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Schemas – A schema describes both the mental and physical actions involved in understanding and knowing. Schemas are categories of knowledge that help us to interpret and understand the world. In Piaget’s view, a schema includes both a category of knowledge and the process of obtaining that knowledge. As experiences happen, this new information is used to modify, add to, or change previously existing schemas. For example, a child may have a schema about a type of animal, such as a dog. If the child’s sole experience has been with small dogs, a child might believe that all dogs are small, furry, and have four legs. Suppose then that the child encounters a very large dog. The child will take in this new information, modifying the previously existing schema to include this new information. Assimilation – The process of taking in new information into our previously existing schema’s is known as assimilation. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experience or information somewhat to fit in with our preexisting beliefs. In the example above, seeing a dog and labeling it “dog” is an example of assimilating the animal into the child’s dog schema. Accommodation – Another part of adaptation involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information, a process known as accommodation. Accommodation involves altering existing schemas, or ideas, as a result of new information or new experiences. New schemas may also be developed during this process. Equilibration – Piaget believed that all children try to strike a balance between assimilation and accommodation, which is achieved through a mechanism Piaget called equilibration. As children progress through the stages of cognitive development, it is important to maintain a balance between applying previous knowledge (assimilation) and changing behavior to account for new knowledge (accommodation). Equilibration helps explain how children are able to move from one stage of thought into the next. This simple video helps to understand the basic concepts of schema, assimilation and accomodation: Some of the ways this theory can be applied to trauma can be seen in the following quote from “Psychological Trauma: A Developmental Approach” by Dora Black “Hollen and Garber (1988) pointed out that when an individual is exposed to schema-discrepant information, one of two things normally happens. Firstly, the information can be altered to fit into the existing schema (assimilation), and so an example of this in a rape victim might be , “it must have been something that I did to make this happen to me so it wasn’t really rape” Thus Resick & Schnicke (1992) suggested that flashbacks and other intrusive memories may be attempts at integration when assimilation fails. Secondly existing schemata may be altered to accommodate new incompatible information (accommodation), and an example of this might be, “the world is an unpredictable place and sometimes bad things happen to good people” Hollen and Garber (1988) suggested that assimilation usually happens more readily than accommodation, since it appears easier to alter ones perception of a single event than to change one’s view of the world. Resick & Schnicke (1992) proposed that accommodation is a goal of therapy, but pointed out that over-accommodation can occur when accommodation happens without good social support or therapeutic guidance…….symptoms of intrusion, avoidance and arousal are caused by conflicts between new information received from the trauma and prior schemata…..such new information is typically assimilated into prior schemata in such a way that it blocks attempts at integration and is associated with intense emotions; intrusive memories are evidence of failed integration when assimilation fails” (page 70) What is important to understand in regards to trauma and this cognitive theory is that most people do not expect to suffer a horrific event. Their life schema and pre-existing systems of meaning do not account for such things happening. Thus, when they do occur it puts strain on their basic understanding and concepts of the world as safe and benevolent. Survivors of trauma can often be helped by understanding how they cognitively processed the trauma…..more to follow……
Assimilation is the cognitive process of making new information fit in with your existing understanding of the world. Essentially, when you encounter something new, you process and make sense of it by relating it to things that you already know. Assimilation refers to a part of the adaptation process initially proposed by Jean Piaget. Through assimilation, we take in new information or experiences and incorporate them into our existing ideas. The process is somewhat subjective, because we tend to modify experience or information to fit in with our pre-existing beliefs. Assimilation plays an important role in how we learn about the world around us. In early childhood, children are constantly assimilating new information and experiences into their existing knowledge about the world. However, this process does not end with childhood. As people encounter new things and interpret these experiences, they make both small and large adjustments to their existing ideas about the world around them.
Piaget believed that there are two basic ways that we can adapt to new experiences and information: assimilation and accommodation.
Assimilation
Accommodation
Assimilation is the easiest method because it does not require a great deal of adjustment. Through this process, we add new information to our existing knowledge base, sometimes reinterpreting these new experiences so that they will fit in with previously existing information.
In assimilation, children make sense of the world by applying what they already know. It involves fitting reality and what they experience into their current cognitive structure. A child's understanding of how the world works, therefore, filters and influences how they interpret reality.
For example, imagine that your neighbors have a daughter who you have always known to be sweet, polite, and kind. One day, you glance out your window and see the girl throwing a snowball at your car. It seems out of character and rather rude. How do you interpret this new information? If you use the process of assimilation, you might dismiss the girl's behavior, believing that it's something she witnessed a classmate doing and that she does not mean to be impolite. You're not revising your opinion of the girl during assimilation; you are simply adding new information to your existing knowledge. She's still kind, but now you know that she also has a mischievous side to her personality. If you were to utilize the second method of adaptation described by Piaget, the young girl's behavior might cause you to reevaluate your opinion of her. This process is what Piaget referred to as accommodation, in which old ideas are changed or even replaced based on new information. Assimilation and accommodation both work in tandem as part of the learning process. Some information is incorporated into our existing schemas through the process of assimilation, while other information leads to the development of new schemas or total transformations of existing ideas through the process of accommodation. Piaget did not believe that children just passively take in information. He argued that they actively try to make sense of the world, constantly forming new ideas and experimenting with those ideas. Examples of assimilation include:
Another common example would be how children learn about different types of animals. A child might begin with a schema for a dog, which in the child's mind, is a small, four-legged animal.
As the child encounters new information in the world, the new information can then be assimilated or accommodated into this existing schema.
When the child encounters a horse, they might assimilate this information and immediately call the animal a dog. The process of accommodation then allows the child to adapt the existing schema to incorporate the knowledge that some four-legged animals are horses. In each of these examples, the individual is adding information to their existing schema. Remember, if new experiences cause the person to alter or completely change their existing beliefs, then it is known as accommodation. Assimilation plays a significant role in allowing humans to adapt to and learn about their environment—especially during childhood when we're constantly learning new things.
Assimilation can be viewed as a mental shortcut that lets us process and categorize massive amounts of information at one time. Of course, assimilation can have its drawbacks. There are times when new information doesn't fit neatly into an existing category or schema in our mind. This may lead to errors in judgment; such as a child calling a skunk a "kitty," for instance. However, when the child is taught that this animal is, in fact, a skunk, the animal will be removed from their existing cat schema and enter a new mental category. Piaget also believed that as children learn, they strike a balance between the use of assimilation and accommodation. This process, known as equilibration, allows children to find a balance between applying their existing knowledge and adapting their behavior to new information. According to Piaget, the learning process involves the following:
Assimilation and accommodation are complementary learning processes that play a role at each stage of cognitive development. During the sensorimotor stage, for example, some information is assimilated, while some experiences must be accommodated. It is through these processes that infants, children, and adolescents gain new knowledge and progress through the stages of development. |
What refers to the cognitive process that revises existing schemas to incorporate new information?
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