Cognitive Development: Vygotsky'S Sociocultural Theory

EDS220|EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif

VYGOTSKY’S SOCIOCULTURAL Öztürk
THEORY Educational Sciences, METU
SUMMARY OF LAST WEEK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhcgYgx7aAA
Piaget’s stages of cognitive development and cognitive characteristics.
STAGE AND AGE COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS

PIAGET’S SUMMARY
Sensorimotor: 0–2 Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on sensory

and motor processing (e.g., tasting, touching, grasping)
Goal-directed behavior & Object permanence arises at the end of
the stage
Preoperational: 2–7 Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic

Use of symbols (e.g., language, numbers, images)
Intuitive thought
Imaginary play/ Role play
NOT capable of: Conservation (because of Perceptional Centration,
Irreversibility, Egocentrism)
Concrete operational: 7–11 Use of mental operations to solve concrete problems

Overcome:
Conservation, Centration, and Reversibility,
Capable of: Classification, Seriation
Formal operational: 11+ Capable of: Abstract thought, Metacognition, Problem-solving

Hypothetical Thinking

PIAGET’S SUMMARY

the stage

Intuitive thought

Overcome:


PIAGET’S SUMMARY

the stage

Intuitive thought

Overcome:


PIAGET’S SUMMARY

the stage

Intuitive thought

Overcome:


PIAGET’S SUMMARY

the stage

Intuitive thought

Overcome:

VYGOTSKY’S
SOCIOCULTURAL THEORY
VYGOTSKY’S
sociocultural because, unlike Piaget, he
believed that thinking is a function of
both social and cultural forces.
VYGOTSKY’S
provide alternative explanations to many of
Piaget’s ideas:
For instance, Vygotsky believed cognitive

growth to be a seamless process shaped and
stimulated by learners’ sociocultural context
rather than the succession of invariant stages
proposed by Piaget.
VYGOTSKY’S
According to Vygotsky, infants start
demonstrating object permanence by age 2
not because they have achieved a higher
stage of development but because they had
the repeated social interactions necessary
to understand the type of response that was
expected from them.
VYGOTSKY’S
Child’s culture shapes cognitive development by
determining what and how the child will learn about the
world.
Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social

interaction in the development of cognition
Community plays a central role in the process of "making

meaning."
VYGOTSKY’S
For example in some rural areas u
can see very little children can
cook or do heavy duty staff.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOjH1Eij2U0
VYGOTSKY’S
SOCIOCULTURAL
Vygotsky himself had experienced the effects of
THEORY
social interaction on his cognitive growth.
As a boy, he was taught by private tutors who
used a Socratic instructional method, (is a form
of cooperative argumentative dialogue between
individuals, based on asking and answering
questions to stimulate critical thinking)
Taken together, his own experience with tutors
and his experience teaching others led him to
conclude that the two main forces driving
cognitive development are social interaction and
language
TWO IMPORTANT THEMES DRIVING
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
1. The social sources of individual

thinking
2. The role of tools in learning and
development (tool of language)
THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION IN
social interactions do not just influence cognitive development but rather create
individuals’ schemas and thinking processes
Unlike Piaget, who believed social interaction to be a mechanism for testing current
schemas and facilitating assimilation and accommodation,
Vygotsky believed social interaction to be the key mechanism for acquiring the
language and culture of a community.
cognitive development moves from socialization to internalization, the appropriation
of the language and culture of one’s community.
According to Vygotsky, as children
engage in activities in their social
environments, they create their
understandings of the world
THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INTERACTION
IN COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT
CULTURAL TOOLS
Cultural tools are fundamental for cognitive
growth because they allow an individual to go
beyond his/her physical and mental limitations
Cultural tools can be technical (those used to

act on the environment)
or
psychological (those used to guide thinking
processes).
CULTURAL TOOLS A shovel is a technical tool
because it allows us to
Cultural tools are fundamental for cognitive transform the shape of the
growth because they allow an individual to go ground.

