Question

Eight-month-old Alexander makes minor changes in his schema each time his environment provides him with a new experience. What does this process represent?

a) Accommodation
b) Assimilation
c) Equilibration
d) Object permanence

Answer 1

Eight-month-old Alexander's minor adjustments to his schema due to new experiences illustrate the process of accommodation.

Step-by-step explanation:

Eight-month-old Alexander is experiencing accommodation, which represents his minor adjustments to his schema with each new experience. This process is different from assimilation, where new information is incorporated into existing schemata without changing them. In accommodation, new experiences cause changes to existing mental models to adapt to new information. For example, if a child has a schema for a dog and then encounters a cat for the first time, accommodation would involve modifying their existing schema of a 'four-legged furry animal' to include the new information that distinguishes a cat from a dog.