EMMANUEL KANT

KNOWLEDGE AND
MEANING ARE
CONSTRUCTED BY THE
INDIVIDUAL
CONSTRUCTIVISM
INDIVIDUALS INTERPRET SENSORY
INFORMATION AND CONSTRUCT PERSONAL,
SOCIAL, AND CULTURAL MEANING
IT IS THE MEANING OF OUR EXPERIENCES, AND
NOT THE ONTOLOGICAL STRUCTURE OF THE
OBJECTS, WHICH CONSTITUTES REALITY

JEAN PIAGET
COGNITIVEDEVELOPMENTAL
THEORY
A STUDENT WHO ACHIEVES KNOWLEDGE THROUGH
FREE INVESTIGATION AND SPONTANEOUS EFFORT WILL
BE ABLE TO RETAIN THAT KNOWLEDGE AND WILL HAVE
ACQUIRED A METHODOLOGY THAT CAN SERVE FOR A
LIFETIME.

The central fact about

psychology is the fact
of mediation.
Lev Vygotsky

BEHAVIOR
Cognitive Development

Individual as active agent

-emphasis on interpretation
of information and on
construction of meaning

Biological Factors

Environmental Factors

MEDIATING MECHANISMS

E
V
AC TI
Adaptation
I
T
N
AGG IVICT
E
Disequilibrium
O
E
L
C NNFC
Y
Developmental stages CO

WHAT CRITICAL ELEMENTS

SEEM TO BE DE-EMPHASIZED
IN PIAGETS THEORY OF
COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT?

1. HUMAN LEARNING CANNOT

BE UNDERSTOOD
INDEPENDENT OF THE SOCIAL
AND CULTURAL FORCES THAT
INFLUENCE INDIVIDUALS**
2. CRITICAL ROLE OF
LANGUAGE
3. IMPORTANCE OF ASSISTED
LEARNING

The development of mind

is the interweaving of biological
development of the human body and the
appropriation of the cultural/ideal/material
heritage which exists in the present to
coordinate people with each other and with
the physical world.
Lev Vygotsky
from: Beyond the Individual-Social Antimony in Discussions of Piaget and Vygotsky,
by Michael Cole and James Wertsch

LEV VYGOTSKY
SOCIAL-HISTORICAL
THEORY OF COGNITIVE
DEVELOPMENT
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INTERACTIONS ARE
CRITICAL TO LEARNING
INDIVIDUALS CREATE PSYCHOLOGICAL TOOLS
TO LEARN AND TO MASTER THEIR BEHAVIOR

BEHAVIOR
Development

Biological Factors

Environmental Factors
with emphasis on Sociocultural factors

Mediating mechanisms
Cultural influences
- Tools and signs
- Cultural artifacts
- Language

Social Process
Instruction (Zone of
Proximal Development)

THE ZONE OF PROXIMAL

DEVELOPMENT
. . . is the distance between the actual
developmental level as determined by
independent problem solving and the level of
potential development as determined
through problem solving
under adult guidance or
in collaboration with
more capable peers
Lev Vygotsky, 1935

POTENTIAL LEVEL

ACTUAL LEVEL

INSTRUCTION

L
E
A
R
N
I
N
G

ZPD

POTENTIAL LEVEL

ACTUAL LEVEL

ZPD

BEHAVIOR
Development

SOCIAL
(Cultural)
MEDIATION
Biological Factors

Environmental Factors
with emphasis on Sociocultural factors

Mediating mechanisms
Cultural influences
- Tools and signs

Social Process
Instruction (Zone of
Proximal Development)

CONCEPTUAL DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN

VYGOTSKY

and

PIAGET

1. COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT IS PRIMARILY A

FUNCTION OF
SOCIO-CULTURAL
INTERACTION
Adult-child interaction

INDIVIDUAL
CONSTRUCTION
Active agency

. . . but see Cole and Wertschs

Beyond the Individual-Social
Antimony in Discussions of Piaget
and Vygotsky

CONCEPTUAL DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN

VYGOTSKY

and

PIAGET

2. ROLE OF LANGUAGE AND PRIVATE SPEECH

LANGUAGE CRITICAL EGOCENTRIC SPEECH
BECOMES THOUGHT THAT
IS SELF-REGULATING

COGNITION CRITICAL
-EGOCENTRIC SPEECH
DISAPPEARS AS SOCIAL
SPEECH DEVELOPS

ONCE LANGUAGE DEVELOPS,

COGNITION IS LANGUAGE

COGNITION MEDIATES
LANGUAGE

HOW CAN I KNOW

WHAT I THINK
UNLESS I HEAR
WHAT I SAY?
Dean Acheson

CONCEPTUAL DIFFERENCES
BETWEEN

VYGOTSKY

and

PIAGET

3. HOW DO CHILDREN LEARN BEST?

SOCIAL INTERACTION

INDIVIDUAL CONSTRUCTION

INSTRUCTION DEPENDENT

STAGE DEPENDENT

ASSISTED LEARNING (ZPD)

