3 Educational Psychology: Nature, Methods & Development · 3.2 Growth and development
3.2.3 Piaget and Vygotsky: cognitive development
Piaget says the child is an active builder of knowledge (constructivism) who adapts through assimilation, accommodation and equilibration and passes through four fixed stages (sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational, formal operational); Vygotsky says thinking is first social, then individual, and grows best in the zone of proximal development with the help of an adult or a more able peer.
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Key terms
- Jean Piaget
- genetic epistemology
- constructivism
- circular reactions
- deferred imitation
- transitivity
- moral realism
- immanent justice
- mediation
- actual developmental level
- cognitive development
- schema
- assimilation
- accommodation
- equilibration
- adaptation
- organisation
- sensorimotor
- object permanence
- preoperational
- egocentrism
- three mountains task
- animism
- centration
- irreversibility
- concrete operational
- conservation
- reversibility
- seriation
- formal operational
- hypothetico-deductive reasoning
- Lev Vygotsky
- socio-cultural theory
- zone of proximal development
- scaffolding
- more knowledgeable other
- private speech
- inner speech
- internalisation
- cultural tools
What this note covers
- Core factsFoundation
- ExplainedStandard
- DeeperAdvanced
- Common trapsFoundation
- Quick revisionFoundation
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