Which term best describes the Piagetian process of adjusting schemes to fit new information and resolve cognitive conflict?

Which term best describes the Piagetian process of adjusting schemes to fit new information and resolve cognitive conflict?

• A. Equilibrium
• B. Irreversibility
• C. Accommodation
• D. Causality

Answer: (C)

This item focuses on how Piaget describes changing thinking when new information doesn’t fit what a child already believes. The process described is accommodation: adjusting existing schemas or creating new ones to fit the new information and to resolve the cognitive conflict that arises when reality doesn’t match current ideas. For example, if a child learns that not all birds can fly (seeing a penguin or an owl at rest), they revise their bird concept to include flying and non-flying varieties, rather than forcing the new information into the old idea that all birds fly. Equilibrium is the overall balance reached when assimilation and accommodation work together, not the act of changing thinking. Irreversibility refers to a specific limitation in thinking about reversibility of actions, and causality concerns cause-and-effect reasoning—neither is about adapting schemas in response to new information.

This item focuses on how Piaget describes changing thinking when new information doesn’t fit what a child already believes. The process described is accommodation: adjusting existing schemas or creating new ones to fit the new information and to resolve the cognitive conflict that arises when reality doesn’t match current ideas. For example, if a child learns that not all birds can fly (seeing a penguin or an owl at rest), they revise their bird concept to include flying and non-flying varieties, rather than forcing the new information into the old idea that all birds fly.

Equilibrium is the overall balance reached when assimilation and accommodation work together, not the act of changing thinking. Irreversibility refers to a specific limitation in thinking about reversibility of actions, and causality concerns cause-and-effect reasoning—neither is about adapting schemas in response to new information.