Running Head: Theories of Psychosocial and Cognitive Development

Theories of Psychosocial and Cognitive Development

Burk Bosse
Ivy Tech Community College

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Abstract
The paper compares the theories of three psychologist who are the foundation of
childhood development. Who is the leading psychologist in this day and time, who was the
leading psychologist and how their theories are alike, and how they are different and do their
theories agree. It also is a reflection on their theories.

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Erikson: Psychosocial Development

What is Eriksons Psychological Development? Erikson came up with a theory that
during our life time we go through different stages, from infant all the way to elderly adult and
each stage builds on the next. Erik Eriksons theory of psychosocial development is one of the
best-known theories of personality in psychology. Much like Sigmund Freud, Erikson believed
that personality develops in a series of stages. Unlike Freuds theory of psychosexual stages.
Ericksons theory describes the impact of social experience across the whole lifespan (Cherry,
K. A. (2005). The conflicts are as follows, from age 5 to age 18 Initiative versus Guilt, Industry
versus Inferiority, Identity versus Role Confusion (Snowman & McCowan, 2015, p [Page 2930]).
During computer time I would use software that started a lesson plan from easy to difficult so the
child could progress at their own pace and not be overwhelmed. I would also do homework
assignments in the same manner and I would have an open door policy so the children would
know I am supportive of their efforts. Seeing the children in the classroom could most likely be
multiracial I would try to find software that could possibly adapt to the childs needs. I would
also come up with fun activities, such as vacation time, where the children could learn about
other cultures around the world, while we were on our vacation travels. This should allow the
children to interact with the videos I would have them watch.
During math, the children could play Multiplication Bingo, which could also be adapted for
adding, subtracting, and dividing. This would help the children learn their multiplication without

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a lot of stress or put on the spot, there would also be prizes to compete for. I could also include
games the children could play and lab time, such as observing the classroom pet and coming up
with theories of their own. I would also use inquiry learning about a reading assignment in class
and out. Seeing how inquiry is used successfully in the classroom these days.

Piaget: Cognitive Development

Piaget postulated that human beings inherit two basic tendencies organization and
adaption (the tendency to adjust to the environment). For Piaget, these tendencies governed both
physiological and mental functioning. Just as the biological process of digestion transforms food
into a form that the body can use, so intellectual processes transform experiences into a form that
the child can use in dealing with new situations. And just as biological processes must be kept in
a state of balance (through homeostasis), intellectual processes seek a balance through the
process of equilibration (a form of self-regulation that all individuals use to bring coherence and
stability to their conception of the world). Organization refers to the tendency of all individuals
to systemize or combine processes into coherent (logically interrelated) systems.
When we think of tulips and roses as a subcategories of the more general category
flowers, instead of as two unrelated categories, we are using organization to aid our thinking
process. This organizational capacity makes thinking process efficient and powerful and allows a
better fit, or adaption, of the individual to the environment (Snowman & McCowan, 2015, p.
[Page #38]). There are further parts to Piagets theory of cognitive development, and they are
schemes and adaption. According to Piaget all parts of his theory has a relationship. To give you
a basic understanding of Piagets ideas, we have talked about them as distant elements. But the

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concepts are all related. In their drive to be organized, individuals try to have a place for
everything (accommodation) so they can put everything in its place (assimilation).
The product of organization and adaption is the creation of new schemes that allow
individuals to organize at a higher level and adapt more effectively (Snowman & McCowan,
2015, p. [Page #38-39]). Piaget believed that people are driven to organize their schemes to
achieve the best possible adaption to their environment. He called this process equilibration (see
Boom, 2009, for a detailed discussion). But what motivates peoples drive toward equilibration?
It is a state of disequilibrium, or a perceived discrepancy between an existing scheme and
something new. In other words, when people encounter something that is inconsistent with or
contradicts what they already know or believe, this experience produces a disequilibrium that
they are driven to eliminate (assuming they are sufficiently interested in the new experience to
begin with).
A student may wonder why, for example, tomatoes and cucumbers are referred to as
fruits in science text because she has always referred to them as vegetables and has distinguished
fruits from vegetables on the basis of sweetness. This discrepancy may cause the student to read
the text carefully or ask the teacher for explanation. Gradually the student reorganizes her
thinking about classification of fruits and vegetables in terms of edible plant roots, stems, leaves,
and ovaries so that it is more consistent with the expert view. These processes are two sides of
the learning coin: for equilibrium to occur, disequilibrium must have already have occurred
(Snowman & McCowan, 2015, p. [Page #39]). From what I understand according to Piaget you
need both equilibrium and disequilibrium for learning to take place without both, learning does
not take place and an individual stays in their original thoughts whether they are correct or not.

