TERMINOLOGY
OF PIAGETIAN TERMS
Assimilation
Fitting new information into existing schemes.
Adaptation
Adjustment to the environment.
Accommodation
Altering existing schemes or creating new ones in response to
new information.
Conservation
The principle
that some characteristics of an object remain the same despite changes in appearance.
Compensation
The principle that changes in one dimension can be offset by
changes in another.
Classification
Grouping objects into categories.
Decentration
Focusing on more than one aspect at a time.
Egocentrism
The assumptions that others experience the world in the same
manner as you do.
Equilibration
Search for mental balance between cognitive schemes and
information from the environment.
Object Permanence
Understanding that objects have a separate. Permanent
existence.
Operations
Actions carried out by thinking them through instead of
actually performing the actions.
Organization
Ongoing process of arranging information and experience into
mental systems or categories.
Reversibility
Thinking backward from the end to the beginning.
Schemes
Mental systems or categories of perception and experience.
Seriation
Arranging objects in sequential order according to one aspect;
like size, weight, and volume.