piaget vs vygotsky

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT: PIAGET’S

THEORY VS VYGOTSKY’S

PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Genetic epistemology – experimental study of the origin of knowledge

• Intelligence Means ?– A elementary life action that enables an

organism to adapt to it’s environment– Cognitive equilibrium – balancing thought

processes and the environment– Constructivist approach – constructed

knowledge by a child

PIAGET’S THEORY OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Gaining Knowledge: Schemes and Processes– Schemes: mental patterns (thought/action)

• Organization – merge existing schemes into new/complex schemes

• Adaptation – environmental adjustments–Assimilation – existing schemes with

new information–Accommodation – changing existing

schemes for new information

PIAGET’S STAGES OF COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

• Invariant developmental sequence– Sequencing fixed– Individual differences entering/emerging

stages


• The Sensorimotor Stage (Birth to 2 years)– Coordinate sensory inputs and motor skills– Transition from being reflexive to reflective– Development of Problem-Solving Abilities

• Reflex activity (birth – 1 month)• Primary circular reactions (1-4 months)

–first motor habits, repetitive


• Secondary circular reactions

(4-8 months)–Repetitive actions with objects

beyond the body• Coordination of secondary reactions

(8-12 months)–Coordinate 2 or more actions to

achieve an objective (intentional)


• Tertiary circular reactions -12-18 months–Active experimentation, trial & error

• Symbolic problem solving -18-24 months–Inner (mental) experimentation


– Development of Imitation• Novel responses by 8-12 months of age• Deferred imitation – 18-24 months• Research now shows 6-month-olds are

capable of deferred imitation


– Development of Object Permanence• Objects continue to exist when they are

no longer visible/detectable• Appears by 8-12 months of age

–A-not-B error: search in the last place found, not where it was last seen

• Complete by 18-24 months


• Challenges to Piaget Account– Neo-nativism –

• Infants are born with substantial innate knowledge

• Require less time/experience to be demonstrated

• Young children seem to possess some object permanence, memory


• Challenges to Piaget’s Approach– Theory theories

• Neo-nativist and Piagetian perspective combined

–Infants are prepared at birth to make sense of some information

–Beyond this, Piaget’s constructivist approach is generally accurate


• The Preoperational Stage (2-7 years)– Symbolic function / representational insight

• One thing represents another• Language • Pretend (symbolic) play –

developmentally a positive activity• New views on symbolism

–Dual representation – think about an object in 2 ways at one time (3 years)


• Deficits in preoperational thinking–Animism

»Attribute life/life like qualities to inanimate objects

–Egocentrism »View world from own perspective,

trouble recognizing other’s point of view


• Deficits in preoperational thinking–Appearance/reality distinction

»Cannot distinguish between the two

–Dual encoding »Representing an object in more

than one way at a time


• Deficits in preoperational thinking–Lack of conservation – do not realize

properties of objects do not change just because appearance does

»Lack of decentration – concentrate on more than one aspect of a problem at the same time

»Lack of reversibility – mentally undo an action


• Did Piaget Underestimate the Preoperational Child?– New evidence on egocentrism

• Piaget’s tasks were too complex– Another look at children’s reasoning

• Animism not routine among 3-year-olds– Can preoperational children conserve?

• Can be trained at 4 years (identity training)


• The Development Theory of Mind (TOM)– Belief-desire reasoning

• Understand behavior is based on–What an individual knows or believes–What they want or desire

• Develops after preschool age• False-belief task – desire, not belief

–Based on lack of cognitive inhibition–Improves with interaction with siblings


• The Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)– Cognitive operations

• Internal mental activity to modify symbols to reach a logical conclusion

–Conservation – capable of »Decentering»Reversibility


–Relational logic – capable of»Mental seriation »Transitivity

• Horizontal decalage – different levels of understanding that seem to require same mental operations

–Based on complexity• Limited to real or tangible aspects of

experience


• The Formal Operational Stage (11-12 +)– Hypothetico-deductive reasoning

• Ability to generate hypotheses and use deductive reasoning (general to specific)

