Four-year-old Alex and his mother visited the zoo. While they were there, Alex's mother took him to see the squirrel exhibit. Al
ex saw many different types of squirrels, but when he saw a flying squirrel glide from one branch to the next he pointed and said, "A bird." Considering Piaget's work, Alex is demonstrating an example of _________. a. scheme
b. accommodation
c. object permanence
d. assimilation
Assimilation occurs when we modify or change new information to fit into our schemas (what we already know). It keeps the new information or experience and adds to what already exists in our minds.
For example, when a child learns the word for dog, they start to call all four-legged animals dogs. This is assimilation. People around them will say, no, that's not a dog, it's a cat. The schema for dog then gets modified to restrict it to only certain four-legged animals. That is accommodation.
Accommodation is when we restructure of modify what we already know so that new information can fit in better.
