Assimilation - the concept and signs, how does assimilation differ from dissimilation? What is the assimilation of experience in psychology The problem of assimilation of a person's real psychological experience.
One of the attributes of adaptation, which can be considered within the framework of the development of human intelligence, is assimilation. This is a kind of conditional mechanism, thanks to which the individual has the opportunity to put into practice previously acquired skills, abilities, without subjecting them to a significant transformation. What is this mechanism and who introduced it into psychology this concept, we'll go into more detail later.
Basic terms and concepts
The world learned about such a concept as assimilation thanks to Jean Piaget, who was the founder of the Center for Genetic Psychology in Geneva (1955). Being engaged in the development of his theory about the direction of the knowledge of nature in psychology (genetic epistemology), he first spoke about assimilation, using the term in the context of the manifestation of the adaptive abilities of an individual in a changing environment.
Along with the term "assimilation" in psychology, the designation of another process arose - (also thanks to the largest psychologist of our time, Jean Piaget). According to him, these processes are connected, and therefore the existence of one of them without the second is simply impossible.
According to the ideas of the scientist, assimilation is not only opposite to accommodation, but is also closely interconnected with it. Such a psychological connection ensures the harmonious existence of these two mechanisms in the human mind and is the realm of true intelligence. If we draw a parallel with biology, balancing assimilation and accommodation allows us to judge the cognitive person.
The views and theories that Professor J. Piaget once voiced regarding assimilation became very popular, which ensured their recognition in psychology. They are so firmly rooted in psychology that modern scientists do not question their validity.
At the same time, in order to find out the meaning of the word "assimilation" and get a more detailed interpretation of the term from a psychological point of view, one should study the nature of the phenomenon in more depth.
Jean Piaget considered assimilative processes to be evidence for the existence of structures. In essence, this is a statement that the influence of the factors of the external environment of an individual can change the patterns of his behavior or influence them to the extent that the relationship of the individual with the existing structure is strong.
Assimilation, as one of the attributes that determine the adaptation of the individual, plays a lot important role in human exploration of the environment. In the process of adapting to society, a person tends to acquire new information, skills and experience, assimilating which he gets the opportunity to realize his ideas. At the same time, the acquired information can be assimilated in order to correspond to already existing ideas and behaviors.
Most a prime example the existence of structures are children in early age. Each child constantly absorbs new information and acquires new skills, adapting them to pre-existing ideas about environment. But even in adulthood, such processes do not stop in our minds.
Meeting with previously unknown phenomena, objects or events, an adult interprets the experience. Thanks to this, he is able to modify his own ideas and knowledge about the world with assimilated data, constantly amending the base that was formed in consciousness much earlier.
How the mechanisms work, according to the scientist (example)
According to Piaget's ideas, there are only two options that determine adaptation processes person. Let's look at each of them with an example.
Let's say your acquaintances have a daughter whom you considered the embodiment of "holiness". However, this girl commits a misdemeanor before your eyes, which (as you thought) she is not capable of. What will change in your mind? How will you apply the new information?
1st option. The new information will be assimilated by your consciousness in such a way that you will not change your idea of the girl and will not pay attention to her behavior. Instead, you will assume that she was only repeating the bad example of her more ill-mannered peers. As a result, you will still think that this girl is good, but you will already know about the “dark side” of her personality.
2nd option. Using the method of accommodation to process the information received, you will find the girl's behavior unacceptable and radically change your opinion about the child. So, during accommodation, opposite processes occur that do not allow information to be assimilated, as a result, not the acquired experience changes, but previously formed ideas.
As you can see, assimilation is the easiest way for an individual to adapt to something new, due to the ease of adding new information to existing knowledge. And the information that will be assimilated by a person will sometimes allow him to consider new ideas from a perspective that would maximally correspond to the already existing ideas of the subject. Author: Elena Suvorova
Few people know what assimilation is, although we often encounter it in Everyday life. This process occurs by merging different groups into one, having common goal. This process is practiced in various vital areas of science, culture and psychology.
What is assimilation?
At the moment, the concept of assimilation has dozens of definitions. In each of the fields, whether it be medicine, biology, religion, psychology, and so on, it denotes the merging of one group with another, with the aim of changing at the final stage. Among the people, assimilation is the process of losing national identity, by appropriating foreign cultural property. Thus, it led to the complete disappearance of several peoples and the complete eradication of their traditions. It comes in several types:
- natural;
- violent;
- forced.
Assimilation in sociology
This process is always present in sociological changes, since it guarantees an effective result. The question arises - what is assimilation and what does it mean to assimilate in sociology? It's a simple replacement process distinguishing feature society, to another, which came from another people. There is a kind of failure in people who were previously subject to their culture, religion or language.