or
processes).
Mnemonics (anımsatıcılar), on the other hand,
CULTURAL TOOLS are psychological tools because they allow us to
extend beyond our memory limitations
Cultural tools are fundamental for cognitive
growth because they allow an individual to go

or
processes).
CULTURAL TOOLS
Mnemonics
mnemonics are strategies to improve memory and which may consist of making
verbal or visual associations to new concepts.
CULTURAL TOOLS
Vygotsky believed that children gain

significantly from the cultural tools
handed down to them by those who are
more intellectually advanced
Higher mental processes apperar first between people –as they are co-constructed
(mediation)- during shared activities
Then the process are internilized by the child and become part of that child’s
cognitive development
CO-CONSTRUCTION (MEDIATION)
Dad! I lost Where did
my red car, you last
help me to see it?
find
Who remembered? Did you
I cant Neither ! have it in
remember your
Two together ! room?
Hımm... The remembering and Outside?

no
problem solving was co- In the car?
No! No! constructed Nextdoor?
I think Child may have internilized

so 
strategies to use next time
something is lost !
For example, after observing a child reaching
out with her hand toward an object that is out OK, you would
of her reach, a parent may say… like me to give
you this cup!
This mediation process will help the

child create shared understandings with
the parent and others in the future.
and then present the child with the object Mediation transforms the child’s
reaching into the internalized thought “I
want you to give me that object”
Mediated learning experiences

encourage the child to think about her
actions by attaching labels to them,
recognizing principles or patterns
underlying them, or inferring
conclusions.
PIAGET VS VYGOTSKY
SOCIAL INTERACTION
PIAGET VYGOTSKY
Interaction encourages development Children’s cognitive development is
by creating disequilibrium that fostered by interactions with people
motivated change. who are more capable or advanced in
their thinking. (parents and teachers)
Believed that most helpful interaction
were between peers because peers are
on equal basis and can challenge each
other’s thinking
TWO IMPORTANT THEMES IN
VYGOTSKY’S THEORY
How social processes form learning and thinking?
1. The social sources of individual thinking

2. The role of tools in learning and development (tool of language)
THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE IN
According to Vygotsky, children use

language not only for communication but
also to plan, guide, and monitor their own
behavior.
In other words, language has a self-
regulation function in cognitive
development.
THE ROLE OF LANGUAGE AND
PRIVATE SPEECH
The Vygotskian term that is used to refer
to the self-regulatory function of
language is inner speech, also called
private or egocentric speech.
Inner speech is the phenomenon of

talking out loud to ourselves
DEVELOPING INNER SPEECH
The child can now systemtically search for ideas about the lost book without help
from anyone else !
After
Where is class, I
my math put it in
book? my bag.
So may
be, My
friend
I used it in found
Drop myit....
class in bag on the
the bus.
morning !
PRIVATE SPEECH
Language provides;
• a means of expressing ideas and asking questions,
• the categories and concepts for thinking,
• the links between the past and the future
Language in the form of private speech (talking to

yourself) guides cognitive development !
PRIVATE SPEECH
Although children’s first experience with speech
is as a means to communicate with others,
at about age 3, children start using inner speech
as they regulate their problem solving.
inner speech is self-regulatory by showing that
the use of inner speech increases as the level of
a task’s difficulty increases
by age 7, inner speech disappears, although it
may still be used even through adulthood as a
guiding mechanism when people are confronted
with a very challenging task.
PRIVATE SPEECH
children who use inner speech to guide their thinking during problem solving
are more likely to remain focused, avoid distractions, and perform better than those
who do not
A point of disagreement between Piaget and Vygotsky is how they interpreted

