Vygotsky and Piaget Theory - 6 Pages ( Apa Format with...

Vygotsky and Piaget Theory Vygotsky and Piaget Cognitive development can be described as the process in which a person constructs their thoughts for example, remembering things, problem solving and attention. In this essay I am going to evaluate the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. I will look into the weaknesses and strengths of the theories with supporting evidence and also the similarities and the differences of the two theories. Piaget believed that children develop through the interaction of innate capacities with environmental events (Gross 2005). He saw children as scientists and he also argued that cognitive development consists of four evident phases the first phase being the sensorimotor stage, the†¦show more content†¦This is done through inner speech and verbal thought. Humans are born with the ability to interact with others, but they could not do much for themselves. However through a gradual process, the individual moves towards being independent and abilities become transformed through participating in social activities. Proximal development was Vygotsky`s second aspect of his cognitive theory. He felt that children might not be able to archive on their own. Therefore, he felt that it was important to achieve maximum learning. Scaffolding was the next stage that involved in encouraging and offering advice to children for example, hints and pointers on how to learn new things and solve problems on their own. Vygotsky argued that our cognitive development involves problem solving processes that take place due to the interaction between children and those with whom they are regularly in contact with. The parents are the first contact then later moves on to friends, classmates and teachers. According to Flavell (1982) and Siegal (2003), they argued that although Piaget’s theory has had great reach and significance, it has encountered criticism of some aspects of it. Problems with his theory have gradually surfaced. Some of the similarities seen in these two theories were that children were curious, problem solving human beings who played an active part in their own development. They both agreed