Comparing and Contrasting Piaget and Vygotsky

One of the key factors in psychology is learning why people behave the way that they do. Many perspectives help to explain the way people think and how they develop. When discussing cognitive development, which is the way “growth and change in intellectual capabilities influence a person’s behavior”, two main theorists usually come up: Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget and Russian developmental psychologist Lev Vygotsky (Feldman). While their theories differ in many ways, both recognize the key component that humans play in the formation of knowledge (Alves). To better compare the two, let’s first delve into the theories themselves.

Jean Piaget was a biologist, and his focus began on how biology and knowledge are related. He wanted to understand how children think and developed a four-stage theory to explain how children’s cognitive abilities mature as they age. Each stage occurs during specific years of age, and as a child progresses through each stage, both the quality and the quantity of knowledge improves and changes (Feldman). Piaget believed that a child’s level of cognition was dependent on their level of physical development rather than any external influences (Alves).

Piaget introduced the idea of “schemas”, which are concepts of the world around us. These schemas start simply and are usually related to sensorimotor functioning such as the way an object sounds or tastes. As the child is exposed to new experiences, he or she will incorporate the new stimulus using a process called assimilation. Assimilation occurs when a person understands the new stimulus in a way that is appropriate for their current level of cognitive development. As the child grows, new information may challenge their understanding of existing schemas. This change in perception is called accommodation, and incorporates the new stimulus into a preexisting schema, reorganizing the way the child thinks about their world (Feldman, Alves). Piaget believed that the development of these schemas led to more advanced cognitive abilities, signaling a change in the child’s stages of cognitive growth (Feldman).

The first stage of Piaget’s theory is the Sensorimotor stage, which occurs from birth to 2 years. During this period a child progresses through six substages, from the development of simple reflexes to the beginning of thought. The substages are as follows:

• Substage One: This stage occurs within the first month of life and involves reflexes that help the baby interact with the world, such as the rooting reflex.
• Substage Two: This stage occurs from one to four months and involves primary circular reactions which coordinate multiple movements into one action.
• Substage Three: This stage occurs from four to 8 months, and during this stage, secondary circular reactions are formed, which are purposeful movements. This stage is important in that the child starts to interact with the world around them.
• Substage Four: This stage occurs between 8 to 12 months, and in this stage, children begin to display goal-driven behavior. This behavior involves multiple schemas to form one action that can solve a problem.
• Substage Five: This stage occurs between 12 to 18 months and involves the deliberate coordination of multiple actions. During this substage, a child often tests the outcomes of her actions, such as what will happen when an object is dropped. It is during this stage that Piaget believed children displayed the understanding of object permanence. This means that the child knows that an object or person still exists even when they cannot see them. In reality, object permanence is reached between ages 8 to 12.
• Substage Six: The last substage of the Sensorimotor Stage occurs between ages 18 months to 2 years. It is during this stage that a child begins to display symbolic thought.

The next stage of Piaget’s theory is the Preoperational Stage. During this stage, which occurs from ages 2 to 7, a child’s cognitive abilities change dramatically. They begin to use more symbolic thinking, which allows the child to think about objects or people that they may not be able to see at that moment. A child’s use of language expands during the Preoperational stage as well, which Piaget attributes to the greater ability of higher quality cognition. However, there are several limitations to a child’s cognitive abilities during this stage.

The first is centration, which is the focus on only one, often superficial, aspect of a stimulus while ignoring all other aspects. An example of centration would be two rows of pennies. Each row has the same number of pennies and is spaced so that both lines are the same length. However, if you spread one row of pennies apart and make it longer than the first row, a child in the Preoperational stage will now believe that the longer row contains more pennies.

Another is the lack of understanding of conservation. Conservation is the knowledge that the quantity of an object does not necessarily relate to its physical appearance. For example, two of the same size and shape glasses contain the same amount of water. Most children will understand that the glasses hold the same amount. However, if you pour the water into a glass that is taller and skinnier, a child in the Preoperational stage will believe that the new glass contains more water because it is taller than the original glass.

Egocentrism is a primary characteristic of children in the Preoperational stage. Egocentrism is thought that does not take others’ thoughts, feelings, or viewpoints into account. This does not come from a selfish place, rather the child cannot differentiate that others have a different point of view than they do.

The third stage in Piaget’s theory is the Concrete Operational stage, which lasts from age 7 to age 12. The transition from the Preoperational stage to the Concrete Operational stage takes time, as the child starts to ask “why?” and begins to think more logically. Logical thought is the key characteristic of the Concrete Operational stage. Egocentrism begins to shift in a process called decentering, and the child can now understand conservation problems and can think more systematically. As the name of this stage suggests, children are only able to think about things concretely, pertaining only to physical reality. It isn’t until the next stage that more abstract thought begins.

The final stage of Piaget’s theory is the Formal Operational stage, which starts around 12 years of age and lasts through adolescence and onward. Logical thought expands, and children are now able to think theoretically and abstractly by using formal logical operations and reasoning. The use of hypothetical thought to find solutions to problems truly begins to set in during adolescence, which can lead to a child questioning previously accepted rules and expectations.

There is merit in Piaget’s theory, and overall there are many significant factors that apply this theory to many children as they develop. However, more current research shows that there are several holes in Piaget’s theory, the first being object permanence. Piaget believed that infants were unable to understand object permanence until around one year of age, but some studies have shown children as early as three months old who grasp the concept. Also, there is no way to truly test this understanding in children this young. A child may understand that an object still exists even if it is not in sight, but that the child may lack the motor skills necessary to find the object. In general, many researchers believe that Piaget’s grossly underestimated the cognitive abilities of infants. This may be because it is difficult to test cognitive abilities based on observation alone. There is also no way to truly test when a child moves between stages, as it is generally a process that happens progressively over time and may be unique to each child. Despite some of these downfalls in Piaget’s theory, overall it is widely agreed that he has laid the groundwork for children’s cognitive development.