Piaget’s theory of learning is
based on the proposition that the child [or person]
builds cognitive structures, that
is, mental maps, concept
networks, or schemas that
are used to
understand and respond to new learning
experiences. His several stages of development explain how
these
structures and their use in
thinking
change qualitatively with maturation.
If the child’s learning experience fits existing schemas or cognitive structures of knowledge, it is assimilated; if the learning experience is relatively unfamiliar, different, or novel in some way, the child [person] loses equilibrium and must rebuild one or more schemas or networks of cognitive structures to accommodate the new information.
Created by Dr. Gordon
Vessels 2005