Piagets and Vygotskys explanation

Piagets and Vygotskys explanationIn this essay I will be outlining the main differences and similarities between Piagets and Vygotskys explanation of cognitive nurture in children. ascendment is the study of the thought process or mental activity by which us individuals acquire and deal with companionship. The study of the human cognition is a vast field and thither argon wide varieties of topics. The two virtu all in ally influential theories of cognitive development argon from Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky. Each of their possibility has key eyeshots of cognitive development across childhood.Firstly, gibe to Siegler (1998), Piagets theory of cognitive development is considered the close to important to emerge from the study of human development, and the most controversial theory as well, according to Beilin (1992). Piagets observations of children provide a rum inside for what cognitive development is supposed to be like (Siegler, 1998). He provided answers to questions re garding intelligence and how one develops their knowledge.He believed that children develop in reaction to their environment, and the rewards and punishments it provides, Piaget argued that children actively explore their worlds, and their thoughts are ultimately derived from the actions of the world. Children according to him construct their reality as they manipulate and explore their world, cognitive structures which Piaget termed schemes. A scheme is an interrelated specialise of memories, thoughts, or strategies which are employed to predict and understand the environment. He believed that as children grow, they develop and refine their schemes.Central to Piagets theory are two biologic concept, adaption and organization. fundamental law refers to an individuals tendency to organize their cognitive structures or schemes into efficient systems (Lutz and Sternberg, 1999). Organization can take place independent of any interaction with the environment. He believes that childr en naturally begin to link schemes together, creating much organized and interrelated cognitive system. For example, infants eventually begin to link together schemes developed for reaching, grasping and imbibe objects, combining these into more complex structures that can be generalized to bracing(prenominal) situations and thus further their ability to negotiate the environment. Initially they cant ruffle these actions, but with the process of organization they become satisfactory to do so. This brings us to the concept of adaption. Adaption involves the creation of cognitive structure or schemes by our interactions with the environment. Adaption is come acrossd through assimilation or accommodation (Piaget, 1952). Assimilation is the process of compound the environment into ones current psychological structures (Lutz and Sternberg, 1999). When the child assimilates something, they mould it to tote up in with their existing structures. Accommodation is the opposite proc ess, it occurs when old schemes are adjusted to fit better fit with the demands of the environment. For example, the infant sees an object lying on the infrastructure they can assimilate into her experience, applying her grasping scheme. The infant then encounters another object, a smaller one this time such as a ductile token, they are then forced to accommodate to the object, altering their grasp in order to be able to pick up the token. According to Piaget (1952) there are times when we are able to assimilate most new experiences, other times we are forced to accommodate and adapt our structures to the environment and thats when we enter into a state called cognitive disequilibrium, also kn admit as, cognitive conflict. Both Piaget and Vygotsky believe that development started off with cognitive conflict. The process of equilibration, persistent balance, leads to the development of more efficient cognitive structures (Lutz and Sternberg, 1999). in addition Vygotsky developed his own theory of cognitive development in children. However, he made an emphasis on the cultural context in which human development occurs. same(p) Piaget, Vygotsky was salubriously committed to the idea that children were active explorers of their world who tested their ideas against reality, pursuit to expand their knowledge. It is said that Vygotsky compares a child to an apprentice, whereas Piaget compares them to a scientist. However, hostile Piaget, who viewed children essentially as solitary figures involved in the construction of knowledge, Vygotsky believed that the childs social environment was an active force in their development, working to mould childrens growing knowledge in ways that were adaptive to the wider culture in which they grow up. Vygotskys aspect on child development is referred to as the socio-cultural view because of his emphasis on the childs culture and the social environment as forces which shape development. Vygotsky was a strong advocate for the developmental method, unlike Piaget, who concentrated on the origins of mental processes and the transformations which they let to undergo. Vygotsky was obstinate in his belief that an individuals cognitive development was largely a social process, and not an individualistic construction as Piaget believed.Also unlike Piaget, Vygotsky focused on interactions with parents, siblings, peers, and the wider culture, who were more highly skilled than the child. And he believed that through the interaction with the child and through the instruction and assistance they provided, the childs cognitive development would be promoted. He believed that learning begins as an inter-personal activity. Whereby, gradually the learner is able to perform independently. Also his theory included the scaffolding learning, where the support is provided by teacher on specific task. It allows the learner to perform at a higher level. At any given point in the learning process, there is a difference betwe en the level achieved when assisted and when alone, also known as the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). The scaffolding learning of Vygotskys method is still being used in this century because all over primary schools, children are still being assisted stock-still when they progress unto a story where they feel comfortable in their ability, the teacher or individual with higher knowledge gradually withdraws support according to process. He also believed that children acquire tools invented by society to support opinion in children, also known as the cultural tools, for example calculators, books and computers.Similarly to Piaget, Vygotsky believed that childrens egocentric speech was a part of their cognitive development. However, the two set most different perspectives on how they viewed the purpose of egocentric speech. Piagets Egocentric speech suggests that the childs ego centred and unable to consider the point of view of others. Whereas, Vygotskys Egocentric speech is seen as a transition between the childrens learning language in a social communicative context and attempting to internalize it as a nonpublic inner thought. Alongside that Piaget developed stages of child development through clinical methods because he felt development precedes learning. The stages of cognitive development are, the sensori-motor point (0-2 years) where children achieve represential thought, the pre-operational period (2-7 years) childrens reasoning is often illogical, after is the concrete operational period (7-11 years), children are able to reason about current, concrete situations, lastly the imposing operations stage (11-15) where children can reason about hypothetical situations. Piaget believed that the pre-operational stage is a time during early childhood when children start to reason, build concepts, and enter the foundation for concrete operations. Operations are initialized sets of actions that allow the child to do mentally what was done physically before. (Santrock, 2003). Piaget believed that illogical reasoning was due to Animism, privation of reversibility, Egocentrism and Centration. Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky paid little attention to the role of the individual. He did not focus on the stages of development or the ages at which these expertness occur. However, like Piaget he did see the child as an active participant in learning rather than a passive recipient of training from other people.Both these theories share ideas about how a child starts to develop their cognitive skills. But they both understand it differently. The nature of Piagets investigations contrasts with the cultural-historical approach of Vygotskys research. Piaget is more concerned with the development of universal processes for the validation of knowledge, and Vygotsky is more focused on psycho-socio-historical genesis and its interpretations.Although these psychologists have received a lot of critics about which aspect of development they put more em phasis in, they have still contributed to our consciousness of child cognitive development. It is only through their research and theory that others are able to progress onto finding out further details about how a childs mentality develops. Vygotsky and Piaget are often presented as opposites. However, a calculated read of their theories reveals that they are not as dissimilar as they are presented to be (DeVries Matusov Hayes, 2000).