children’s use of inner speech.
PIAGET VS VYGOTSKY
THEORIES OF PRIVATE SPEECH AND EGOCENTRISM
PIAGET VYGOTSKY
DEVELOPMENTAL Represents an inability Represent externilized thought, function
SIGNIFICANCE to communicate with self for self-
guidence
COURSE OF Declines with age Increases at younger ages, than become
DEVELOPMENT internal verbal thoughts
RELATIONSHIP TO Negative; least socially and Positive; private speech develops out of
SOCIAL SPEECH cognitively mature children use social interaction with others.
more egocentric speech
RELATIONSHIP TO Increases with task difficulty.
ENVIRONMENTAL Helpful self-guiding function when
CONTEXTS cognitive effort is needed to solve a
problem
THE ROLE OF ADULTS AND PEERS
Cognitive development occurs with more capable
members of the culture.
These people provide information and support necessary
for the child to grow intellectually.
The adult listens carefully and provides just the right help
to advence the child understanding.
The child is not alone in the world ‘discovering’ the

cognitive operations (like conservation, classification...) SCAFFOLDIN
G
THE ZONE OF PROXIMAL
DEVELOPMENT (ZPD)
A any given point in the development, there are
certain problems that a child is on the verge of being
able to solve.
The child just need some structure, clues, reminders,

help with remembering
ZPD is the area where the child cannot solve a

problem alone, but can be succesful under adult
guidance or in colloboration with a more
advenced peer.
ASSISTED LEARNING
Teacher should do more than just arranging and let students to discover themselves
Children can not /should not be expected to rediscover knowledge alrady available in
the culture
They should be guided and assisted in their learning
Assisted learning/guided participation in class requires scaffolding
Giving information, reminders and encouragements at trhe right time and in

the right amounts !!! And gradually allow students more and more on their
own

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EDS220|EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY

COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT Assist. Prof. Dr. Elif

STAGE AND AGE COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS

Sensorimotor: 0–2 Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on sensory

Preoperational: 2–7 Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic

Concrete operational: 7–11 Use of mental operations to solve concrete problems

Formal operational: 11+ Capable of: Abstract thought, Metacognition, Problem-solving

STAGE AND AGE COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS

Sensorimotor: 0–2 Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on sensory

Preoperational: 2–7 Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic

Concrete operational: 7–11 Use of mental operations to solve concrete problems

Formal operational: 11+ Capable of: Abstract thought, Metacognition, Problem-solving

STAGE AND AGE COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS

Sensorimotor: 0–2 Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on sensory

Preoperational: 2–7 Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic

Concrete operational: 7–11 Use of mental operations to solve concrete problems

Formal operational: 11+ Capable of: Abstract thought, Metacognition, Problem-solving

STAGE AND AGE COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS

Sensorimotor: 0–2 Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on sensory

Preoperational: 2–7 Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic

Concrete operational: 7–11 Use of mental operations to solve concrete problems

Formal operational: 11+ Capable of: Abstract thought, Metacognition, Problem-solving

STAGE AND AGE COGNITIVE CHARACTERISTICS

Sensorimotor: 0–2 Dependence of thinking processes and understanding on sensory

Preoperational: 2–7 Reliance of thinking processes on perception more than logic

Concrete operational: 7–11 Use of mental operations to solve concrete problems

Formal operational: 11+ Capable of: Abstract thought, Metacognition, Problem-solving

For instance, Vygotsky believed cognitive

Vygotsky's theories stress the fundamental role of social

Community plays a central role in the process of "making

1. The social sources of individual

Cultural tools can be technical (those used to

Cultural tools can be technical (those used to

Cultural tools can be technical (those used to

Vygotsky believed that children gain

Hımm... The remembering and Outside?

I think Child may have internilized

This mediation process will help the

Mediated learning experiences

1. The social sources of individual thinking

According to Vygotsky, children use

Inner speech is the phenomenon of

Language in the form of private speech (talking to

A point of disagreement between Piaget and Vygotsky is how they interpreted

The child is not alone in the world ‘discovering’ the

The child just need some structure, clues, reminders,

ZPD is the area where the child cannot solve a

Assisted learning/guided participation in class requires scaffolding

Giving information, reminders and encouragements at trhe right time and in

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