Cognitive Development
and Language
Major Questions in
Human Development
• Continuous or discontinuous
development?
• Nature or nurture?
• Is there one course of development
or many?
Piaget’s Assumptions
• Child as scientific problem solver
 Child ACTIVELY constructs meaning
from environment
• Stage theory
 Changes are invariant and universal
Developmental Processes
• Schemes Mental structures for
organizing and interpreting
information
• Adaptation
– Assimilation Use current schemes to
interpret the external world.
– Accommodation Creating new schemes
or adjusting old ones.
Equilibrium Process
Equilibrium
New Experiences
New Schemes
Disequilibrium
Piaget’s Stage Theory
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Sensorimotor stage
Preoperational stage
Concrete operational stage
Formal operational stage
Sensorimotor Stage: 0-2 yrs
• Infants use senses to explore
• Object permanence
• Goal directed actions
Preoperational Stage: 2-7 yrs
• Operations
• Semiotic function including
language
• One-way logic
• Difficulty with centering &
conservation
• Egocentrism
Concrete Operational Stage:
7-11 yrs
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“Hands on” thinking
Conservation, identity, compensation
Reversibility
Classification
Seriation
Formal Operational Stage: 11adult
• Mental operations can now grasp the
abstract
• Scientific thinking
• Hypothetical-deductive reasoning
• Logical
• Consequences adolescent
egocentrism
Implications of Piaget’s
Theory for Teachers
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Understanding students’ thinking
“Match” teaching to cognitive stage
Individuals “construct” knowledge
Use disequilibrium to motivate
Limitations of Piaget’s
Theory
• Not necessarily a qualitative change
• Not universal
• Difficult to test developmental
processes
• Overlooks cultural basis of cognitive
development
Vygotsky’s Sociocultural
Theory
• Cognitive development is inherently both a
social and cultural process
• Knowledge is co-constructed
– Interpsychological and Intrapsychological
• Role of cultural tools
• Role of language & private speech
• Role of adults and peers
Zone of Proximal
Development
• Gap between what person can do
alone and what they are capable of
doing if guided by more experience
other
Scaffolding
• Assistance provided in the zone of
proximal development
• Should gradually decrease as children
become more competent at a task
Implications of Vygotsky’s
Theory for Teachers
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Assisted learning
Scaffolding
Zone of proximal development
Collaborative learning
Alternative assessment
Piaget vs. Vygotsky
• Egocentric vs. private speech
• Implications for education
Implications for Education
Piaget
Cognitive
Child actively
Development interacts w/
environment
Learning
Given stimulating
environment
Teacher’s
Provides
Role
environment
Activities
Discovery learning
Vygotsky
Thru scaffolding &
ZPD
Challenging tasks
with help
Scaffolding
Cooperative
learning