Cognitive and Language

Development

PIAGETS
THEORY
VYGOTSKYS
THEORY

Jean Piaget (18961980)

a Swiss clinical psychologist
born in Neuchtel, Switzerland on
August 9, 1896 and died in
Geneva on September 16, 1980
the first psychologist to make a
systematic study of cognitive
development
his contributions include a theory
of child cognitive development,
detailed observational studies of
cognition in children, and a series
of simple but ingenious tests to
reveal different cognitive abilities

Piagets Theory
o The goal of the theory is to explain
the mechanisms and processes by
which the infant, and then the child,
develops into an individual who can
reason and think using hypotheses

Piagets Theory
Schemas
Assimilation
Accommodation
Organization
Equilibration
Stages of Development

Schemas
actions or mental representations that
organize knowledge (building blocks of
knowledge)

Behavioral schemas
physical activities
characterize infancy

Mental schemas
cognitive activities
develop in childhood

Assimilation
the incorporation of new information
into existing knowledge (schemas)

Accommodation
adjusting schemas to fit new information
and experiences

How might this 8-year-old girl

first attempt to use the
hammer and nail, based on
her preexisting schematic
knowledge about these
objects?

How might the girl adjust

her schemas regarding
hammers and nails during
her successful effort to
hang the picture?

Organization
the grouping or arranging of items into
categories

Equilibration
a mechanism that Piaget proposed to
explain how children shift from one stage of
thought to the next
o The shift occurs as children experience cognitive
conflict, or disequilibrium, in trying to
understand the world. Eventually, they resolve
the conflict and reach a balance, or equilibrium,
of thought.

If a child believes that the amount of a liquid changes simply

because the liquid is poured into a container with a different
shapefrom a container that is short and wide into a container
that is tall and narrowhe might be puzzled by such issues as
where the extra liquid came from and whether there is actually
more liquid to drink. The child will eventually resolve these
puzzles as his thought becomes more advanced.

Piagetian Stages
Four stages of cognitive
development:
1. Sensorimotor
2. Preoperational
3. Concrete operational
4. Formal operational

Symbolic function substage

the first substage of
preoperational thought,
occurring between about 2 to 4
years of age
the ability to represent an
object not present develops and
symbolic thinking increases
egocentrism is present
Intuitive thought substage
the second substage of
preoperational thought, lasting
from about 4 to 7 years of age
Children begin to use primitive
reasoning and want to know the
answer to all sorts of questions
Children seem so sure about
their knowledge in this substage
but are unaware of how they
know what they know.

Centration
focusing, or
centering, attention
on one characteristic
to the exclusion of all
others
Conservation
the idea that some
characteristic of an
object stays the same
even though the
object might change
in appearance

Seriation
a concrete operation
that involves ordering
stimuli along some
quantitative
dimension
Transitivity
the ability to reason
and logically combine
relationships

Hypothetical-deductive
reasoning
embodies the concept
that adolescents can
develop hypotheses (best
hunches) about ways to
solve problems and
systematically reach
(deduce) a conclusion

Adolescent egocentrism
the heightened selfconsciousness reflected
in adolescents beliefs
that others are as
interested in them as
they themselves are
includes a sense of
personal uniqueness
involves the desire to be
noticed, visible, and on
stage

Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky

(1896 1934)
a Soviet psychologist
Born in Orsha, Belarus
onNovember 17, 1896 and died
in Moscow, Russia on June 11,
1934
the founder of a theory of human
cultural and bio-social
development commonly referred
to as cultural-historical
psychology

Vygotskys Theory
o Vygotsky's theories stress the
fundamental role of social interaction
in the development of cognition as
he believed strongly that community
plays a central role in the process of
"making meaning."

Vygotskys Theory
The Zone of Proximal
Development
Scaffolding
Language and Thought

The Zone of Proximal

Development
the range of tasks that are too
difficult for children to master
alone but that can be
mastered with guidance and
assistance from adults or more
skilled children
involves being aware of where
students are in the process of
their development and taking
advantage of their readiness
it is also about teaching to
enable developmental
readiness, not just waiting for
students to be ready

Scaffolding

A technique that involves changing the

level of support for learning
A teacher or more advanced peer adjusts
the amount of guidance to fit the students
current performance
When the student is learning a new task,
the skilled person may use direct
instruction. As the students competence
increases, less guidance is given
Often used to help students attain the
upper limits of their ZPD

Language and Thought

According to Vygotsky, children use
speech not only for social
communication, but also to help them
solve tasks

Private speech
use of language for self-regulation
young children use language to plan,
guide, and monitor their behavior

Comparison of Vygotskys and Piagets

Theories