According to Smolensky and Dupoux (2009), cognitive development is the psychological development and neurological development from childhood to adulthood. It is how a person perceives and acquires an understanding of the surrounding based on the interaction of learned factors and genetic. Cognitive development increases with age as awareness of the surrounding increases. The theory of cognitive development, therefore, describes the distinct stages of cognitive development. Among the development theories that exist, this paper shades light and contrasts Piaget’s and Vygotsky's theories. Piaget states that human development is described in stages and driven by repressed sexuality; Vygotsky, on the other hand, argues that the acquisition of intelligence and learning processes are based on social interaction process.
Jean Piaget's theory of development
This theory is based on the basic mental structure with which children are borne and determines the subsequent learning and knowledge. It focuses on children and their learning process, children acquire an understanding of their surrounding then try to configure the new things learned and what they already know (Ojoose 2008). Through the development process, children’s mental processes are reorganized and acquire knowledge and intelligence which aid in their independent thinking and reasoning.
The Piaget's theory has four vital components under which it is built according to Ojoose (2008). The first component is assimilation which uses a pre-existing schema to interact with a new object; the second component is the accommodation where children first try to grasp further information and experience in their environment. The next concept is the equilibrium where children transition from one stage of thought to another. The last and essential stage component is the stages of development -it is biological, and as children mature, understanding of an environment change.
Vygotsky's theory of development
According to Shabani, Khatib, and Ebadi (2010), the theory argues that different social interactions determine the cognitive development of children since they are in different sociocultural settings where the culture of teaching and instruction are the necessary components. In this theory, people use educational tools such as writing and speech as social functions for communicating needs and so believed that the utilization of these tools results in higher thinking.
The theory proposed zone of proximal development regarding the learning of children. Although children in this zone cannot independently perform tasks, they can accomplish through assistance (Shabani, Khatib and Ebadi 2010). For instance, a child may be making a variety of sounds but cannot talk. With scaffolding or help, the child may start developing words and start talking without assistance. The help assists the child in acquiring and developing the necessary skills to command communication independently. This theory perceived language as the most potent tool in cognitive development; citing it as the primary means of social interaction.
In conclusion, while Piaget's theory looks at the nature concerning the development of people’s intelligence, Vyogofsky focused on the context of interaction between human and sociocultural experiences as the tool for discovering the meaning of discoveries in an environment.
References
Ojoose, B. (2008). Applying Piaget’s Theory of Cognitive Development to Mathematics
Instruction . The mathematics educator ,18(1): p.26. Available at < https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ841568.pdf
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Shabani, K., Khatib, M. and Ebadi, S. (2010). Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development:
Instructional Implications and Teachers' Professional Development. English Language Teaching, 3(4), doi: 10.5539/elt.v3n4p237.
Smolensky, P. and Dupoux, E. (2009). Universals in cognitive theories of language. Behavioral
and Brain Sciences, 32(05): p.468. Available at < www.lscp.net/persons/dupoux/papers/Smolensky_D_inpress_universals.BBS.pdf>
