When children encounter new information that doesn't fit their existing concepts, what process do they engage in?

When children encounter new information that does not align with their pre-existing concepts, they engage in the process known as accommodation. This process involves altering their existing cognitive frameworks—schemas—so they can incorporate the new information. Instead of simply adding the new information to what they already know (which would be assimilation), children recognize that their current understanding is inadequate for this new experience and modify their mental structures accordingly.

For example, if a child has a schema for birds that includes only small, flying creatures and they encounter a penguin for the first time, they might realize that their definition of birds is too narrow. To make sense of the penguin, they need to change their schema to include non-flying birds, thereby demonstrating accommodation.

Other processes, such as assimilation, involve fitting new information into existing schemas without changing them, while internalization refers to internalizing learned behaviors or concepts, often through social interactions. Adaptation is a broader term that encompasses both assimilation and accommodation as part of the process of growth in understanding. However, it is accommodation specifically that describes the action taken when newly introduced information does not fit existing knowledge.