Piaget

Key Terms

Schemata: experiences of the world organised as mental structures.

Assimilation: integrating new information into existing schemata without the schemata being altered. EG: a child sees a truck and calls it a car. No cognitive change occurs. (Fitting new information into existing mental frameworks)

Accommodation: changing existing schemata to integrate new information, or the creation of a new schema when integration is not possible. E.G: a child calling a truck a truck. (creating new category). It is more advanced than assimilation, produces cognitive change. (Modifying schemas to incorporate new information)

Equilibrium: the state experienced when existing schemata (based on prior knowledge) can account for new information. (balanced state of understanding)

Disequilibrium: the state experienced when existing schemata are unable to account for new information. (Cognitive conflict prompting adaption)