Video:What is Jean Piaget's Theory of Accommodation?
with Dr. Robert ReinerThe theory of accommodation was developed by psychologist Jean Piaget, which describes how people form opinions that last through their life. Learn more about Piaget's theory of accommodation in this video.
Transcript:What is Jean Piaget's Theory of Accommodation?
My name is Dr. Robert Reiner from Behavioral Associates in New York and talking about Piaget's concepts of accommodation.
Piaget's Theory of Accommodation
Piaget was a Swiss psychologist who did a lot of work on different stages in both children, in fact mostly children but adults also. The concepts of assimilation and accommodation he felt lasted through a person's lifetime. Accommodation is the process of, accommodating yourself to new information.
Example of Piaget's Accommodation Theory
An example I use a lot is: describe a research study finding. And you know learning about something you would be assimilating it. Let's say I told you that extremely wealthy men tended to marry women of average intelligence.People have all sorts of theories about that, so when you're getting information that's the first step to assimilation but if I told you the reason was simply regression to the mean and it forced you to rethink this stuff or kind of go through a change - that's accommodation.
When Piaget talked about accommodation he talked about something changing inside: as in a shift in attitudes or an awareness, but the accommodation in Piaget's theories was always based on a person really being forced to make some kind of a change, usually a shift in attitude or an opinion.
I'm Dr. Robert Reiner from Behavioral Associates in New York. If you have anymore question about Piaget's concepts of accommodation go to About.com.