Vygotsky stated that cognitive development occurs as a result of the child interacting with the

social environment. Children acquire more knowledge and concrete skills via direct teaching
and discovery activities.

Of major importance to Vygotsky's theory are the concepts of
scaffolding and the zone of proximal development.Define each of these concepts. How would the
information processing theory explain the phenomena of scaffolding and the zone of proximal
development?
What will be an ideal response?

Scaffolding – providing hints, cues and other assistance to aid child in learning a task; telling a child
the target word rhymes with ____.
Zone of proximal development – based on capabilities of individual children; zone is what child can
do on own; what can do with assistance; and accomplishing task on own. What the child can do with
assistance will vary as to where child is at beginning of instruction and complexity of task.
Information processing theory – focuses on individual child; scaffolding task, will be both age-related
and tailored to individual child; zone will depend on working memory capabilities.