Theories of Cognitive DevelopmentVYGOTSKY

Learning Objectives

Outline Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

Describe research to support this theory

Evaluate this theory using IDA

The importance of the role of other, more knowledgeable people in children’s development.

Vygotsky argued that although children can acquire some concepts through their own unaided play, they acquire the mechanisms of thinking and learning as a result of the social interactions between themselves and the adults around them.

Differences from Piaget

Vygotsky’s theory

Social interaction

Language

Scaffolding and ZPD

An idea central to Vygotsky’s theory is the zone of proximal development (ZPD):

This is the area between what the child can do on their own and what they can do with the help of adults or more experienced peers.

Full development of the ZPD depends upon full social interaction

ZPD

Proximal means what comes next:

The idea is that a child is only able to take the next step in their cognitive development if another person (typically an adult) supports and prompts them to do so. This sort of assistance has been called scaffolding.

Proximal

Scaffolding: support and prompting, usually provided by an adult, which helps a child achieve cognitive tasks they could not achieve alone.

An important aspect of scaffolding is that there is a gradual withdrawal of support as the child’s knowledge and confidence increase.

Scaffolding

Vygotsky’s theory

Social interaction

Language

Scaffolding and ZPD

Use the hand-out to outline these features of Vygotsky’s theory

Evaluation

Supporting evidence – Wood and Middleton (1975)

Cut and stick for strengths and weaknesses

Add your own IDA