In Piaget's theory, what are the two processes by which children adapt to new information?

• A. Assimilation and accommodation
• B. Reinforcement and punishment
• C. Observational learning
• D. Synaptic pruning

Answer: (A)

In Piaget's theory, how children adjust to new information happens through two complementary processes: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation means fitting new experiences into existing mental categories or schemas. For example, a child who has a schema for "dog" may call any four-legged animal a dog, applying the same label to new, similar experiences. Accommodation is when new information doesn’t fit the current schema, so the child adjusts the schema or creates a new one. For instance, the child learns that a cat is not a dog and develops a separate "cat" category, refining or expanding their understanding of animals. These processes work together to achieve equilibration, helping children build more accurate and organized knowledge. The other options reflect different theories or brain processes (operant conditioning, observational learning, and synaptic pruning) not described by Piaget as the two adaptive processes.