The science of cognitive development is directed at the development of a child. But what do we mean, when we talk about development? The term development had firmly settled in our lexicon however everyone allots it with different meaning. The problem of development in psychology is not new, but complex, and far from being resolved. Prominent psychologists of the 20th century – Piaget and Vygotsky had allotted to this problem and had different approaches on this matter.
It appears that these two experts have simultaneously and independently dealt with problems of child psychological development, and their results appeared to be the opposite and mutually exclusive. The main discrepancies are the following. For Piaget the human psyche was the only evolutionary product that performed the function of balancing the human being with the world, and was and instrument of adaptation to the environment.
For Piaget the most important developmental mechanism was interiorization. Hence we get a peculiar solution to correlation of development and cognition. Sure, Piaget understood that cognition plays a vital role in development, but cognition cannot alter the course of development. This course is well defined from the inside, and cognition can only make it quicker.
Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky understood the very human psyche. He thought of its development not resulting from evolution, but from culturally-historical process. Vygotsky’s mechanism of interiorization is totally different comparing to Piaget’s. According to Piaget, internalization is a result of own experience. For Vygotsky it meant a conversion of human action from external form to internal (Oakley, 2004).
This determines the difference between the cognitive theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. If for Piaget cognition is a factor of development, then according to Vygotsky cognition is a necessary form of development, and the purpose of cognition is joint activities of a child and an adult. If the child is not included into joint venture, it does not get any development, as the child is deprived of its source.
Cognition according to Vygotsky can play a twofold role regarding development: it can follow development, or orient itself at the future of development. The whole theory of Vygotsky was born from an open and burning debate with Piaget. But Vygotsky had died early and this dispute was continued by his followers. In fact a very unusual approach had one of his followers – Peter Halperin. This well known psychologist had done a lot in the field of psychology, including cognitive psychology. His theory of phased formation of mental actions and notions (very popular between 1950-1970) was one of the most original and most interesting with rich practical conclusions. His theory had uniquely deflected the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky (Klahr & Wallace, 1976).
Behaviorism is one of psychological fields founded in 1913 by John Watson. He believed that we should study not the conscience, but behavior. Investigating the relations between the stimuli and reactions (reflexes), behaviorism turned attention to the study of learning, cognition, and experience, as it stood against the associative chain theory, and psychoanalysis. Social learning was introduced by behaviorists and means acquiring new forms of reactions through imitating the behavior of other beings, or at least observing them. Social learning, as well as behaviorism along with other humanistic theories are explained by such terms as stimuli, reaction, and reinforcement, and have immediate relation to the processes of cognition.
References
Klahr, D., & Wallace, J. G. (1976). An Information-Processing View An Information-Processing View. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Oakley, L. (2004). Cognitive Development. London: Routledge.