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This then is why education is so important for people to pursue. Since most people would
hold on to thinking, which were taught to them at home. Going to school as a child helps people
separate what was taught to them from home into thinking that is true, and thinking, which has
no basis and not worth holding on to. Although, Piaget may have gotten a few things wrong, it is
obvious without his theories, the other sociologists would not have had even a starting place to
work from to improve on Piagets theories. Games and activities, which would be used, if the
child is a toddler you could play games that make noises, which the child has to squeeze to make
the noise, you could play the game dress up, house, and any other hands on activity. If an older
child, you could teach them to bake, cook simple things, (adult supervision).
The children could play the game where they perform surgery on a patient and if they
touch the sides as they pull a piece out it buzzes, anything where they get a chance to manipulate
an object. Also, a stamp collection, butterfly collection, anything, which has the child classifying
objects and animals, even to sentence grouping.
Vygotsky: Cognitive Development
Beginning in the early 1980s, however, the ideas of Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky
began to appear in the psychological literature with increasing frequency. Vygotsky, who died
from tuberculosis in 1934, was a contemporary of Piaget who had very different views about the
major forces that shape learning and thinking, particularly with respect to the roles of culture,
social interaction, and formal instruction (Rowe & Wertsch, 2002). Vygotskys theory of
cognitive development is often referred to as a sociocultural theory because it maintains that how
we think is a function of both social and cultural forces. If, for example, you were given a list of
nouns (such as plate, box, peach, knife, apple, hoe, cup, potato) and told to create groupings, you
would probably put plate, knife, and cup in a group labeled utensils and peach, apple, and

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potato in a group labeled food. Why? Is there something inherently compelling about those
groupings? Not really.
We could just as logically have put plate, knife, and apple in a group, because we can use
the first two to eat the third. But we are more likely to put objects in taxonomic categories than in
functional categories because we have been taught by others who organize ideas taxonomically
most of the time. And why do we think that way? Because we are the product of a culture that
prizes the ability of its members to think at the most abstract levels (which is why Piaget saw
formal operations as the most advanced stage of thinking). Vygotsky believed that the most
important things a culture passes on to its members (and descendants) are what he called
psychological tools. These are the cognitive devices and procedures with which we communicate
and explore the world around us.
They both aid and change our mental functioning. Speech, writing, gestures, diagrams,
numbers, chemical formulas, musical notation, rules, and memory techniques are some examples
of common psychological tools (Daniels, 2011; Gredler & Shields, 2004). Early explorers, for
example, created maps to help them represent where they had been, communicate that
knowledge to others, and plan trips. (Snowman & McCowan, 2015, p. [Page #50-51]). So, in
laymans terms we, as people pass down psychological tools from one generation to the next,
and so on, to the present. This is, if I have it right, Vygotskys theory and without the passing of
knowledge there would be blank spots in knowledge or bridges to tie things together somehow.
This principle of Vygotskys work, the zone of proximal development, is a concept that refers to
the area where a child needs guidance and encouragement in the order to achieve a skill,
according to SimplyPsychology.org. Any activity thats a bit difficult for your toddler- putting a

