Question

Vygotsky emphasized cognitive development as collaboration. How could such collaboration be included in Piaget’s theory? In information processing?

Answer 1

Note: This response is in UK English, please paste the response to MS Word and you should be able to spot discrepancies easily. You may elaborate the answer based on personal views or your classwork if necessary.

(Answer) Jean Piaget’s Stages of Development: Piaget’s stages of cognitive development –

Sensorimotor (0-2 years) Infant develops learning based on what is absorbed through the senses.

Preoperational (2-6 years) Child uses images to understand objects but does not understand them logically.

Concrete operational (7-12) Child can think logically about concrete objects. They can add, subtract and observe.

Formal operational (12 and up) The child understands abstract terms and is able to hypothesize.

Vygotsky suggested that children are social beings who share a connection with the people around them. This connection is based on a certain eagerness to teach them skills. Based on this theory, if one takes a look at the first 2 stages of Piaget’s theory, Vygotsky theory becomes evident.

The infant clearly develops their knowledge based on what is learnt from their surroundings.

In the next stage, the child does not have a logical understanding of things, however, in the concrete operational stage, a child is able to think logically and add and subtract to the information they possess.

All of these stages are indicative of information that a child has absorbed through their senses, which are possibly taught by the adults that they socialise with.

Vygotsky saw the child as an apprentice. This is evident in some form in Piaget’s first and third stage. In this manner, their theories do have commonalities.