Which cognitive theory focuses on how people understand and reason about the world?

Piaget's Cognitive Development Theory is fundamentally centered on how individuals perceive, understand, and logically reason about their environment. This theory posits that cognitive development occurs through a series of stages that children progress through, where each stage reflects different capabilities in thinking and reasoning.

According to Piaget, children move from concrete operational thought, characterized by limited logical reasoning and an understanding of physical manipulation of objects, to formal operational thought, where they can engage in abstract reasoning and think logically about hypothetical situations. This progression underlines how children actively construct knowledge and concepts about the world around them, continuously building upon their experiences.

In contrast, Vygotsky's Social Development Theory emphasizes the sociocultural influences on learning and cognitive development, particularly the role of social interaction and language. While valuable for understanding how cultural context affects cognitive processes, it does not specifically focus on independent reasoning capabilities.

Pavlov's Classical Conditioning Theory centers around learning through association and does not delve into higher-order reasoning or understanding, making it less relevant to the cognitive understanding of the world.

Bandura's Social Learning Theory highlights the role of observational learning, imitation, and modeling but focuses essentially on how behaviors are learned from others, rather than how individuals develop reasoning and understanding of their environment.

Thus