Vygotsky's Theory of Cognitive Development

Vygotsky

Vygotsky believed that social interaction plays a fundamental role in cognitive development. He thought that learning appears first at a social level and later at an individual level

He stated that children are born with innate elementary mental processes such as perception and memory, but higher level mental processes come from the influence of culture

This transition is made possible by language. He proposed 3 speech stages: social speech (0-2yr) Egocentric speech (3-7yr) and inner speech (7+yr)

Vygotsky also developed the Zones of Proximal Development (ZPD) which is the gap between what a child can do on their own and what they need support with.

Vygotsky believed that children need to be scaffolded across the ZPD by an adult who can give guidance in order to take the next cognitive step.

Vygotsky also proposed 4 stages of concept formation.

The first stage is the vague syncretic stage which is when a child learns through trial and error.

The second is complex stage which is the basic cognitive strategies applied.

The third is potential concept stage which is when a child can only concentrate on one thing at a time.

The last stage is mature concept stage which is when a child can identify several features at a time.

These stages occur when a child’s cognitive ability increases. In order to go though the stages, a child must have informal learning experiences (through family and peers) and formal learning…