The voluntary nature of the transition to a different culture is more attractive and this method quickly adapts a person. Unfortunately, there are many cases of coercion in life. More often it can be observed in places where hostilities take place. Forced migrations happen there, and the government decides for the people what to believe in and how to behave.
Assimilation in psychology
From a psychological point of view, the reasons for assimilation arise automatically, because without it, a person simply could not develop harmoniously. This term refers to one of the parts of the adaptation process, which is the acquisition of new experience. Assimilation is in a simple way for, because with it there is no need to accept a large amount of information. Starting in infancy, these moments of learning accumulate in memory and remain there, gradually multiplying.
Assimilation is a psychological term that refers to one part of the adaptation process. The term assimilation was first introduced by Professor Jean Piaget.
In the process of assimilation, we take in new information or experiences and weave them into the ideas we already have. The process of assimilation is somewhat subjective, because we have a tendency to modify experience or information in such a way that it fits with the ideas, ideas, beliefs that we already have.
Assimilation plays an important role in how we explore the world around us.
AT early childhood Children are constantly assimilating new information and experiences into their existing knowledge of the world. However, this process does not stop during growth, it continues in adults. Faced with novelty and interpreting this experience, people constantly make small and large corrections to their existing ideas about the world around them.
Let's take a closer look at assimilation and its role in the learning process.
How does assimilation work?
Piaget believed that there are 2 main ways in which we adapt to new experiences and information. Assimilation is the easiest method because it doesn't require a lot of tweaking. Through this process, we add new information to the existing knowledge base, sometimes while reinterpreting this new experience in a way that fits with existing information.
For example, let's imagine that your neighbors have a daughter whom you have always perceived as sweet, polite and kind.
One day you look out the window and see this girl throwing a snowball at your car. You perceive this as something rude and unkind, not at all what you would expect from this girl. How do you interpret this new information? If you resort to the process of assimilation, you will not dwell on the girl's behavior, assuming that she did what she saw her classmates do and that she did not want to be impolite.
You will not radically revise your opinion about the girl, you will simply add new information to your existing knowledge. She is a kind girl, but now you know that she also has a "naughty" part of her personality.
If you applied Piaget's second method of adaptation, the girl's behavior would make you change your mind about her. This is a process that Piaget called accommodation, in which old ideas are replaced by new information.
Assimilation and accommodation work in tandem as part of the learning process. Some information is simply incorporated into existing schemas through the process of assimilation, and some information leads to the development of new schemas or completely transforms old ones through the process of accommodation.
More examples of assimilation
- A student studying the operation of a new computer program.
- A small child sees a new breed of dog that he has not seen before, and immediately points his finger at the animal and says "Dog!"
- A chef learning a new culinary technique.
- Programmer studying new language programming.
In each of these examples, a person is adding new information to an existing schema. Therefore it is described as "assimilation". These people do not change or completely modify existing ideas, as accommodation would.
Attribute, aspect of adaptation. The content of A. is the assimilation of certain material by already existing patterns of behavior, the “pulling up” of 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, adaptation. In the early stages of development, any mental operation is a compromise between 2 tendencies: A. and accommodation. A. Piaget calls the primary one “deforming”, because when a new object meets an existing scheme, its features are distorted, and the scheme changes as a result of accommodation. The antagonism of A. and accommodation gives rise to 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 A. and accommodation. When harmony is established between the 2 tendencies, there is a reversibility of thought, liberation from egocentrism.
Any logical contradiction, according to Piaget, is the result of a genetically existing conflict between accommodation and A., and such a situation is biologically inevitable. (E.V. Filippova)
Dictionary of practical psychologist. S.Yu. Golovin
Assimilation- according to J. Piaget - a mechanism that ensures the use of previously acquired skills and abilities in new conditions without their significant change: it is through new item or the situation is combined with a set of objects or another situation for which a schema already exists.
Great Encyclopedia of Psychiatry. Zhmurov V.A.
Assimilation (lat.assimilare - to assimilate; modifying, likening to someone or something)
- digestion;
- the inclusion of new ideas in the already accumulated “apperceptive mass”,
- according to J. Piaget, this is the use of existing cognitive schemes for the assimilation of new experience (see Accommodation);
- assimilation of unpleasant experience in an acceptable way, without rejecting it;
- change outside world according to your needs;
- according to A. Kempinsky, assimilation is the inclusion of external impressions and the formation of functional structures that determine certain psychological reactions.
Neurology. Full dictionary. Nikiforov A.S.
there is no meaning and interpretation of the word
Oxford Dictionary of Psychology
Assimilation, the main meaning is to receive, absorb or connect. This term has a lot of meanings that cannot be left out here. In all the special usages given below, the general meaning is reflected at least to some extent.
- In physiology, the absorption and transformation of food into protoplasm.
- In Hering's theory of vision, the anabolism of photochemicals in the retina.
- In Herbart's theory, when new ideas are incorporated into an already existing apperceptive mass, they can be said to be assimilated.
