Compare Piaget and Vygotsky

Cognitive training is the term used to describe the gimmick of thought posture to work, including remembering, problem solving and decision-making, from tykehood through adolescence to great(p)hood. In this essay I will compare and contrast the theories of Pia go away and Vygotsky, twain of which were enormously signifi so-and-sot contri nonwithstandingors to the cognitive breeding comp cardinalnt to/in psychology. In access to this I will also conjure up the strengths and weaknesses of severally possibleness and dodging how they passel be applied to an schoolingal setting.At the centre of Piagets speculation is the article of belief that cognitive developing occurs in a series of four distinct, universal stages, each characterized by increasingly sophisticated and abduct levels of thought. He believed that these stages constantly occur in the equal fiat, each progress tos on what was lettered in the previous stage and that the culture contributeed from t wo stoops maturation and fundamental fundamental interaction with environment. Although Vygotskys scheme works along identical lines to Piaget the belief that children were active in their prepareing.He focus much on the immenseness of social interaction and speech communication and how they twain play a fundamental influence on childrens development of accord. Although two psychologists hold that all children go through stages, they were distinguished by various styles of speak outing, and border on to analysing the cognitive development process. The stages were the centre of Piagets theory magic spell Vygotsky simply adjudge them in his theory. Piagets theory distant Vygotsky, generalized children into age groups and ranked their abilities accordingly.For ensample Piaget believed that all children that reach The concrete avail fitted stage (ages 7-11) have everywherecome centration and bend decentred, they are capable of mastering the principles of ca tegoryification, seriation and class inclusion. except, Vygotsky maintained the concept that if a child follows the adults ensample he will little by little develop the ability to do definite assigns without attention or assistance. He called the expiration between what a child cigarette do with help and what he or she sack up do without guidance the govern of proximal development (ZPD).As a result of this divergent approach to children, we stinker relate this to the reason why unlike Piaget, Vygotsky ac companionshipd the issue of Special educational needs and how some children might be of the aforementioned(prenominal) age as their peers but find it rocky to complete the same tasks cause of opposite issues. Vygotsky believed that tuition leads to development and that Pushing the child as much(prenominal) was to be encourage in order to develop the potential the child can reach. On the other raft, Piagets theory was based on biological maturation, an understandin g that intelligence is gained as a process that is developed over time.Both psychologists believed that interaction was the key to the development of the child. However, they both(prenominal) focused on a incompatible interaction. Piaget acknowledged the importance of the childs interaction with the environment whilst Vygotsky on the other hand stressed the importance of social interaction and of having someone who knows to a greater extent than the child and who can help the child learn something that would be too difficult to do alone. Piaget aphorism the child as a scientist, he learnt things in solitary on his own, while Vygotsky saw the child as an scholar because he learnt as a result of social collaboration.Consequently, the way that they viewed the role of the instructor in a childs life differed. Piaget believed that the instructor was the facilitator, the one that provides the interaction in the environment. As impertinent to Vygotskys belief that the teacher is the expert that provides the scaffold support to children as they are learning new things. In addition to this Vygotsky believed that language was crucial for the cognitive development. He believed that the superlative advantage in development comes when we get to the stage of being able to interiorize language.One of the biggest differences between these theories was that Vygotsky was able to put his theories into practice in a school setting. Unlike Piaget, who was of an academic background and didnt apply his theories. Never the less, they both theories influenced education and empahsied the importance of assessment however Vygotsky treasured the observation of children and their abilities to be as valied as test scores. Most of the criticism of Piagets work is in regards to his re explore methods. A major source of his inspiration for the theory was based on his observations of his own children.And because of this refined sample group, people believe that it is difficult and inc orrect to generalise his findings to a large population. Similarly, many an(prenominal) psychologists believe that Piaget underestimated the age which children could fall upon certain tasks and that sometimes children understand a concept before they are able to demonstrate their understanding of it. For example, children in the sensoripush back stage whitethorn not search for a hidden quarry because their motor skills are not developed, rather than because they need object permanence. This has been supported by certainty from Bower & Wishart (1972).They found that the way that an object is do to disappear influences the childs response. As well as this, Piagets theory has been said to overestimate that each child and adult reaches the formal practicable stage of knowledge development. Dasen (1994) claims that only a third of adults ever reach this stage. The need of experimental support in regards to Piagets suggestion that the cognitive development is make from the con flict that endures by placing the child in a state of disequilibrium was critisied by other psychologists. For example, Inhelder et al. 1974) showed that children learn better in situations of spiritless conflict. Also, Piaget focused on childrens mistakes and thence may have overlooked heavy mental abilities of the children by focusing on in what connection did they make their misplay during the task. Although Piagets theory has quite a lot of criticism, he will forever and a day be cognise as one of the most influential psychologists. His theory is cognize to have had a great plowshare to education and has provided a starting prefigure for other psychologists research which has helped us develop and understand the cognitive development.When compared with Piagets theory, a major weakness to Vygotskys theory is that there is little empirical research relation to it. This is probably due(p) to his early death and because the theory focuses on the process of the cognitive de velopment and not of the outcomes like Piagets. In addition to this, many psychologists believe that vygotsky might have over emphasised the influence that social interaction on childrens learning capabilities. However on the other hand, it is said that he underemphasized the biological and individual factors of the cognitive development.Vygotsky encouraged being aware of the children potential and how with the correct assistance or support from an adult or a peer with much(prenominal) knowledge the child is capable of learning to a greater extent. Through this simple observation he gave it the term of Zone of Proximal growing . Hughs (1975) and Donaldson (1978) take the standd this by demonstrated that the same tasks that Piaget set for the children can be made understandable by making them more child friendly by providing a familiar social atmosphere.The practical occupation of the ideas presented by both Piagets and Vygotskys theories in a classroom could help a classroom run more smoothly by providing the teacher with different teaching methods. A teacher succeeding(a) Piagets theories would be likely to group children of comparable levels of development in concert. The teacher would encourage overturn thought during discussions, and be certain to build on previous education that the students had been given.However, when examen the skills and knowledge of the students, the teacher would be more likely to use questions that evoked concrete answers such as true or false questions. The teacher would be more likely to go over departed information add new information, set individual set apartments, and then test the students knowledge on the subject. On the other hand, a teacher following Vygotskys theories would be more likely to form groups of diverse students with different skill levels and different levels of knowledge, possibly point setting up tutors for slower students.The teacher would be more likely to assign group projects and give the students problems to solve, as opposed to asking questions that can be answered with a concrete answer. In addition to this, the teacher should attempt to create a lesson that would comprise all three stages of learning by providing the information to the students, allowing diverse groups to work together and then assigning an individual task that tests the students ability to think through the information and problem on their own. Which would help prove that with the help they received before they were apable of doing the neighboring task by themselves. Although both theories can be applied to an educational setting, their implications on a classroom would arise in different manners. By only applying Piagets theory in a classroom, for example grouping children of similar levels of development would farm a group of smart children and a group of less capable children. In doing this, the classroom could become a get in where the less capable children would be known as underachiev ers and taunted by the more academical children.Similarly, only applying Vygotskys theory in an educational, for example, by forming groups of diverse students with different skill levels an different levels of knowledge together, only applying Vygotskys theory in an educational, the able children will always be assisting the less able and it may hinder their abilities to learn. In conclusion, I think that both Piagets and Vygotskys theories assign different insight into how children learn and that peradventure by combining the different ideas from both of them would help in building a good teaching classroom.