Compare and Contrast two theories of cognitive development.
There are three main types of cognitive development. There is Piaget’s theory, Vygotsky’s theory and the Information processing approach. The two theories that I am going to compare and contrast are Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories. There are many differences between these two theories, but there are also many similarities too. Piaget suggests that cognitive development takes place as a result of experiences which force the child to accommodate new information, creating new schemas and occasionally leading o a qualitatively different kind of thinking- moving from one stage to another, but these changes need to depend on readiness. However, Vygotsky placed more of an emphasis on the importance of social context in transforming elementary into higher mental functions, and the role of the ZPD in understanding how this transformation takes place.
Piaget’s theory, also known as the ‘discovery learning theory’, brought up two ways in which schemas became more complex, assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is basically the process of fitting new information and experiences into existing schemas, and accommodation is the process of changing the existing schemas when new information cannot be assimilated. An example of this could be when a child has a schema “wings, beak and being able to fly” (a normal bird). Every new instance of a creature with the same characteristics is assimilated into this schema. But when that child sees an aeroplane in the sky, the child asks what it is. The aeroplane challenges the current schema. This new information cannot be assimilated into the existing schema, instead the child’s schemas must alter to accommodate the new information and a new schema is formed. A new stage in development is reached when the child’s brain has been matured to a point of ‘readiness’ and some new information or experiences that cannot be assimilated challenge the child’s thinking. When the child has reached the point of ‘readiness’; new experiences will lead to a major reorganisation of schemas, so that a new different stage of cognitive development is reached. The stages of Piaget’s cognitive development start with the sensorimotor stage, 0-2 years of age. Next is the pre-operational stage, 0-7 years. Then there is the concrete operational stage, 7-11 years. Finally, there is the formal operational stage, 11+ years. In the sensorimotor stage the infant’s knowledge is limited to what they can experience though their sense and their attempts to co-ordinate this knowledge with what they can do. In the per-operational stage the child can use symbols but their concepts are general. An example of this could be when a child says, “Daddy owns a blue car” and then whenever they see a blue car they say “Daddy’s car”. The concrete operational stage sees children using logical mental rules, only in the context of concrete rather then abstract information. An example could be that the children would not be able to answer a simple question such as “John has a apple more than Mike, but less than Adam. Who has the most apples?” unless you helped them using real apples. The formal operational stage, abstract and systematic thought becomes possible for the child. There have been a lot of studies into each of these stages, but as I am only supposed to compare the theories I will not go into much detail.