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Tell me this - has your child pointed to something, say maybe a cat, but he labelled it as a dog instead? Naturally, we will tell the child that it is not a dog, but rather, it is a cat. Your child will then reply with the word "dog" instead of "cat" - unknowingly to you and your child; your child just went through the process of assimilation and accommodation.
Okay, first of all, what are assimilation and accommodation even?
A vital feature of the Piagetian concept is called adaptation by Jean Piaget, a swiss cognitive psychologist. His idea of adaptation consists of two activities- assimilation and accommodation. He believes these two ways are how we adapt to new experiences and information - the topic we will discuss today!
The official definition of assimilation is incorporating new concepts into existing schemas.
(Schemas are the same as knowledge, which are mental representations that an individual uses to organise and interpret information) The official definition of accommodation is adjusting schemas to fit new knowledge and experiences. Usually, assimilation and accommodation work simultaneously, and they play around with the schemas we already acquired in our brains.
Yes, I know what you are thinking - what do assimilation and accommodation mean from the official definition?
In more straightforward terms, assimilation means we tap into our existing knowledge that we already have when we are looking at something new. For example, a child already has a schema of a dog (four legs, fury, brown nose, tail). When he sees a cat, he will tap into his schema of a dog and proclaim that the cat is a dog due to its similarity.
Naturally, we will say, "It's not a dog; it's a cat!" Instead, we should validate their opinion and can say along the lines of, "Oh, you think it is a dog? However, to me, it looks like a cat because of its longer whiskers. I think it looks like a cat; what do you think." If they insist it is a dog, you can intervene and tell them it is a cat.
Do note that we adults must acknowledge and validate the child's opinion first as, like us adults, each child has a different perspective - and we can't fault them for that. If we criticise them for that, they may become afraid to voice out their perspectives in the future since their perspective is not being validated.
Once we have established that the cat is indeed a cat, we have reached accommodation for the child. As the child learns what a cat is, the child will create an entirely new schema of what a cat is, and now the child will have two schemas of a cat and a dog, respectively.
This process is dynamic. It helps children to learn and adapt to the world. More importantly, it is a lifelong process - meaning you, as an adult, are also currently using this process in your daily life.
Think about it. Maybe while at work, you thought that the most efficient way to calculate data in an excel sheet is by calculating it independently - until your boss comes around and teaches you a new code to enter into excel that automates the entire calculation process. Since then, you have used the unique code that your boss taught you while not forgetting the original method you used.
In our day-to-day lives, we do not think about how to do what our existing knowledge is used to create new knowledge. It is such an exciting process that our brains are working that we do not notice it. That, to me, is just spectacular that our brains can do this.
All this makes me wonder, what else can our brain do that we are unaware of?
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