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Jean Piaget saw cognitive development as more of a universal pattern of intellectual growth occurring at specific times during infancy, childhood, and adolescence. Piaget believed children are very active and curious, and just want to make sense of the world around them. This is ultimately how individuals adapt to their environment. If discrepancies exist between a child's modes of thinking and environmental influences, there will be cognitive disequilibria. This forces the child to make mental tweaks and adjustments that better help them cope with their new experiences, hopefully, returning to a state of cognitive equilibrium. Restoring this balanced relationship between mental schemes and external environment increase cognitive activity and intellectual growth (Shaffer & Kipp, 2013).

Piaget believed that each individual goes through four major periods, or stages of cognitive development. They include the sensorimotor stage (birth to 2 years), the preoperational stage (2 to 7 years), the stage of concrete operations (7 to 11 years), and the stage of formal operations (11 years and beyond). Piaget believed that each stage must be progressed through and is not able to be skipped as each stage builds on the previous one. Piaget also recognized that certain cultural influences (e.g., language spoken at home, religious observances, and acceptable gender roles) and environmental factors (e.g., housing, stimulation, and hygiene) can possibly hinder or accelerate a child's progression through each stage of development. Therefore, each child will go through the same stages of development, in the same order, but each child will achieve this at their own pace. For example, a child that is from a rural area with little food and stimulation from their caregiver would progress much slower through each stage than a child that is well nourished and has many opportunities for stimulation and play from their caregiver. This would account for the role of sociocultural influences, as well as typical and atypical development across developmental domains, although Piaget tended to all but ignore these and there effect on development (Shaffer & Kipp, 2013).

Lev Vygotsky developed the sociocultural theory on cognitive development, which was in definite contrast to Piaget's theory. Vygotsky believed that cognitive development happens in a sociocultural context. He also found that children's social interactions with parents, teachers, and other associates had a direct influence on the evolvement of their cognitive skills. Vygotsky thought that children's intellectual development was directly linked to their culture. You would not see children of the same age in other parts of the world necessarily doing the same things. It would be affected by the beliefs, values, and tools of intellectual adaptation passed down by their individual cultures. This would lead to Vygotsky indicating that the course or content of intellectual growth being not as universal as Piaget believed (Shaffer & Kipp, 2013).

Piaget and Vygotsky did agree that children are curious explorers who want to be actively involved in their learning. Vygotsky, however, believed that a child needed a guided tutor to accomplish their learning. This is referred to as the zone of proximal development, which references tasks that are likely too complicated for a child to learn on their own without the assistance of a tutor. How guided participation occurs can vary depending on the culture. In Piaget's classroom there would be independent, discovery-based activities. In Vygotsky's classroom there would be much more structed and guided learning occurring. The effectiveness of collaborative learning also varies by culture. Since Vygotsky saw learning as more guided and structed to the individual, children experiencing atypical cognitive development would likely receive more individualized instruction. The instruction would be tailored to their specific individual needs (Shaffer & Kipp, 2013).