SELF-DIRECTED,
SELF-INITIATED**

SCAFFOLDING
COGNITIVE SELFINSTRUCTION guided by inner speech

EXPERIMENTATION
INDEPENDENT MASTERY
EXPLORATION, DISCOVERY

INTERNAL SELF-REGULATION

CONCEPTUAL SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN

VYGOTSKY

and

PIAGET

1. PARADIGMATIC CONSISTENCY
SOCIAL
CONSTRUCTIVISM

with an ever so slight

lean toward nurture

COGNITIVE
CONSTRUCTIVISM

with an ever so slight

lean toward nature

CONCEPTUAL SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN

VYGOTSKY

and

PIAGET

2. FOUNDATION OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

SOCIOCULTURAL MEDIATION GENETIC EPISTEMOLOGY
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IS IS AN
INTERMINGLING OF BIOLOGICAL
AND SOCIAL FACTORS -THE
NATURAL AND THE CULTURAL THAT FORM A SINGLE LINE OF
SOCIOBIOLOGICAL FORMATION OF
PERSONALITY

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IS AN
INTERACTION BETWEEN
BIOLOGY AND ENVIRONMENT
PRIMARILY MEDIATED BY AN
INDIVIDUALS ACTIVE
CONSTRUCTION OF MEANING

CONCEPTUAL SIMILARITIES
BETWEEN

VYGOTSKY

and

PIAGET

3. SOCIAL INFLUENCE ON LEARNING

THE IMPORTANCE OF
ASSISTED LEARNING
TO REACH THE
ZONE OF PROXIMAL
DEVELOPMENT

THE IMPORTANCE OF
SOCIAL EXCHANGE
DURING THE PROCESS OF
EQUILIBRATION

DeVries, R. (1997). Piagets Social Theory, Educational

Researcher, 26(2), 4-17.
Link to detail

Piagets Cognitive Periods and

Approximate Ages
Table 2.2
1. The Sensorimotor Period-Birth to 18-24 months
2. The Preoperational Period-2 to 7 years
3. The Concrete Operational Period-7 to 11 years
4. The Formal Operational Period-over 11 years

Piaget on Language and Thought

Table 2.4

Outstanding Language
Equivalent

Period (age in years)

Characteristics

Sensorimotor (0-2)

1. Egocentrism
2. Organization of reality by
sensory and motor abilities

Language absent until final

months of period

Preoperational (2-7)

1. Increasing symbolic activity

2. Beginnings of representation

1. Egocentric speech
2. Socialized speech

Concrete Operational (7-11)

1. Reversibility
2. Conservation
3. Seriation
4. Classification

1. Beginnings of verbal
understanding
2. Understanding related to
concrete objects

Formal Operational (over 11) 1. Development of logicomathematical structures

2. Hypothetico-deductive
reasoning

1. Language freed from the

concrete
2. Verbal ability to express
the possible

Vygotskys Theory-Basics

Concept of development

The social origin of mind

Speech and development

Vygotsky and Stages of Language

Development
Preintellectual speech

Naive psychology

Egocentric speech

Inner speech

Key Differences Between Piaget and

Vygotsky
Piaget

Vygotsky

Perspective

Individual child constructs view of world

by forming cognitive structures -the little
scientist

Childs cognitive development progresses

by social interactions with others (social
origins of mind)

Basic
psychological
mechanism

Equilibration-child acts to regain equilibrium between current level of cognitive

structures and external stimuli

Social interaction, which encourages development through the guidance of skillful

adults

Language

Emerges as cognitive structures develop

Language begins as preintellectual speech

and gradually develops into a sophisticated
form of inner speech; one of the main
forces responsible for cognitive development

Learning

Assimilation and accommodation lead to

equilibration

Learning results from the interaction of

two processes; biological elementary
processes (such as brain development),
plus sociocultural interactions

Problem solving

Child independently searches for data

needed to change cognitive structures,
thus enabling child to reach solution

Two aspects of problem solving: 1. Key role

of speech to guide planful behavior;
2. Joint efforts with others

Table 2.5