Part One - Similarities and Differences Between Piaget and Vygotsky

Piaget and Vygotsky’s theories on cognitive development are somewhat similar but also have very distinct differences.  Piaget believed that you learned from your own self-centered experiences, so to learn about something specific you would have to see it for yourself in order to truly learn about it, he believed that an individual would develop understandings before they would learn language.  Piaget also believed that you learned in different stages of cognitive development.  The sensorimotor (0-2 years), the preoperational period (2-7 years), the concrete operational period (7-11 years), and the formal operations period (11-15 years) (Found in the class notes.) Meaning that you would learn in different ways at different ages. Whereas, Vygotsky believed that language would precede development and that you learn from older individuals, so for you to learn something specific, you would have to learn it through social interaction. Since Vygotsky believed that imitation was so important in an individuals cognitive development, the dramatic play area in a class room would be really important so that the children could use that space to imitate others through role play. Both Piaget and Vygotsky believed in cognitive development and that it is an essential part in the learning process but they believed that it worked in different ways.  They also believed that egocentric speech (when the individual talks to themselves to run through a problem,) was a very important part in the process and that no matter what you needed language to learn.

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video about the differences between Piaget and Vygotsky

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