• Inductive reasoning –Going from specific observations to

generalizations


– Personal and Social Implications of Formal Thought• Thinking about what is possible in life• Stable identity• Understanding of other’s perspectives• Questioning others• Thinking of how the world “ought to be”


– Does Everyone Reach Formal Operations?• Early Piaget – Yes, at least some signs

by 15-18 • Other researchers – No. Lack of

education• Later Piaget – Yes, but only on problems

that are either interesting or important• Seem to be more adolescents at this

level than 30 years ago

AN EVALUATION OF PIAGET’S THEORY

• Piaget’s Contributions– Founded cognitive development– Stated children construct their knowledge– First attempt to explain development– Reasonably accurate overview of how

children of different ages think– Major influence in social and emotional

development, and education– Influenced future research

AN EVALUATION OF PIAGET’S THEORY

• Challenges to Piaget– Piaget failed to distinguish competence

from performance– Does cognitive development really occur in

stages?• Little evidence of broad stages

– Does Piaget “explain” cognitive development? – more of an description

– Little attention to social/cultural influences

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL PERSPECTIVE

• The Role of Culture in Development– Ontogenetic development – development

of an individual over his or her lifetime– Microgenetic development – change over

relatively brief periods of time– Phylogenetic development – changes over

evolutionary time– Sociohistorical development – changes in

one’s culture


• Tools of Intellectual Adaptation–Born with elementary mental

functions (attention, memory)–Culture transforms these into higher

mental functions»Culture specific tools allow the use

of the basic functions more adaptively (language, pencils)


• The Social Origins of Early Cognitive Competencies – Many discoveries active learners make

occur in collaborative dialogue with a tutor– The Zone of Proximal Development

• Difference between what a learner can do independently and what can be done with guidance


• Scaffolding – tendency to tailor support to a learner near the limit of capability

• Guided participation/apprenticeship–May be very formal and context

dependent–May occur in day-to-day activities


• Working in the Zone of Proximal Development in Different Cultures– Cultures where adults and children are

segregated, learning is in schools – Cultures where adults and children are

together most of the day, learning is through real life observation

– Verbal versus nonverbal emphasis of instruction


• Playing in the Zone of Proximal Development– More likely to engage in symbolic play

when others are present– Cooperative social play of preschoolers is

related to later understanding of others’ feeling and beliefs


• Implications for Education– Active, not passive learning– Assess what is known to estimate

capabilities– Guided participations structured by

teachers who would gradually turn over more of activity to students

– Cooperative learning exercises – help each other; very effective!


• The Role of Language in Cognitive Development– Primary method of passing modes of

thinking to children– Becomes important tool of intellectual

adaptation


• Piaget’s Theory of Language/Thought–Egocentric speech

»Self-directed utterances»Reflected ongoing mental activity»Shifted to communicative speech

with age»Little role in cognitive development


• Vygotsky’s Theory of Language/Thought–Egocentric is really an illustration of

transition from prelinguistic to verbal reasoning

–Private speech – communicative “speech for self”

»Serves as a cognitive self-guidance system; does not disappear, becomes inner speech


• Which viewpoint should be endorsed?–Vygotsky

»Social speech gives rise to private speech

»More common with difficult tasks»Self-instruction improves

performance»Does tend to turn into inner

speech


• Vygotsky in Perspective: Summary – Cognitive development involves

• Dialogues with skilled partners within the zone of proximal development

• Incorporation of what tutors say into what they say to themselves

– Expect wide variations in development across cultures


• Vygotsky in Perspective: Evaluation– Not yet received intense scrutiny

• Verbal guided participation may be less adaptive in some instances than others

• Collaborative problem solving can undermine performance

– More a perspective, not a theory with as many testable hypotheses as Piaget

piaget vs vygotsky

Education

new informationaccommodation

motor skillstransition

motor habits

monthsrepetitive actions

months of agea

symbolic play

yearscoordinate sensory

positive activitynew