This essay intends to evaluate major theories of Piaget, Chomsky and Vygotsky

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This essay discusses cognitive, sensory and language development connected with the theories of Piaget, Chomsky and Vygotsky.  Children develop in different areas, cognitive development, sensory development and language development.  All areas are different but interlinked.  The interrelation of all three provides for all round healthy development.  The best practice when working within the early years is striving to develop each area.  

Piaget was probably one of most influential cognitive theorists. Piaget was a constructivist which means basically that learning occurs from actions rather than as a result of actions.  Cognition generally refers to any intellectual process within the human experience.    Another explanation of cognitive development is ;

‘ the process by which individuals acquire a more sophisticated and complex knowledge of the world around them’  (Walker, 2002)

These processes include attention the ability to focus, perception the individual interpretation, memory, thinking and problem solving.  Constructivists or Cognitivists believe development is the ‘process by which individuals acquire a more sophisticated and complex knowledge of the world around them.’  It deals with the mental activity within the brain and the formation of concepts.  The knowledge is acquired by doing rather than being given information.

Piaget described development as going through different mental processes.  He believed that all children pass through the stages but environmental influences on children will vary the ages each stage is reached.  A child who is given more learning opportunities will develop faster by progressing through the stages at a faster rate.  Piaget uses the term schema to describe the concepts children acquire through the following processes as they interact with their environment.  Maturation and adaptation are the natural biological maturity over which environment has no control and a child adapting its behaviours/actions to its own environment.  Adaptation only occurs because of assimilation, accommodation and equilibrium.  Assimilation is the knowledge used to confront problems needed to be solved; accommodation is the process of changing what we already know to work in order to sole new tasks effectively.  Equilibrium is the state of feeling steady and in control.  Equilibrium comes from modifying our cognitive structures when in a state of disequilibrium to create equilibrium.    Schemas are ways in which our knowledge is stored.  They are like computer files in our brain.  They are abstract folders that store everything we know.  As a child learns, that information is held in one of these folders and that knowledge is used when needed in new situations.  These folders are constantly being updated with new information or new knowledge learned.  

  ‘Piaget considered the interaction between the child and their environment to be the main factor in influencing cognitive development (the development of learning through thinking and problem solving), and this active involvement in their own learning is described by Piaget as series of schemas (principles).’  (Green 2002)

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Paiget outlined four stages of development, the Sensori-motor period, the pre-operational period, the concrete-operational period and the formal-operational period.  

Sensory motor stage begins at birth and carries through until two years old.  The ages are given as a guide and early years workers should ensure they use them as such and not stick rigidly with the timeframe.  During the sensory motor stage children learn through sight and touch and movement.  Many play toys involve children laying down and looking at objects hanging above them, this is stimulating sight and encouraging movement from the child in order to reach ...

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