Cognitive_Development

Cognitive Development “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 cognitive, development, child, piaget, children, development, vygotsky, stage, speech, thought, egocentric, child’s, one, environment, through, next, move, language, world, thinking, smith, own, out, object, knowledge, buttons, able, way, stages, same, row, preoperational, new, between, another, activities