Topic Summaries

Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development

A-Level > Psychology > AQA > A-Level Psychology Topic Summaries > Cognition and development > Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development
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  • 👥 Vygotsky (1962) theorised that learning was a social process where children gain new knowledge and reasoning skills from more advanced people seen as experts.
  • He also saw language as a crucial cognitive skill which developed at an increased rate compared to other cognitive skills.
  • He suggested that some aspects of knowledge and intelligence would only be acquired through certain interactions with experts. The knowledge is first intermental and then becomes intramental as the learner crosses the zone of proximal development.
  • The zone of proximal development: the distance between the actual developmental level as determined by independent problem solving under adult guidance. To be able to cross the zone of proximal development, learners should receive help from more experienced peers for a process of scaffolding.
  • Scaffolding: the kind of help the learner receives from the expert in an effort to cross into the zone of proximal development.
  • This was a useful theory for education as it explained that even if a child was intelligent and eager to learn, there is still a limit to what they are capable of learning without sufficient support.

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