Theories of Cognitive Development: an Insight to the Theories of Piaget, Information-Processing and Vygotsky
Theories of Cognitive Development:
An insight to the theories of Piaget, Information-processing and Vygotsky
How do we learn? How do we grow? Over the years, psychologists have studied to great lengths the processes that humans go through as they progress from infancy to adulthood. Several theories have emerged over time with three prominent ones. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky produced two important and distinct theories. Another important theory, the information-processing theory, presents a completely different point of view. Each theory has is differences from the other and gives insight into the developing human mind. Jean Piaget believed that all children are curious and act as scientists in their never-ending quest to build understanding about the world around them. He theorized that children use schemes, which are constructs that children categorize events with. Examples of schemes would be “play things”, “things I eat” and “things I don’t like”. Piaget’s next term was assimilation, which is when children add things to one scheme or another, example, a child having peanut butter for the first time and placing it in “things I eat”. Accomodation is when a child modifies a scheme because they have assimilated something that requires the entire scheme to be slightly redefined i.e. when a child learns that certain objects needs to be grasped with two hands instead of only one. (Kail/Cavanaugh, 133) The focus of Piaget’s study was on the four main stages of development. He believed that an individual goes through four main changes/stages in their life at birth and ages two, seven, and eleven. The first stage is the Sensorimotor stage. From birth to approximately age two, children are highly aware of stimuli and begin to figure out how to recreate them and what each one means. Senses and motor reflexes begin development. Also, object permanence, the understanding that objects exist when they are not in sight, begins to develop in this stage.
An insight to the theories of Piaget, Information-processing and Vygotsky
How do we learn? How do we grow? Over the years, psychologists have studied to great lengths the processes that humans go through as they progress from infancy to adulthood. Several theories have emerged over time with three prominent ones. Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky produced two important and distinct theories. Another important theory, the information-processing theory, presents a completely different point of view. Each theory has is differences from the other and gives insight into the developing human mind. Jean Piaget believed that all children are curious and act as scientists in their never-ending quest to build understanding about the world around them. He theorized that children use schemes, which are constructs that children categorize events with. Examples of schemes would be “play things”, “things I eat” and “things I don’t like”. Piaget’s next term was assimilation, which is when children add things to one scheme or another, example, a child having peanut butter for the first time and placing it in “things I eat”. Accomodation is when a child modifies a scheme because they have assimilated something that requires the entire scheme to be slightly redefined i.e. when a child learns that certain objects needs to be grasped with two hands instead of only one. (Kail/Cavanaugh, 133) The focus of Piaget’s study was on the four main stages of development. He believed that an individual goes through four main changes/stages in their life at birth and ages two, seven, and eleven. The first stage is the Sensorimotor stage. From birth to approximately age two, children are highly aware of stimuli and begin to figure out how to recreate them and what each one means. Senses and motor reflexes begin development. Also, object permanence, the understanding that objects exist when they are not in sight, begins to develop in this stage.
Cited: Kail, Robert V., and John C. Cavanaugh. Human Development A Life-Span View. 4th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2006. Huitt, W. (2003). The information processing approach to cognition. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved 15 May 2009 from http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/infoproc.html Lin, S. (2002). Piaget 's developmental stages. In B. Hoffman (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Educational Technology. Retrieved May 15, 2009, from http://coe.sdsu.edu/eet/Articles/piaget/start.htm Myers, Robert. Stages of Intellectual Development In Children and Teenagers, Child Development Institute. 15 May 2009. http://www.childdevelopmentinfo.com/development/piaget.shtml