Piaget and Vygotsky: The Psychology of Cognitive Development Essay

This essay concerns the psychology of cognitive development. cognitive development can be explained in terms of the acquisition, construction and imperfect change in thought processes such as memory, problem-solving and decision-making that occurs from childhood to due date (in Smith, P.K., Cowie, H & Blades, M. 2003). Major pioneers in this bea and whose work has been the foundation of a good deal research in cognitive psychology are among Jean Piagets (1926) and Lev Vygotksys (1978). A common understanding between the two counterbalance on the idea that cognitive development in children occurs through stages, however, their hail in identifying these stages highly differ (in Smith P.K. et al., 2003). Piagets account of cognitive development has been one of the many influential theories of time, receiving great recognition and popularity. concord to Piaget children possess an innate capacity to learn human language and skills and are born with and acquire schemas (in Smith P.K . et al., 2003). Schemas are an internal representation of our environment which construct of a framework of cognitive processes that help us conspire or interpret situations formal (in Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. 2009). Piaget proposed that cognitive development was restricted if schemas did non reach a threshold level (in Smith P.K. et al., 2003).In addition, Piaget hike theorised that children actively construct their own world as a marrow of understanding their environment. The more than actively engaged a child is with their environment, the more they will learn (in Smith P.K. et al., 2003). Along with this, Piaget contended that children need to be psychologically mature in order to understand the world a... ...ialisation (in Smith P.K. et al., 2003). Moreover, Siegler, (1986 in Passer, M. et al., 2009) argued that Piagets stages seemed to be incompatible with reality claiming that children are able to run tasks that are as cribed to a specific stage in a diverse stage therefore not being consistent with Piagets assumptions.In conclusion, it is evident that both Piaget and Vygotsky acknowledge cognitive development in children as a process and view the child as an active learner. However, it is Copernican that we distinguish between their different stages of development.Works CitedSmith, P.K., Cowie, H. & Baldes, M. (2003). Understanding childrens development. (4th ed.). Oxford Blackwell.Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. (2009). psychological science Science of Mind and Behaviour. (European Edition). New York.