- In Piaget's approach to development: application general scheme to a specific person, object, or event. See the term accompanying this in Piagetian theory - accommodation (3).
- In early approaches to the study of memory, this term was proposed for the "law" of memory, according to which new objects or events must be assimilated into an existing cognitive structure before they could be remembered.
- It has often been said in standard psychodynamic approaches that certain pathologies, deficiencies, or simply unpleasant facts are assimilated if they are included in an acceptable way in personal experience. The corresponding antonyms for this meaning are repression and suppression.
- In Jung's theory, this term was used to describe the process of changing objects, events, or ideas in order to suit the needs of the individual.
- In Thorndike's theory, the term was used in relation to situations where the animal used a previously acquired reaction in a new situation, when there was a lot in common between both situations.
- In phonetics, the process when two phonemes acquire General characteristics or become identical.
- In sociology, the grouping of groups or individuals with radically different data into one group with common properties. The process here may be unidirectional, when one is absorbed by the other, or there may be a mutual mixing of both.
There may be other uses in psychology, but it seems clear that the term is already experiencing information overload. Some special usages in phrases are given below.
subject area of the term
OBJECT, ASSIMILATION modification or change in the perceived form or function of an object over time. Jung used this phrase to describe such changes, which he assumed were influenced by the needs of the individual. Gestalt psychologists and some modern memory theorists use this term to refer to changes in the representation of an object in memory over time, provided that these changes bring the memories of the object more in line with what is typical of that category. See assimilation.
GENERALIZING ASSIMILATION- see assimilation, generalizing.
MUTUAL ASSIMILATION- see assimilation, mutual.
ASSIMILATION, MUTUAL- in Piaget's theory, mutual assimilation (4) of two schemes, in which each of them is preserved, but changed by the assimilable components of the other. Piaget assumed that the interconnected development of visual and motor circuits was explained by this process.
ASSIMILIATION REPRODUCING In Piaget's theory, the basic form is assimilation (4), based on the fact that the child repeats the same reaction to an object or external situation whenever it occurs. For example, comprehension of an object every time it appears, according to this theory, allows the child to assimilate its various features and properties. This species precedes recognitive assimilation.
assimilation
- according to J. Piaget - a mechanism that ensures the use of previously acquired skills and abilities in new conditions without their significant change: through it, a new object or situation is combined with a set of objects or another situation for which a scheme already exists.
Dictionary of practical psychologist. - M.: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998 .
assimilation
Etymology. Comes from lat. assimilatio - merging, assimilation, assimilation.
Category. The theoretical construct of the operational concept of intelligence by J. Piaget.
Specificity. Assimilation of the material due to its inclusion in already existing patterns of behavior. It is carried out by analogy with biological assimilation.
Context. In the act of adaptation, assimilation is closely connected with accommodation. In the early stages of a child's development, the encounter of a new object with an existing schema leads to a distortion of the properties of the object and to a change in the schema itself, while thought is irreversible. When a balance is established between assimilation and accommodation, there is a reversibility of thought and a change from an egocentric position to a relative one.
Psychological Dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000 .
ASSIMILATION
(from lat. assimilatio- fusion, assimilation, assimilation) - in the concept of the development of intelligence AND.Piaget - attribute, aspect adaptation. The content of A. is the assimilation of certain material by already existing patterns of behavior, the “pulling up” of a real event to the cognitive structures of the individual. According to Piaget, cognitive A. is not fundamentally different from biological. A. is inseparable from accommodation in any act of adaptation, adaptation. In the early stages of development, any mental operation is a compromise between 2 tendencies: A. and accommodation. A. Piaget calls the primary one “deforming”, because when a new object meets an existing scheme, its features are distorted, and the scheme changes as a result of accommodation. Antagonism A. and accommodation generates irreversibility of thought. When A. 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 A. and accommodation. When harmony is established between 2 tendencies, reversibility of thought, release from egocentrism. Any logical contradiction, according to Piaget, is the result of a genetically existing conflict between accommodation and A., and such a situation is biologically inevitable. (E.V. Filippova.)
Big psychological dictionary. - M.: Prime-EVROZNAK. Ed. B.G. Meshcheryakova, acad. V.P. Zinchenko. 2003 .
Assimilation
A term used by Jean Piaget in his theory intellectual development. It denotes a child's interpretation of the surrounding world in the context of an existing schema. For example, a baby calling every man "dad" demonstrates the belief that all men are dads. His interpretation of the social structure of the adult world is based on this premise. Together with the process of accommodation, assimilation helps the child to adapt to the world around him.
Psychology. AND I. Dictionary-reference book / Per. from English. K. S. Tkachenko. - M.: FAIR-PRESS. Mike Cordwell. 2000 .
Synonyms:
- assimilation, melting, merging, assimilation, assimilation, assimilation
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