Psychology: Vygotsky's Social Cognitive Theory and Schema Theory

This assignment delves into Vygotsky's social cognitive theory and schema theory, crucial concepts in psychology. It begins by defining Vygotsky's theory, emphasizing the significance of social interaction in cognitive development, and explores the influence of the environment on a child's thought processes. The assignment highlights the practical applications of Vygotsky's theory, such as its utility in educational settings and its role in fostering social interactions. It then transitions to schema theory, defining schemata and their impact on how individuals organize and interpret information. The assignment covers the different types of schema and how these schemata are organized in the human brain, providing a clear understanding of how humans process and store information. The assignment also touches upon the limitations of Vygotsky's theory, such as the premature end of his research work and the vagueness associated with the concept of the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD).

Psychology-
Schema Theory
Student
Institution

Background and brief explanation Vygotsky
social- cognitive theory
 Vygotsky social cognitive theory
developed in 1934
 Fundamental benefit of social interaction
in cognitive development
 Community and the process of “making
meaning”
 Culture and cognitive development
 Childhood environment and influence on
people’s thoughts

What is Vygotsky?
 Definition of Vygotsky as a social
development model and as a theory
dealing with cognitive development
 Involvement of cognition in learning, its
examples and applicability in childhood
 Cognition and consciousness as the
results of social behavior
 Vygotsky theory of social development as
a process for child development

Uses of Vygotsky and limitations
Uses of Vygotsky
 Assists teachers in planning out classroom instructions
 Helps teachers understand different skills and knowledge level for
students
 Supports parents, peers, caregivers, and society at large to form higher
psychological functions
 Equips people in different settings right skills for social interaction and
socialization
Limitations of Vygotsky
 Vygotsky’s premature death creates a limitation to the theory, as most of
his models are incomplete
 Vygotsky concepts have started being applied just recently due to political
issues and reasons
 Vagueness associated with ZPD
 Vygotsky concepts are not applicable or relevant to all cultures

Write what schema theory?
 Definition of schema and schema theory
concept
 Key ideas of schema theory
 Types of schema theory
 Organization of knowledge into units
 Schemata and objects, events, actions,
situations, and sequence of actions

References
 Cherry, K. (2019). The Role of a Schema
in Psychology. Verywell Mind, 14(7), 1-8.
 McLeod, S. (2018). Lev Vygotsky. Simply
Pyschology, 12(6), 1-4.
 Vygotsky, L. (2015). Interaction between
learning and development. Readings on
the development of children, 23(3), 34-
41.