Jean Piaget proposed a theory of cognitive development that revolutionized our understanding of how children acquire knowledge and understanding. Piaget emphasized that children are active learners, not passive recipients of information. By interacting with their environment, manipulating objects, and exploring, children construct and reconstruct knowledge. He believed that cognitive development is a result of the ongoing balance between the individual’s biological maturation and experiences with the physical and social world.

Piaget proposed that the child’s experience influences cognitive development through three inborn processes. They are:

  1. Organization
  2. Adaptation
  3. Equilibration

1. Organization

The principle of organization refers to the tendency of the individual to combine, integrate, and coordinate two or more separate schemas. As children grow, their schemas become more interconnected and sophisticated, allowing for more efficient learning and problem-solving.

Here, schema—a fundamental Piagetian concept—is defined as the basic unit of knowledge, a mental structure that represents both internal and external aspects of an individual’s world. These can be behavioral, images of stimuli or complex ideas.

Example:
Infants have three independently functioning schemas for the responses of looking, sucking, and grasping. Eventually, these schemas will be organized, which will enable the baby to see a bottle, grasp it, and then suck on it.

2. Adaptation

The second principle, adaptation, is the tendency of the individual to interact with and adjust to internal and external experiences. Adaptation proceeds by means of two complementary processes:

  1. Assimilation
  2. Accommodation

Assimilation

Assimilation is a “taking-in” process through which new experiences and objects are incorporated into the child’s schematic structure. Assimilation occurs frequently in familiar contexts or with experiences that do not challenge the child's current understanding.

Example:
Suppose we give a new rattle to a girl. She applies her organized combination of looking, grasping, and shaking schemas and determines that it belongs with her rattle schema. Now she is given a magnet. She may try to shake it, but it’s silent. She may try to put it in her mouth; the mouth schema will work and the magnet is assimilated. When she gets older, she will discover that it does not belong in the mouth schema.

Accommodation

Accommodation involves either the changing of an existing schema or the acquiring of a new one. This process is essential when a new experience does not fit into an existing schema. This promotes cognitive growth by forcing the child to revise their understanding of the world.

Example:
When a child first tries to grasp a ball, he may be awkward and unable to pick it up. But he will try the movement until his existing grasping technique is accommodated, and the schema will be able to assimilate the new aspect of grasping.

3. Equilibration

When we encounter a new event—particularly one that is inconsistent with our existing schemas—a state of disequilibrium occurs. This state always arouses cognitive tension and conflict. At this point, the process of equilibration comes in to restore cognitive harmony. This is done by the adaptation processes of assimilation and accommodation.

The process by which cognitive development advances from one stage to the next is regulated by equilibrium. Children develop their ways of thinking by repeatedly going through cycles of equilibrium, disequilibrium, and re-equilibration.

Equilibration is Piaget’s central motivational factor. Because, it motivates children to learn and adapt their thinking by balancing what they know with what they experience.

References

  1. Sarafino, E. P., & Armstrong, J. W. (1986). Child and adolescent development. Wadsworth Publishing.
  2. Papalia, D. E., & Feldman, R. D. (2011). Human Development. McGraw-Hill Education.
  3. Santrock, J. W. (2019). Life-Span Development (17th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.