotsky had very different idea on this subject although they both agreed that the child is the active constructor of their own knowledge
clearly. Therefore, much about what experts know about mental and cognitive development is based on the careful observation of developmental theorists and their theories, such as Piaget's theory of cognitive development, which we discussed.
The main difference one can see in their theories is that Piaget is very individualistic when it comes to learning and that Vygotsky is very group oriented. Vygotsky believes in dialogues that, “we socially interact and communicate with others to learn the cultural values of our society.” (Woolfolk, 2004, pg. 2) Vygotsky was a believer in social interaction to help learn. Vygotsky also believed in scaffolding. Scaffolding is a way of learning. Someone provides the learner with clues and hints that helps them with problem solving. This is different from Piaget because it is in that group setting. Lastly there is a zone of Proximity that Vygotsky believes in. This goes along with his group aspect of learning. He believes that one learns better through life interactions. (Woolfolk,
The main aim of his research was to show the differences between the children’s and adults’ way of thinking. It means that different factors influence the way of thinking of people at different stages of development. Piaget focused attention on the fact that children actually have a rather basic mental structure that is based on knowledge and experience that is formed in a particular way. He argued that cognitive development is a process that takes long period of time and can be influenced by huge amount of different internal and external factors.
The theory of cognitive development was created by Jean Piaget. Piaget can be classified as both a constructivist and a developmental theorist. This theory describes how the quality of children’s thinking changes over time, and how a child makes a mental model of the world. Piaget disagreed with the idea that intelligence is a fixed trait. Piaget believed that a child’s cognitive development was a process, and that there were four factors that affect the quality of children’s thinking as they grow; as well as four stages of qualitatively different types of thinking through which children progress towards adulthood.
Piaget suggests that cognitive development takes place as a result of experiences which force the child to accommodate new information, creating new schemas and occasionally leading to a qualitatively different kind of thinking- moving from one stage to another, but these changes need to depend on readiness. However, Vygotsky placed more of an emphasis on the importance of social context in transforming elementary into higher mental functions, and the role of the ZPD in understanding how this transformation takes place. Piaget's theory, also known as the 'discovery learning theory', brought up two ways in which schemas became more complex, assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is basically the process of fitting new information and experiences into existing schemas, and accommodation is the process of changing the existing schemas when new information cannot be assimilated.
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a psychologist who developed a theory that was completely unlike any other psychologists at that time. His idea, called Cognitive Development, stated that the actual chronological age of an adolescent is not as important as the age they experience things, or the experiential age. Cognitive is defined as “the ability to reason, make judgments, and learn” (Gorman & Anwar, 2014). Piaget goes on to describe the importance of coping with the ever-changing environment as an integral part of intelligence, and the next level of developmental stage cannot be obtained until one completes the current stage. Piaget’s Developmental Theory involves four stages: sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, and formal operations.
Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory is focused on the belief that development precedes learning, specifically upon individual development of one’s knowledge through independent learning and experiences (Lourenco, 2012). Piaget’s theory discusses how an individual’s surroundings affect their development resulting in a series of changes in the understandings of their environment.
The processes which explain how development transpires can be described as mechanisms of development. Although Piaget and Vygotsky both focused their theories on cognitive development, the mechanisms needed to develop cognition differ for each theorist. Piaget focused on the mechanisms of cognitive organization, adaptation, and equilibration. Vygotsky, on the other hand, focused on a dialectical process, cultural tools, Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), scaffolding, internalization, and private/inner speech. For Piaget, cognitive organization entails the tendency for thought to have structures in which information and experiences are then labeled into schemas (Miller, 2011). Schemas allow humans to organize categories of information they
Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget’s theory of cognitive development describes his belief that children try to actively make sense of the world rather than simply absorbing knowledge as previously thought. Piaget’s theory claims that as children grow and develop they experience four different cognitive stages of life. As a child grows through each stage they not only learn new information but the way he or she thinks also changes. “In other words, each new stage represents a fundamental shift in how the child thinks and understands the world” (Hockenbury, page 368).The first stage of Piaget’s theory, known as the sensorimotor stage, begins at birth and continues on until about age 2. As the name suggest, this stage is when children begin to discover
Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development focuses on the concept of schemas and cognitive thought that helps an individual organize knowledge and understand the world in comparison to Erikson’s theory which focuses on conflicts that arise between and within the ego. Accommodation and assimilation occur throughout Piaget’s theory as a result of children
This theory of cognitive approach was solely developed Vygotsky. At this time when Vygotsky was developing these theories, Jean Piaget was also developing another theory of cognition. However, the theories have some fundamental differences though they have some converging points that make it difficult to discuss the Vygotsky 's theories without pointing out some major differences between the theories and the once developed by
One hundred years ago, Jean Piaget (1896-1980) was a young man developing new insights about learning. He was one of a handful of constructivist-minded writers and educational theorists of the time. Learning theories open educators up to new ideas. They are necessary to expand our knowledge of how learning works. Piaget’s work is a well-tested and educators around the world should be aware of Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive development in particular because it will improve the quality of their teaching. Once a teacher knows this theory, they can plan lessons appropriate to their students’ cognitive ability and build upon students’ earlier knowledge in a constructivist way.