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diaper on a doll, solving a puzzle, or drawing a letter- provides an opportunity to work within her
ZPD, says Wisconsins Early Childhood Excellence Initiative.
Try not to be an overbearing Mamazilla and do things for her, but provide just enough
help in order for her to accomplish something difficult and feel like a million bucks. The More
Knowledgeable Other is Vygotskys idea that a key way kiddos learn is from another person with
more knowledge and experience, notes SimplyPsychology.org. A key way toddlers tap into the
MKOs in their lives is through group activities. KidsHealth.org recommends playing the HokeyPokey with a group of toddlers, during which they can learn from the instructor and peers where
their body parts are. Playing with a parachute lets little ones take cues from others about
direction.
According to Vygotsky, a key way toddlers learn is to engage in what he called private
speech; essentially, they chat their way through planning and doing activities, and as a result,
boost their powers of thinking and understanding, says SimplyPsychology.org. As cited in an
article on ScienceDaily.com, Adam Winsler, a professor of psychology at George Mason
University, notes that using private speech improves childrens communication skills with others.
Demonstrate self-talk for your tot. Talk to your self about how youre getting your keys so you
can go to the store and buy milk, how youre turning on the windshield wipers because its
starting to rain. Try to ignore the strange looks you get as you blabber away to yourself.
Vygotsky would be proud (Budzienski, 2015).
So, teaching strategies in the classroom would require inquiry. Give the children just
enough information and let them work it out for themselves, which would be lab work, such as
observing the pet goldfish, taking notes and developing outcomes, as the teacher, just provide
guidelines. Activities that do the same would also be a good teaching tool, like software, which

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just gives the children enough information to operate the software but not the outcomes. Group
activities would also be excellent way to get the point across, say blue team against the red team
first team that gets a certain amount of points wins a reward. Activities, which would encourage
private speech would also be a good learning tool. This also would be using Vygotskys
theories in the classroom.

Evaluation of Erickson and Piaget Theories

Erickson based his description of personality development on the epigenetic
principle, which states that, in the fetal development, certain organs of the body appear at certain
specified times and eventually combine to form a child. Erickson hypothesized that just as the
parts of the body develop in interrelated ways in a fetus, so the personality of an individual forms
as the ego progresses through a series of interrelated stages. All of these stages exist in some
form from the very beginning of life, and each has a critical period of development. In Ericksons
view, personality development occurs as one successfully resolves a series of turning points, or
psychosocial crises. Although the word crises typically refers to an extraordinary event that
threatens well-being. Erickson had a more benign meaning in mind.
Crises occur when people feel compelled to adjust to the normal guidelines and
expectations that society has for them but are not altogether certain that they are prepared to
carry out these demands fully (Snowman & McCowan, 2015p. [Page #28). Although
Ericksons theory has in general been supported by research (Steinberg & Morris, 2001), several
aspects have been criticized. For example, while Erickson occasionally carried out research
investigations, most of his conclusions were based on personnel and subjective interpretations

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that have been only partly substantiated by controlled investigations of the type that most
psychologists value. Consequently his theory is viewed by many as a descriptive overview of
the social and emotional development that does not adequately explain how and why this
development takes place (Shaffer & Kipp, 2010, p.46). Other criticisms focus on Ericksons
contention that ones identity is achieved by actively exploring alternatives regarding ones
career, ideological beliefs, and interpersonal relationships and then making choices.
This is not, in all likelihood, a universal practice. In some societies and cultures, these
decisions are, for the most part, made by adults and imposed on adolescents (Marcia, 1999,
2001; Sorell & Montgomery, 2001). There appear to be two basic societal conditions that make it
possible for individuals to explore and construct an identity: the willingness to tolerate an
extended adolescence that make a minimal contribution to society and a certain level of societal
wealth (Snowman & McCowan, 2015, p. [Page 35]). Jean Piaget (1896-1980) earned his
doctorate in biology in 1918 and began a program of research that has been called the master
plan to address the question How does knowledge develop? (Smith, 2002, p.515). His theory
of intellectual development, reflective of his basic interest in biology as well as knowledge,
continues to spur research on the problem of how knowledge develops (Miller, 2011).
Piaget postulated that human beings inherit two basic tendencies: organization (the
tendency to systematize and combine processes into coherent general systems) and adaption (the
tendency to adjust to the environment). For Piaget, these tendencies governed both physiological
and mental functioning. Just as the biological process of digestion transforms food into a form
that the body can use, so intellectual processes transform experiences into a form that the child
can use in dealing with new situations. And just as biological processes must be kept in a state of
balance (through homeostasis), intellectual processes seek a balance through the process of

