The Psychology Book

DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY 267

required through each of the stages;

assimilation, accommodation, and

equilibrium. Assimilation is the

process by which we incorporate

new information into existing

schemas. Accommodation is

required when, in the process of

assimilating, we discover that we

need to modify existing knowledge

or skills. A child who is able to

assimilate successfully most or all

new experiences is said to be in

a state of equilibrium. However,

if the existing schemas are

inadequate for coping with new

situations successfully, then the

child is in a state of cognitive

disequilibrium, and the schemas

need to develop in order to

accommodate the necessary

information. Essentially, this is the

process of adaptation, one of the

most basic forms of learning.

Impact on education

Piaget’s work inspired the

transformation of the education

systems of Europe and the US

during the 1970s and 80s, bringing

about a more child-centered

approach to teaching, in theory and

in practice. Rather than trying to

teach a child to think and behave

like an adult, educators were

encouraged to view their

work as an opportunity to engage

children in novel and individual

modes of thinking. Piaget believed

that education should inspire

people to create, invent, and

innovate, and actively discourage

them from conforming or following

established guidelines at the

expense of imagination. If the

natural process of learning—from

infancy onward—is individual,

active, and exploratory, then so too

should be a system of education

that guides children’s formal

intellectual development.

Another vitally important aspect

of a child-centered education is an

awareness of the concept of

“readiness,” which involves setting

limits on learning based on the

child’s stage of development.

One of Piaget’s most enduring

contributions to the field of

education, particularly with ❯❯

that if you pour liquid from a short,
wide glass into a tall, thin one, the
amount of liquid remains the same
despite the difference in height.
Children can also understand that
objects can be sorted according to
many qualities simultaneously—a
marble can be large, green, or clear.
A little less egocentric now, children
begin to incorporate more relativity
into their viewpoints.
During the fourth stage—the
formal operational stage—children
begin to manipulate ideas (rather
than simply objects) and are able
to reason purely on the basis of
verbal statements. They no longer
need to refer to concrete objects,
and can follow an argument. They
start to think hypothetically, and
this new capacity for imagination,
and their ability to discuss abstract
ideas, reveals that they have now
become less egocentric.

Reaching equilibrium
In addition to defining the four
stages, Piaget identified several
fundamental facets of the
developmental process that were

Educators should not insist

on a particular way of doing or

understanding something, Piaget

(pictured left) asserted, but nurture

children’s natural learning processes.

Intelligence is what you

use when you don’t know

what to do.

Jean Piaget