Comparison Of Cognitive Theory And Sociocultural Theory

Throughout the centuries many detailed and comprehensive theories concerning child development have arisen. There are five major theories and two of these are Cognitive Theory and Sociocultural Theory. The great mind behind the grand theory known as Cognitive Theory was Jean Piaget and the idea of Sociocultural Theory was developed by Lev Vygotsky. Each of these scientists has their own comprehensive insights to their developed theory.

The first major cognitive theorist was Jean Piaget, a Swiss scientist. Piaget discovered Cognitive Theory which is the theory that focuses on changes in how people think over time. According to Cognitive Theory, our thoughts shape our attitudes, beliefs and behaviors and to understand human behavior one must

Sociocultural theory draws on research in education, anthropology and history. (Berger p. 49) As mentioned before, the founder of Sociocultural Theory was Lev Vygotsky. The general idea of Sociocultural Theory is that human development results from the interaction of each developing person and their surrounding society. Vygotsky studied cognitive competencies of people of various ethnic groups as well as special needs children and children without special needs. Vygotsky believed that each person develops with the guidance of more experienced members of society who are tutors or mentors in a term called apprenticeship thinking. Apprenticeship thinking is Vygotsky’s term for how cognition is stimulated and developed in people by more skilled members of society. (Berger p. 50) Vygotsky developed the idea of guided participation which is a method to teach learners all the skills and habits expected within their culture. According to Vygotsky, active apprenticeship is a central concept of Sociocultural Theory because each person depends on others to learn. Customs in every culture are powerful and shape the development of every person and Vygotsky especially stressed the fact that mentally and physically disabled children should be educated. This belief is now more common in the United States but is still not acknowledged in many