Children’s Cognitive Development:

Alternatives to Piaget

Outline:

 Brief review of Piaget’s theory

 The role of culture - implications for Piaget’s theory

 The theory of Vygotsky

 The theory of Bruner (see intranet)

 Summary of Piaget
 Stage theory of development - older children think qualitatively differently to
younger children. In other words, at each successive stage, it's not just a
matter of doing something better, but of doing a different thing altogether.

 4 stages:
– Stage 1: Sensory motor Period (0-2 years)
– Stage 2: Pre-operational stage (2-7 years)
– Stage 3: Concrete Operational Stage (7-11 years)
– Stage 4: Formal Operational Stage (11+ years)

 Development is the combined result of:

– maturation of the brain and nervous system
– experiences that help children adapt to new environments - adaptation: an
organism’s ability to fit in with it’s environment (through the process of
assimilation and accommodation).
 Criticisms of Piaget

Underestimated the ability of children

» Tasks were methodologically flawed. As several studies have shown

Piaget underestimated the abilities of children because his tests
were sometimes confusing or difficult to understand.

Underestimated the impact of CULTURE:

» Piaget’s tasks are culturally biased

» Schooling and literacy affect rates of development

 e.g. Greenfield’s study of the Wolof

» Formal operational thinking is not universal

 e.g. Gladwin’s study of the Polynesian islanders
 Criticisms of Piaget

Methodological issues

» Piaget used naturalistic observations of his own children when they

were only a few weeks old.

» The tendency for observers to be biased can be counteracted by

using two or more observers (re: inter-observer reliability), but
Piaget observed and made notes alone.

» Generalisations should not be made from research such as this, but

Piaget did generalise and many of his ideas on sensori-motor and
pre-operational stages are based on these observations.
 Lev Vygotsky
• Because Piaget concentrated on the individual child, he failed to consider the
effect that the social setting may have on cognitive development.

• The way that adults use language and gestures and the child's experience through
social interactions are very influential on cognitive development (re: Vygotsky).

Lev Vygotsky
 1896 - 1934
 Work remained little known because it was banned by Stalin after Vygotsky’s death
 Collapse of the Soviet Union meant:
– greater dialogue between the West and Russia
– Vygotsky’s work translated into English
 Vygotsky’s Main Ideas

Vygotsky is credited with developing the concept of Social Cognition

(aka Social Development Theory of Learning), which proposes that:

 Social Interaction and culture has a dramatic impact on

cognitive development.

 Cognitive processes (language, thought, reasoning) develop

through social interaction.

 Learning is largely mediated by social interaction of students

and "More Knowledgeable Others" (e.g. teachers, parents,
coaches, peers, experts, etc.)
 Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)
 Vygotsky centred much of his research on a phenomenon he coined as
"the Zone of Proximal Development," or ZPD.

 Vygotsky stated:

“The zone of proximal development defines those functions that

have not yet matured, but are in the process (of doing so)…”

“…what is the zone of proximal development today will be the

actual development level tomorrow – that is, what a child can
do with assistance toady she will be able to do by herself
tomorrow”.
 Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD)

 In this case “proximal” means what comes next.

 The idea is that a child is only able to take the next step in their
cognitive development if another person – typically an adult – supports
and prompts them to do so.

 This sort of assistance has been called scaffolding.

 Scaffolding

 Wood, Bruner, and Ross (1976) developed Vygotsky’s notion of a zone

of proximal development.

 They introduced the concept of scaffolding, which refers to the

context provided by knowledgeable people such as adults to help children
to develop their cognitive skills.

 An important aspect of scaffolding is that there is a gradual withdrawal

of support as the child’s knowledge and confidence increase.
 Scaffolding Example
Left to his own devices, could this boy make his sister a birthday cake?
His mother uses scaffolding to create a situation in which he can begin to move
into a zone of proximal development.
Differences between Piaget and Vygotsky

Source of cognitive development

 Piaget believed that the most important source of cognition is the

children themselves. Piaget emphasised the role of an inbuilt (biological)
tendency to adapt to the environment, by a process of self-discovery
and play.

 Vygotsky emphasised the role of culture and experience. Vygotsky

believed that what drives cognitive development is social interaction – a
child’s experience with other people. Culture shapes cognition.
Differences between Piaget and Vygotsky

Language and Thought

 For Piaget, language is a product of cognitive development. In other

words, cognitive development (IV) determines language use (DV).

 Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for

communication purposes. Later language ability becomes internalised as
thought and “inner speech”. Thought is the result of language.

 In other words, social interactions (IV) determines language use (DV).

Differences between Piaget and Vygotsky

Stage Theory

 Piaget emphasised universal cognitive change.

 Vygotsky’s theory can be applied to all ages (not a stage theory) and
emphasised individual development.

Discovery Learning (Education)

 Piaget advocated for discovery learning with little teacher intervention.

 Vygotsky promoted guided discovery in the classroom with the help of a

MKO.