Running Head: THEORIES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Theories of Psychosocial and Cognitive Development

Lirah Woodmansee
EDUC 250
Ivy Tech Community College

Abstract
This paper covers the meanings, principles, and stages of three critical theories. Eriksons
psychosocial development theory, Piagets Cognitive Development Theory, and Vygotskys
Cognitive Development Theory will all be evaluated in this paper. Piagets and Vygotskys
Cognitive development theories will be compared and contrasted followed by an evaluation of
the three theories usefulness in the classroom.

THEORIES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Theories of Psychosocial and Cognitive Development

It is hard to imagine the processes and developments that take place in human beings that
take them from infancy to adulthood. There are likely many theories that contribute to the ideas
of both psychosocial and cognitive development, though there are three major theories that have
been both praised and challenged since they were originally presented. Those three particular
theories were proposed by Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget, and Lev Vygotsky. This paper will observe
both psychosocial and cognitive development theories and portray a compare and contrast of two
cognitive development theories.
Eriksons Psychosocial Development Theory:
Psychosocial development is a form of development that takes place over the course of a
persons life. Karkouti (2014) states, Eriksons model states that identity formation is based on
overcoming conflicts that individuals encounter during adolescence and early adulthood (p.
257). In the earlier stages of Eriksons Theory infants learn to either trust or mistrust, while
preschool age children will begin to learn to be either independent and proud or ashamed of
themselves (McCown, 2015). The third stage of Eriksons theory is initiative versus guilt, which
is targeted at ages four and five. This stage allows children to feel either empowered to, or
discouraged from making their own decisions. This is based off of whether or not adults react
positively or negatively to a childs questions or independent actions (McCown, 2015).

THEORIES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Stage four, industry versus inferiority, is directed at children ages six through eleven.
During this stage children learn to either become industrious or not (McCown, 2015). This
means that children who had successfully made their way through the previous stages build to
those qualities and begin to learn to become part of the industry by being creative and
resourceful. Children in this stage may participate in science fairs or extracurricular activities and
excel intellectually and academically (McCown, 2015). Identity versus role confusion is the fifth
stage of this particular theory. In this stage, children ages twelve to eighteen, establish whether
they know who they are or not (McCown, 2015).
The first five stages of Eriksons Psychosocial Development Theory are followed by
three others, young adulthood, middle age, and old age. These stages are all affected by the first
five stages as if they are part of a domino effect. Promoting the positive sides of each of these
steps could help a child build their selves for success in their futures. Using inquiry based
learning activities and projects would be the best way to approach teaching students how to
develop initiative. To develop industry I would come up with a hands on project that would
allow students to create a product that could be useful. I would give them a scenario and ask
them to create a project that would be able to solve or help the issue and they would have to
create the product and explain how and why it would be useful in the given scenario.
Piaget: Cognitive Development:
Piagets theory for cognitive development is formed first with basic principles and
secondly in stages. Powell and Kalina state (2009), Piagets theory of cognitive development
proposes that humans cannot be given information, which they immediately understand and use;
instead, humans must construct their own knowledge (p. 242). The basic principles of this

THEORIES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

particular theory are as follows: Organization, schemes, adaptation, relationships among

organization, adaptation and schemes, Equilibration, disequilibrium, and learning, as well as
constructing knowledge (McCown, 2015). These principles are the building blocks of Piagets
theory.
Organization is more than just organizing a desk or books. Individuals organize their
thoughts and known information into categories in order to create connections between subjects
and to make the information more relevant to each other (McCown, 2015). The second basic
principle, schemes, is patterns in behavior during different developmental periods of human life
(McCown, 2015). Adaptation is where people take a current scheme and make it more in-depth
by slowly adding new information (McCown, 2015). There is a relationship between these three
basic principles though. They work together in order for each individual to continue to grow. An
individual may know of a current scheme, and then they will add new information and adapt the
new information then reorganize it into subcategories (McCown, 2015).
Equilibration, disequilibrium, and learning are easier to explain by stating that they go
into further detail the process in which organization, schemes, and adaptation work together.
Lastly constructing knowledge is when individuals take the information that they have and add to
it (McCown, 2105). The best way to understand constructing knowledge is to take a doctor
having knowledge of a disease, then finding out why there is a disease, and lastly finding how to
cure the disease.
Piagets theory contains three stages, starting at the Sensorimotor Stage. In this stage
infants and toddlers learn solely through their senses and motor activities (McCown, 2015). The
Preoperational Stage affects preschool and early elementary aged students. Building on to the

THEORIES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

first stages sources of information, McCown (2015) mentions that children in this age group
learn best through visual images and bodily sensations (p. 41). Concrete operational stage is
the third stage, taking place between mid-elementary aged students and early middle school
students. In this stage children begin to understand logic to a greater extent, though it is limited
to that in which a child has already experienced, or is physically present (McCown, 2015). The
remainder of middle school to beyond high school is covered in one final stage, The Formal
Operational Stage. In this stage children and adults have moved beyond the need for concrete or
physical presence from the subject in which they are dealing with. In this stage children begin to
use their minds to create, understand, and find solutions to problems (McCown, 2015).
Vygotskys Cognitive Development Theory:
Vygotsky believed that cultures pass down psychological tools that help strengthen and
evolve mental functioning. Social interaction was a tool that Vygotsky believed was a main
source of cognitive development (McCown, 2015). One generation hands down the needed tools
that the next generation will need in order to get on their feet, so that they can continue to grow.
Because of this each culture has different psychological tools that they share with newer
generations to help strengthen and grow. A great way to use Vygotskys theory in the classroom
to aid students would be to have social interaction through guest speakers and having volunteer
days when family members can come in and help in the classroom to help teach students
different ways to approach problems.
Piaget versus Vygotsky Cognitive Development Theories
While Vygotskys theory does not contain as much detail as Piagets, they both have
similar and different qualities from one another. The similar qualities are that they both highlight

THEORIES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

qualities and occurrences that may impact cognitive development, and because they are both
theories, neither is right nor wrong. The differences between the two theories outnumber the
similarities by far. The difference include the fact that Piaget believes that cognitive development
takes place through ones individual mind and thought process, where Vygotskys theory relies
heavily on social and cultural interaction. Piagets theory goes into far greater details and breaks
down to how different age groups learn and retain knowledge, while Vygotskys theory seems to
talk about people in general, and does not share how or why we store and retain the information.
Conclusion
Each of the theories mentioned in this paper can be effectively used in the classroom,
though using them together may be cause for a greater outcome. Using Eriksons theory in the
classroom, based on the age group, would help the students to become confident and intellectual
students that will likely succeed in the real world. The use of Piagets theory in the classroom
would help an instructor to understand how to approach the age group they are working with.
Combining Vygotskys theory with Piagets would help to cover all the bases, especially
considering that every individual learns differently. The qualities contained in each of these
theories can be combined to create a successful classroom environment in which students can
grow and strive.

THEORIES OF PSYCHOSOCIAL AND COGNITIVE DEVELOPMENT

Resources
Karkouti, I. M. (2014). Examining psychosocial identity development theories: A
guideline for professional practice. Education, 135(2), 257-263.
McCown, R., Snowman, J. (2015). Psychology applied to teaching. 14th Edition.
Powell, K. C., & Kalina, C. J. (2009). Cognitive and social constructivism: Developing
tools for an i effective classroom. Education, 130(2), 241-250.