Cognitive Development across the Lifespan

Before completing this discussion, review Chapter 5 of your text as well as the Piaget’s Concrete Operational Stage Revisited video. You may also want to review the following recommended resources: “Piaget’s Enduring Contribution to Developmental Psychology,” “On Major Developments in Preschoolers’ Imagination,” “Lev Semyonovich Vygotsky (1896-1934),” and “Jean Piaget (1896-1980)” articles,  After examining the research in human development, choose and complete one of the following options:

Option A: Piaget’s theory on cognitive development has contributed a unique perspective to our understanding of how children think, reason, and solve problems. Examine and identify the main tenets of Piaget’s theory of cognitive development (i.e., schema, assimilation, and accommodation) describing them in your own words.
Examine the cognitive factors Piaget presents in relation to human development. Briefly identify and describe his stages of cognitive development by illustrating the cognitive tasks that infants, children, or young adults are capable (or not capable) of performing.

Alternatively, instead of describing the stages, you may create a chart in which the abilities that define cognitive development in Piaget’s theory are plotted against the age at which they are acquired. Identify at least one aspect of Piaget’s theory that has been criticized and mention the evidence upon which this criticism is based.

Option B: Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development has contributed a unique perspective to our understanding of how children think, reason, and solve problems. Examine and identify the main tenets of Vygotsky’s theory of cognitive development (i.e., zone of proximal development, scaffolding, relationship between language and thought) describing them in your own words. In addition, you will need to examine the cognitive factors Piaget presents in relation to human development. Briefly identify and discuss Vygotsky’s view of cognitive development by illustrating the cognitive tasks that infants, children, or young adults are capable (or not capable) of performing.  Identify at least one aspect of Vygotsky’s theory that has been criticized, and mention the evidence upon which this criticism is based.

Your initial post must be at least 300 words and use a minimum of one scholarly source located in the Ashford University Library or on Google Scholar that is cited and referenced according to APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.