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equilibration (a form of self-regulation that all individuals use to bring coherence and stability to
their conception of the world) (Snowman & McCowan, 2015, p. [Page 38]). Among the
thousands of articles that have been published in response to Piagets findings are the many that
offer critiques of his work.
Some psychologists argue that Piaget underestimated childrens abilities not only
because he imposed stringent criteria for inferring the presence of particular cognitive abilities,
but also because the tasks he used were often complex and far removed from childrens real-life
experiences. The term preoperational, for instances stresses what is absent rather than what is
present. Over the past two decades researchers have focused more on what preoperational
children can do, particularly with appropriate instruction (see, for example, Bibok, Miller, &
Carpendale, 2009; Metz, 2011; Miller, 2011). One group of researchers (Metz, Sisk-Hilton,
Berson, & Ly,2010) has provided suggestive evidence that primary grade children can be helped
to predict, interpret, and explain basic biological processes (Snowman & McCowan, 2015, p.
[Page 46]).
Reflection of Erickson, Piaget, and Vygotskys Theories
In the classroom, you can see Erickson, Piaget, and Vygotskys theories at work, you
notice Erickson, Piagets stages, which helps a teacher to know what to expect in a certain age
level giving the teacher clues how to teach certain subjects and get the most out of the students.
You also notice Vygotskys scaffolding, which helps a teacher know how to build on what the
students have already learned, the use of scaffolding and zone of proximal development, helps
the teacher know how to teach subjects and get the most out of the students. So, all three
theorists have a place in the classroom and their theories help the teacher with lesson plans,
activities and giving the students in the teachers classroom a learning attitude, which if used

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correctly can last with the student in to college. It is interesting to note that of all three of the
theorist, Vygotsky stands out among them. I dont know if its because Vygotsky had an
opportunity to test Erickson and Piagets theories, before he developed his own and knew ahead
of time that Erickson and Piagets theories were flawed. Therefore he didnt use a lot of their
research, or his research showed that Erickson and Piagets had made gross errors. Whichever it
is he must have done something right, seeing his works are more and more respected worldwide.
This is not to say that Erickson and Piagets theories are not in use anymore, they are, to
quite an extent, and children schooled with all three theories turn out fine. I must admit I am
partial to Vygotsky, the whys and wherefores I still havent figure that out yet. I am sure I will as
my studies continue. Education has come a long way, with all the new laws passed to open an
education to everyone, including the exceptional children. One would never have guessed these
days that it wasnt long ago that an education was reserved just for the rich. If you couldnt
afford an education you would have to depend on someone else to teach you how to read and do
math.
Conclusion
Erickson, Piaget, Vygotsky all have a place in history and in the classroom. Properly
using their theories a teacher has little excuse of not being able to teach a class, whether it is
multicultural or not, general education or special education. And even though Vygotsky is taking
the lead in educating our children. I am certain that Erickson, and Piaget will always be part of
education also. With the three great theorist, Erickson, Piaget, and Vygotsky I, as a teacher
should be able to handle any grade of students that comes along. I would also think Erickson,
Piaget, and Vygotsky would help in a multicultural class as well.

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References
Budzienski, J. (2015, February 7). Activities to teach toddlers with vygotsky's theory. Retrieved
February 7, 2015, from http://motherhood.modernmom.com/activities-teach-toddlers-vygotskystheory-16606.html
Cherry, K. (2015, February 2). Stages of Psychosocial Development. Retrieved February 2,
2015, from http://psychology.about.com/od/psychosocialtheories/a/psychosocial_3.htm
Gauvain, M., & Cole, M. (Eds.). (n.d.). Readings on the development of children. New York, NY:
W. H. Freeman and Company.
Snowman, J., & McCown, R. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching. Stamford, Ct: Cengage
Learning.