29 Chapter 5 Introduction

After this chapter, you should be able to:

• Describe the substages of the Piaget’s sensorimotor stage.
• Explain how the social environment affects cognitive development according to Vygotsky’s theory.
• Discuss the progression of language development during the first two years.
• Compare the theories of language development.
• Define classical and operant conditioning.
• Summarize the different types of memory

In an effort to better understand the large spectrum of cognition that infants and toddlers go through, it is important to analyze and comprehend various theories that relate to their growth and development. This chapter will take a look at the following theorists: Piaget, Vygotsky, Chomsky, Skinner, Pavlov, Watson, Bandura, and Bronfenbrenner.^[1]