Vygotsky’s Concepts of Cognitive Development

Viscosity presented three important contributions to the cognitive development of children: the zone of proximal development, scaffolding, and private speech. These concepts have helped parents and instructors understand ways to educate children more efficiently. The first notion Viscosity introduced was the zone of proximal development. This is an Important concept that relates to the difference between what a child can achieve Independently and what a child can achieve with guidance and encouragement from a skilled partner. An example is when a child is given his first Jigsaw.
Alone, he performs poorly in attempting to solve the puzzle. The mother then sits with him and describes or demonstrates some basic strategies, such as ending all the corner pieces, providing a couple of pieces for the child to put together himself, and offers encouragement when he does so. According to Viscosity, this type of social Interaction Involving guided participation Is more effective In teaching children new things. Viscosity saw the zone of proximal development as the area where the most sensitive instruction or guidance should be given.
It should allow the child to develop skills they will then use on their own – developing higher mental functions. Viscosity also viewed interaction with peers as an effective way of developing skills and strategies. He suggested that teachers should use cooperative learning exercises where less competent children develop with help from more skillful peers – within the zone of proximal development. To reach the zone of proximal development, children need the help of adults or more experienced individuals to support them as they are learning new things.

The second concept that Viscosity established was scaffolding. It is the teaching method that matches the amount of help the child needs. According to Viscosity, scaffolding takes place when the instructor gives support to the student during the lesson by giving him the tools, sources, encouragement, and all manners of reinforcement he may need. Gradually the Instructor should withdraw these support systems bit by bit as the lesson progresses and the student gains mastery of the lesson. Educators over the years have acknowledged the merits of Visigoths scaffolding in the educational setting.
It is beneficial for teachers because of its ability to provide clear directions and reduce the learner’s confusion; the key is that the instructors must anticipate what problems the child may encounter and develop step by step instructions, as well as set proper expectations towards the accomplishment of the lesson. It also importance. All in all, it is about how a good instructor has the right tools to provide the proper scaffolding to their students in order for them to develop critical thinking and the cognitive abilities in solving challenging tasks.
The third concept Weights introduced was private speech, in which children talk to themselves in order to teach, regulate, and understand their physical actions. He stated that private speech was actually a fundamental building block for other cognitive abilities. Private speech, or self-talk is directed to oneself, rather than speech that is regulated or directed to another person. Noticing that children tend to increase the amount of private speech when facing more challenging tasks, Weights hypothesized that at some point, they start using private speech to organize (plan, direct, or evaluate) their behaviors.
The use of private speech peaks during preschool years and then decreases. Weights associates this decrease with private speech turning first into inner speech and then into verbal thinking. I actually saw this phenomenon when my little sister was growing up. I was ten years old when she was born, so I observed many things that I now understand were part of her cognitive development. When she was about three years old, I remember her stating everything she was doing. One time when she was putting her toys away, and she would say what each toy was, and where she was going to put it. This is my teddy bear, and now I am going to put him on my shelf,” she would say. At that time, I thought it was kind of strange that she was “thinking out loud” all the time. Now, after learning what private speech is and why children do it, I realize that when my little sister was talking to herself, she was Just demonstrating cognitive growth. Hoosegows coloratura perspective proposes that social interaction and culture has a dramatic impact on cognitive development.
He stated that language, thought, and reasoning develop through social interaction as well. Weights is mainly responsible for creating certain concepts of cognitive development, such as the zone of proximal development, scaffolding, and private speech. These notions help children develop their intellect more proficiently. In conclusion, Whisky’s theory of cognitive development states that interactions with other people and one’s culture are essential for maximum cognitive development to occur.