Process of Adaptation involving Assimilation, Accommodation, Equilibrium and Disequilibrium.
Description
Psychology A2. (Cognitive Development.) Mind Map on Process of Adaptation involving Assimilation, Accommodation, Equilibrium and Disequilibrium., created by Stephanie Price on 04/23/2014.
Process of Adaptation involving
Assimilation, Accommodation,
Equilibrium and Disequilibrium.
Adaptation.
Piaget referred to the process by which a
child's schemas are developed to fit their
experience of the world as adaptation.
As each child's knowledge is adapted
to take account of his or her own
unique experience and environment,
each child will develop a different
understanding of the world.
According to Piaget,
adaptation takes place through
the processes of assimilation
and accommodation.
Process:
Assimilation > Equilibrium > New Situation > Disequilibrium > Accommodation.
Equilibrium and Disequilibrium
Definitions:
Equilibrium
A state of cognitive balance.
A situation in which a new
experience can easily be
understood using existing schemas.
Example: The child
can deal with the
situation (the world).
Disequilibrium
A state of cognitive imbalance that occurs
when incoming information conflicts with
our pre-existing understanding of the
world. Leads to accommodation.
A situation in which
a new experience
cannot easily be
understood using
existing schemas.
Example: The baby's
sucking schema is not
appropriate for solid food
- a big mess is made.
Equilibrium > We understand our world.
Disequilibrium > We do not understand our world.
Assimilation and Accommodation.
Assimilation.
Definition:
Adding to an existing schema
or applying an existing
schema to a new situation.
This process, is the process whereby
new objects, situations or ideas are
understood in terms of the schemas the
child already processes. The world is
'fitted in' to what the child already knows.
Example: The baby uses
it's innate sucking schema
to feed on all nipples,
mother's or baby bottles.
An example, Sam has learned to play with toys
that have wheels using a pull-along dog that he
has in his toy cupboard at home. He has
developed a 'pull-along' schema. When he goes
to nursery he will use the same schema with a
pull-along duck. In this way, the duck has been
assimilated into Sam's 'pull-along' schema, and
his knowledge of the world has been adapted
and consolidated in the light of experience.
In other situations new
information cannot so
easily be absorbed into
an existing schema.
When confronted with
a wind-up tractor, Sam
may try to use his
'pull-along' schema,
but this will not work.
According to Piaget, when a child
assimilates an object or situation
using a schema that does not quite fit
that situation, the child experiences
disequilibrium. In this case,
disequilibrium is caused by the fact
that the tractor will not move forward
in the way that Sam expects it to.
Balance or equilibrium
can be restored by a
process which Piaget
called accommodation.
Other Examples:
Using a grown-up
spoon in the same
way as a baby spoon.
Holding a pen in the
same way as a pencil.
Using the same
action to put on a pair
of shorts as to put on
a pair of trousers.
Accommodation.
Definition:
Changing an existing schema
to or developing a new
schema in order to deal
effectively with a new situation.
This is the process whereby the
existing schemas have to be
modified to fit new situations,
objects or information. The
existing schemas are expanded
or new ones are created.
Example: The baby has
to modify it's feeding
schema so it can use all
beakers and the cups,
instead of just nipples.
Following the Sam example,
in this case, Sam will need to
develop a new 'wind-up'
schema in order to get the
tractor to move along.
Having developed a new
schema to cope with the new
experience, Sam is once
again in a state of equilibrium.
Note that his cognitive ability has
also been extended because he
now has two schemas for dealing
with toys with wheels, a 'pull-along'
schema and a 'wind-up' schema,
instead of just one.
Other Examples:
A spoon grip needs to be
modified to hold a fork.
A pencil grip needs
to be modified to
hold a paintbrush.
A sucking schema needs
to be modified the first
time a baby is presented
with solid food.