Piaget’s particular
insight was the role of maturation (simply growing up) in
children’s increasing capacity to understand their world:
they cannot undertake certain tasks until they are psychologically
mature enough to do so.
A combination of optimal development stages and environmental stimulus
therefore shape childrens’ cognitive and behavioural
development: http://www.dmu.ac.uk/~jamesa/learning/piaget.htm
Skinner’s theories
ultimately lead to the idea of the environment shaping an
individual’s behaviour. If you control the rewards and
punishments which the environment gives in response to behaviours, then
you can shape behaviour. This has been enormously influential upon any
processes and theories involving socialisation, eg. education and all
forms of child care, other forms of care and particularly
rehabilitation: http://www.cultsock.ndirect.co.uk/MUHome/cshtml/psy/behav.html