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Piaget and Vygotsky: Examining Theories
Piaget and Vygotsky: Examining Theories
Kwabea Kwapong
Virginia State University
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Piaget and Vygotsky: Examining Theories
A theory is “a coherent group of tested general propositions, commonly regarded as
correct, that can be used as principles of explanation and prediction for a class of phenomena”
("Dictionary," 2012). An effective theory focuses on specific parts of a theory. Piaget created
cognitive development theory which explains human behavior by studying thought processes.
Vygotsky developed the sociocultural theory which explains how a child is dependent on adults
to help them as well as independent to learn how to do things on their own. Jean Piaget and Lev
Vygotsky had different theories that are both comparable but have their own separate views and
meanings.
Jean Piaget was born in Switzerland in 1896. He received his doctoral degree at the age
of 22. He died in September of 1980. His work is still studied today, in the areas of psychology,
sociology, education, and genetics (Cherry, a). He developed an interest in studying the
intellectual development of children after working with psychologist Alfred Binet. He concluded
that children were not less intelligent than adults; they simply thought differently and therefore,
answered questions differently (Cherry, b).
His theory of cognitive development deals with changes in intellectual abilities and is
associated with the domain of cognitive development. There are four stages of Piaget’s theory.
The first stage is the sensorimotor stage and it lasts from birth to age 2. Infants learn by using
their eyes, ears, hands, and mouth. The second stage, the preoperational stage, lasts from age 2 to
7. Children begin to use symbols. This shows the relationships children can form between
language, actions and objects at this stage. The third stage, the concrete operational stage, lasts
from ages 7 to 11. Children begin to start thinking logically, but they struggle to apply concepts
to anything which cannot physically be manipulated or seen. The last stage is the formal
operational stage and it occurs from 11 years onward. Abstract and hypothetical thinking begins
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Piaget and Vygotsky: Examining Theories
to occur. Adolescents also become able to apply concepts without needing physical examples to
do so (Eddy, 2010).
According to Piaget, the child plays a role in their knowledge building by asking
questions and trying to do things for themselves. The physical environment can both positively
and negatively affect a child’s knowledge building. Piaget believed a child cannot learn unless
they are constantly interacting with their environment, by making their own mistakes and then
learning from them (Eddy, 2010).
According to Piaget, there are three processes associated with development. They are
schemas, adaptation, and equilibrium (Eddy 2010). Schemas are categories of knowledge that
help us to interpret and understand the world. For example, For example, someone’s schema for
Christmas may include: Christmas trees, presents, giving, money, green, red, gold, winter, Santa
Claus etc. While someone else may have an entirely different schema, such as Jesus, birth,
Church, holiday, Christianity etc. Next is adaptation, which is changing our schema to make
accurate models of the world as we learn new things. There are two parts of adaptation, they are
assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of incorporating new information
into a pre-existing schema. Accommodation is changing or altering our existing schemas in light
of new information. New schemas may also be developed during this process. Last is
equilibrium. Piaget suggested that humans naturally strive to achieve a cognitive balance; there
must be a balance between applying prior knowledge (assimilation) and changing schemata to
account for new information (accommodation). The theory is strong in that the stages are very
accurate. Even if learning does not occur exactly as described, the theory is a good model. A
weakness is that the model is not always 100% accurate.
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Piaget and Vygotsky: Examining Theories
Lev Vygotsky was born on November 17, 1896 in Orsha, Byelorussia. He studied law at
Moscow State University. “He studied a range of topics white attending university, including
sociology, linguistics, psychology and philosophy. “However, his formal work in psychology did
not begin until 1924 when he attended the Institute of Psychology in Moscow and began
collaborating with Alexei Leontiev and Alexander Luria” (Cherry, C). He concluded that there
were two types of psychological thinking: natural (includes biological growth as well as physical
and cognitive development) and cultural (learning to use cultural and psychological tools which
include signs, language, and symbols). He died of tuberculosis at the age of 38 on June 11, 1934.
He published six books on psychology in over ten years. His interests grazed over different
topics but his main focuses were education and child development. His major theories were
Zone of Proximal Development and Sociocultural Theory. He believed that human development
results from a dynamic interaction between society and individuals. “Cognitive development is
the construction of thought processes, including remembering, problem solving, and decisionmaking, from childhood through adolescence to adulthood” (Wells, 2011). This theory is
associated with the domains of cognitive and developmental development.
According to Vygotsky, the child is dependent on adults to help them excel in important
activities, which in turn helps the communication between the parent and the child become part
of the children’s thinking. “For example, when they acquire language, their ability to participate
in dialogues with others is greatly enhanced, and mastery of culturally valued competencies
surges forward” (Berk,2006). The child is active when they are on their own and they are
learning how to do things by themselves. They start to talk out loud to themselves when they try
to figure out new things. “For example, as Sammy worked on a puzzle, he said, ‘Where’s the red
piece? Now, a blue one. No, it doesn’t fit. Try it here.’” Culture up can greatly affect a child’s
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Piaget and Vygotsky: Examining Theories
development depending on how they are raised. Different cultures raise their children in
different ways. For example, in Japan, they value group life. “Japanese society is very grouporiented, and it is important to be able to interact as part of a group and to get along with others.”
Physical environment can greatly affect a child’s building for knowledge. Growing up
in different types of environments affect children differently. For example, children living in
low income neighborhoods probably will not learn as much as a child that lives in a welldeveloped neighborhood. A strength of this theory is that young children learn how to hold
conversations with the people around them. A limitation of this theory is that the child might
have a hard time learning how to hold conversations if there isn’t an adult figure that can help
them learn.
Both Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories are both very valuable when it comes to learning
about cognitive development. For example, both theories show that cognitive development
requires stimulation. Even though they are similar in some ways, both theories are still very
different. Vygotsky’s theory places considerable emphasis on social factors contributing to
cognitive development, Piaget is criticized for underestimating this (McLeod, 2007). Piaget
believed that development precedes learning, Vygotsky believed the opposite. Piaget’s theory is
discontinuous, meaning that it is broken up into stages; Vygotsky’s in continuous. Both theories
have their differences, but they are both very influential in the field of psychology.
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Piaget and Vygotsky: Examining Theories
References
Cherry, Kendra. (n.d.). Jean Piaget Biography (1896-1980). Retrieved February 17, 2012, from
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesofmajorthinkers/p/piaget.htm
Cherry, Kendra. (n.d.). Background and Key Concepts of Piaget's Theory. Retrieved February
17, 2012, from http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/a/keyconcepts.htm
Cherry, Kendra. (n.d.). Lev Vygotsky Biography. Retrieved February 22, 2012, from
http://psychology.about.com/od/profilesmz/p/vygotsky.htm
Crystal, David S. 1994. .Concept of Deviance in Children and Adolescents: The Case of Japan..
Deviant Behavior: An Interdisciplinary Journal 15:241-266.
Gallagher, Christina. (1999). Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky. Retrieved February 21, 2012, from
http://www.muskingum.edu/~psych/psycweb/history/vygotsky.htm
Eddy, Samuel. (2010, September 5). Theories of Cognitive Development: Jean Piaget. Retrieved
February 22, 2012, from http://psychohawks.wordpress.com/2010/09/05/theories-ofcognitive-development-jean-piaget/
McLeod, Saul. (2007) Vygotsky. Retrieved March 14. 2012, from
http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html