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  • Essay / Vyquinsky and Vygotsky's theory of cognitive development

    Is the how important? Play is one of the first activities children learn during the developmental process. Is this important? Playing is very important for a child's development. Certainly, most people agree that play is important, but even today, psychologists conduct research to determine the best way for children to learn. On one side of the spectrum are those who argue that screens don't help young children learn. On the other side, there are those who completely agree that screens are the best way for a child to acquire knowledge. Many developmental theories demonstrate what is the best way for a child to learn in the early years of development. Piaget's theory of cognitive development and Vygotsky's four stages of cognitive development are: sensorimotor, which runs from birth to age two; Preoperative from the age of two to approximately seven years. The concrete operational phase goes from seven years to eleven years, and finally, the formal operational phase which begins at eleven years and goes until the age of 11. Culture has a great influence on child development. The cultural context organizes cognitive development in different ways: culture often defines which cognitive activities are valued; for example, some cultures may emphasize reading, while others may prefer that children learn science. Culture is also responsible for providing tools that shape children's thinking: some cultures provide abacuses for solving math problems, others provide pens and pencils, and still others provide calculators. It all depends on the resources that culture could provide to the child. Additionally, high-level cultural practices help children organize their knowledge and communicate it to others. Some cultures encourage children to work alone in schools, other cultures favor group work. Vygotsky and other sociocultural theorists argue that intersubjectivity is the social nature of cognitive development. Intersubjectivity is when participants in an activity mutually share their understanding. For example, if a group of children is trying to put together blocks to build a house, they should share their understanding of the purpose of the activity and the role each of them will play. Sharing their understanding would allow them to work together in a complementary way. Guided participation is