Compare and contrast Piaget and Vygotsky.

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Compare and contrast Piaget and Vygotsky

Piaget noticed that when he spoke to children, that children of the same age made similar errors.  The errors were predictable, and suggested that children of different ages might be following different logical rules; therefore Piaget could describe development in a stage theory.

Stage 1 is the sensorimotor stage and the individual is in this stage until he she reaches about 2 years old.  In this stage Piaget suggested that an infant becomes to realize that the object waving in front of their eyes is their own hand.  Then they construct sensory information with motor information and construct new schemas.  The infant’s knowledge is limited to what they can experience through their senses and their attempts to coordinate this new knowledge with what they can do.  A crucial development in this stage is that of object permanence; the understanding that objects still exist even when they are not in sight.  

Stage 2 is called the pre-operational stage and lasts form age 2 to 7.  Because the child is still unable use “operations”, which are logical mental rules, such as arithmetic and the thought is guided by external appearances, rather than internal consistency than logic, however there are rules used at this age, but the reasoning lacks logic.  The child can use symbols (as in language), but their concepts are general (preconceptual).  For example “daddy has a blue car – therefore all blue car’s are daddy’s.”  Also at this stage there is a willingness to give all things lifelike qualities even though they are inanimate, for example “the moon wants to hide behind the clouds.”  Also the child is very egocentric, and finds it difficult to take the perspective of others.

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Stage 3 is the concrete operational stage and lasts for age 7 to 11.  Children in this stage can use logical rules, but the understanding is limited because the child can only deal with the actual concrete world.  For example they cannot cope with “Mary is taller than Susan, Susan is taller than Jane, who is the tallest?”  However they can cope when the problem is put forward using dolls.

Stage 4 is called the formal operational stage, and is from age 11 onwards.  In this stage the children are capable of abstract thought.  If children are asked ...

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