ALL THINGS BEING EQUAL - THE 2 ROADS OF PIAGET AND VYGOTSKY

The relationship between researchers and theorists who identify themselves as primarily Piagetian and researchers and theorists who identify themselves as primarily Vygotskian has been tumultuous. By contrast, Piaget and Vygotsky seemed to have a mutual admiration for each other's work. The major argument over egocentric speech was more the result of misunderstanding than real opposition. The real disagreement between the two theorists concerns whether you must identify a primary cause in.the developmental scheme. This difference should not be underplayed and has led to some true differences between the two theoretical perspectives in terms of emphasis and analysis of development. In spite of this difference the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky are remarkably similar, especially at their central core. It is just that Piaget focused on the natural laws of intellectual development while Vygotsky concentrated on the impact of culture. This paper explores the complimentary relationship between Vygotsky's sociohistorical development and Piaget's equilibration theory. The argument is made that both theorists start from basically the same place in developing their contributions to the study of development. New and important theoretical contributions may be possible through a dialectical integration of the two. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.