Cognitive Theories of Piaget and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory - Essay Example

Compare and Contrast Cognitive Theories of Piaget and Banduras Social Cognitive Theory There have been many theories proposed is terms of social cognition by psychologists who determine in there own particular manner how we as human come to learn and grasp certain aspects of life. How we understand, develop and apply our learning’s to the world. Two of the main theorist who proposed theories defining learning in children were Piaget and Bandura who put forward theories regarding the development that takes place in children from their early days to adulthood. This paper focuses on their theories and then goes on to compare and contrasts them discussing the limitations that these theories have. Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who studied the development that takes place in children and pointed out that children build their own cognitive world. He stresses that children, in their early years, did not merely absorb all the information that was projected to them through the environment, they are also affected by assimilation and accommodation. Piaget believed there to be four phases of development that one underwent through the course of his life. His first phase was the sensory motor stage which lasted typically from the time of a child’s birth till he was around the age of two. During this time the infant can understand the world better through the help of sensory experiences such as seeing and hearing and integrating that information received from there with motor action. Piaget believed that at the time of birth children were dependent on their reflex actions but later on at after a time lapse of two years they had fully constructed what he thought were sensory motor patterns. At this stage in a child’s life they are also starting to indulge in and use somewhat primitive symbols for interaction. An important development that Piaget observed was the mastery over "object permanency”. This is another way of saying that children were now beginning to understand that when an object placed in front of them was removed from their line of sight, it still existed elsewhere. The second phase in development was the preoperational phase which lasted more or less from the age of two to age seven. During this phase children were now beginning to express themselves to the world with the use of language and images. In this phase children are known to be egocentric that is to say that they believe that everyone perceives the world as they are. Piaget pointed out that a major characteristic of this stage is conservation, the ability to not grasp that the quantity of an item does not change when its containers size or shape is changed. This was explained to be a result of a child not fully understanding the problem and taking in only what was in front of them (Kids Development, 2010). The third stage is known as the concrete operation stage and projects from age 7 to 11 and as the title might suggest it is the stage in which a child is able to distinguish between the different stages of conservation such as liquid mass and weight. A child is now able to solve problems which may vary in complexity and the child’s egocentric behavior diminishes (Huitt & Hummel, 2003). The final stage is from age 11 and further and is basically the phase when the child learns to understand in depth what the world is and is able to think in an abstract manner. Bandure on the other hand proposed that there is more of a behavioral aspect that determines the manner in which development takes place. He leaned towards behaviorism and toward observational learning arguing that a child was prone to pick up behavior and manners from someone and then will act the same way (Shaffer & Kipp, 2010, 49). Bandura stresses quite a lot in his social cognitive theory arguing that when children are modeling an adult or model figure then they will not only pick up development skills from them but factors relating to ethics and judgments as well (Ananda Mahto, 2006) . While comparing the two theories there is a clear that Piaget has defined a stage of maturation among children while in tern introducing a stage of development that moves in turn with the age of the individual. Bandura is more open in terms of these when concerning his behavioral theory and has not highlighted a maturation point or limit and has neither set up a timeline according to which development takes place. Bandura makes the process of development open-ended with no borders defining a certain stage. Piaget is also assured that because of the stages in the development of the child there is no real part played by the behavior of models while Bandura maintains a reciprocal interaction. Reciprocal interaction holds that the person is not only affected by the behavior of another but the environment and vice versa. Piaget doesn’t believe there is any such interaction and that development occurs through maturation and assimilation and accommodation. Both the theories have been criticized by many. Bandura has been criticized for his simple outline of only behavior determining the learning of the child and that there is a reciprocal interaction amongst the different parts of the environment. He has also been slammed for failing to consider the effect of the conscience in part of the learning of morality and its related ethical topics. And as Bandura considers the environment to play an important role in the shaping of behavior there are many cases in which there may be a change in the environment but the behavior of the person remains consistent to the past. Bandura’s theory also ignores the basic genetics of a person and the innate reactions that they may have to different elements making the theory viable to attacks from skeptics. The basis of his theory is also argued to be artificial and has been debunked. Many of those who follow this social cognitive theory believe that television and video games can have a poor effect on the individual if they indulge in violent genres yet this is not always the case. The parents also have a hand in the raising of the child and if they adopt a firm hand it is possible that those children who do watch violent shows or play such games do not inhibit the aggressive behavioral tendencies that Bandura had shown is possible through his research (Craig A. Anderson et al, 2003). Piaget’s critics mainly go for method of data collection and the individuals he used to base his theory who were his own children and students or graduates for a high socio-economics background. This makes his sample somewhat contaminated and unable to be related to the general public who don’t have such background. His stage theory is also under contention as it’s not always a fact that a child will move from one stage onto another with the passage of time. There may be a play of the environment in the development of the child as Bandura has theorized (Kendra Cherry, Online). Thus it is not quite clear as to which theory is more likely to be correct yet it is Piaget’s which is being used now in the educational stream to better understand the needs of children with respect to their age groups yet it is not always a correct assessment. Hence in conclusion it has to beside that neither theory is without it faults but both have merits which have allowed them to be considered for the understanding of the learning that takes place in a child’s life. Works Cited: Anderson, C. A., Berkowitz, L., Donnerstein, E., Huesmann, L. R., Johnson, J. D., Linz, D., et al. (2003). THE INFLUENCE OF MEDIA VIOLENCE ON YOUTH.American Psychological Society, 4. Retrieved May 1, 2010, from http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/abstracts/2000-2004/03ABDHJLMW.pdf Huitt, W., & Hummel, J. (2003). Piagets theory of cognitive development. Educational Psychology Interactive. Retrieved 1 May 2010 from Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University: http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/cogsys/piaget.html. Piagets Theory of Cognitive Development - Kids Development (UK). (n.d.).Kids Progress, Behaviour, Learning and Thinking at Kids Development (UK). Retrieved May 1, 2010, from http://www.kidsdevelopment.co.uk/PiagetsCognitiveDevelopmentTheory.html Shaffer, D., & Kipp, K. (2010). Theories of Human development. Developmental Psychology: Childhood and Adolescence (Eighth ed., pp. 41-76). Belmont: Wadsworth.  Sherry, K. (n.d.). Support and Criticism of Piagets Stage Theory. About. Retrieved May 1, 2010, from http://psychology.about.com/od/piagetstheory/p/piagetcriticism.html. Zimmerman, . ., & Schunk, D. . (2001). Social Cognitive Theory and Self Regulated Learning. [Electronic version]. In . Zimmerman, & D. Schunk (Eds.). Self-regulated learning and academic achievement: theoretical perspectives (pp. 126-152.). New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Read More