Assimilation

Assimilation (from Latin assimilatio — merging) — in the concept of intelligence development by Jean Piaget — an attribute, an aspect of adaptation.

The content of assimilation is the assimilation of certain material by already existing behavior patterns, "pulling" a real event to the cognitive structures of the individual. According to Piaget, cognitive assimilation is not fundamentally different from biological assimilation. Assimilation is inseparable from accommodation in any act of adaptation. In the early stages of development, any mental operation is a compromise between 2 tendencies: assimilation and accommodation. Piaget calls primary assimilation "deforming", since when a new object meets an existing scheme, its features are distorted, and the scheme changes as a result of accommodation. The antagonism of assimilation and accommodation creates the irreversibility of thought. When assimilation and accommodation begin to complement each other, the child's thinking changes. The transition to objectivity, reciprocity, and relativity is based on the progressive interaction of assimilation and accommodation. When harmony is established between the two tendencies, reversibility of thought arises, liberation from egocentrism. Any logical contradiction, according to piaget, is the result of a genetically existing conflict between accommodation and assimilation, and such a situation is biologically inevitable.