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What does Piaget tell us about how children’s
cognitive abilities develop?
According to Piaget
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• Children are little scientists who develop
cognitively by acquiring schemas about the
world through discovery learning
• To what extent do you agree with this view?
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• Are there things a child needs to learn about
the world that cannot simply be discovered?
Today’s session
You are learning to...
• Compare and contrast
theories
• Use research to evaluate
theories
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You are learning about...
• Lev Vygotsky’s theory of
cognitive development
• Russian psychologist,
contemporary of Piaget
but his work not
published in English
until after his death in
1934
• Believed that Piaget
ignored the role of
culture on cognitive
development
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Lev Vygotsky
Vygotsky & Piaget
– The nature of developmental change
– The experiences that lead to development
– How children acquire knowledge
– The relationship between learning and
development
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• Watch the clip and decide whether Piaget and
Vygotsky would agree or disagree on the
following issues.
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Vygotsky & Piaget
Vygotsky & Piaget
• Do Vygotsky & Piaget agree on...
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– The nature of developmental change
– The experiences that lead to development
– How children acquire knowledge
– The relationship between learning and
development
Similarities
• V & P agree that...
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– Children actively construct their own knowledge
of the world, they don’t just absorb experiences
– Cognitive development involves qualitative
changes in thinking; it isn’t just a matter of
learning more things.
Differences
– Piaget emphasises the child’s interactions with
physical objects, Vygotsky emphasises interactions
with people
– Piaget says that development precedes learning –
children can’t learn certain things until they are
ready. Vygotsky says that learning can drive
development – so there aren’t universal stages of
development in the Piagetian sense
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• V & P disagree on...
Zone of proximal development
• Watch the clip and look out for these...
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– What is the ZPD?
– How does it relate to the child’s development
– What role do other people play?
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Zone of proximal development
Level of assisted
performance
Zone of proximal
development
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Level of unassisted
performance
Language
• One way that others equip the child with
strategies for thinking is through language
• Vygotsky gives language a central role in
thinking
Early
language
Verbal thought and
rational speech
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Pre-verbal
thought
Evidence
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• Wood et al (1976)
• Ruffman et al (1998)
• Bruner (1966)
Homework
• Think about your recent learning experiences
and those you have in the next few days.
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– When have you been pushed into your ZPD?
– How and by whom?
– What strategies were used to increase your level
of unassisted performance?