AP PSYCHOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Jean Piaget (1952; see also Wadsworth, 2004) viewed intellectual growth as a process of adaptation (adjustment) to the world. This happens through assimilation, accommodation, and equilibration. To get back to a state of equilibration we need to modify our existing schemas, to learn and adapt to the new situation.

Detailed explanation-2: -Piaget argued that cognitive and intellectual development happens through a process of adaptation. That is, children learn by adjusting to the world. They do this through assimilation, accommodation and equilibration.

Detailed explanation-3: -After many years of observation, Piaget concluded that intellectual development is the result of the interaction of hereditary and environmental factors. As the child develops and constantly interacts with the world around him, knowledge is invented and reinvented.

Detailed explanation-4: -When considering intelligence, Piaget focuses on the mental processes thatoccur, rather than on the actual measure of the intellect. He uses four areasto define intelligence. These areas are: a biological approach to looking at intelligence, the succession of the stages, knowledge, and intellectualcompetence.

Detailed explanation-5: -Piaget used the term schema (plural is schemata) to refer to the mental structures which help individuals to adapt to and organize their environment. He believed that the mental structures construct the meaning of the new experience and facilitate one’s cognitive; adaptation to the new experience or environment.