A Comparison Of Psychological And Cognitive Theories Of Children

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There are many contributors to learning and cognitive theories for children. Sigmund Freud, Jean Piaget, Erik Erikson, and Lev Vygotsky are a few of the forefathers for these theories in psychology. Many of their theories are still in use in today’s psychology teaching. Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist known for developing the theories and techniques for psychoanalysis for which he is considered the founding father of. Through his theories, he introduced such words as anal personality, libido, denial, repression, and neurotic. Freud believed that people rarely gave a true account of motivation when it came to explaining their behavior.
He also believed that child’s development began at birth, the needs and demands are related to …show more content…

Psychology had the assumption that children were less competent thinkers than adults (McLeod, Jean Piaget, 2015). Piaget believed that children were born with a basic mental structure and had a different thought process than adults. Like Freud, Piaget believed children went through a series of stages during development, sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete stage, and formal operational stage. The preoperational stage kids are able to learn through pretend play but are unable to comprehend logic and the point of view of another person (Cherry, 2016). Piaget did not believe the stages were reached at certain ages but stages were reached in order and could not be …show more content…

He believed that social interaction in the community was a key role in cognitive development (McLeod, Lev Vygotsky, 2014). Vygotsky also believe that adults had an important role in development unlike Piaget who believed peer interaction promoted development. Vygotsky founded three themes in the role of development: social interaction, the More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), and the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) (Learning-Theories, 2007). The MKO is a person with a better knowledge or higher ability level than the learner (Learning-Theories, 2007). MKO can either be a teacher, parent, or a peer. The concept of ZPD relates to what a child can achieve on their own or with guidance. A child trying to solve a puzzle for the first time is unable to solve the puzzle but with the guidance of an adult to show how the puzzle is pieced together, the child is able to comprehend the methods of a puzzle (McLeod, Lev Vygotsky,

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