Abstract
Abstract. This research provides a systematic overview of psychological areas using assimilation and accommodation to explain development and adaptation processes from 1998 to 2018. We primarily aimed to identify the main psychological research areas connected to assimilation and accommodation. We used assimilation and accommodation as keywords to extract data from SpringerLink, PsycINFO, and PsycARTICLES. Of 500 articles, 473 were included in the analysis. Ten categories were identified to allow systematization along with different research areas and development trajectories. The meanings of these terms were analyzed in terms of scientific impact, their connection to Piaget and Baldwin, application, and research methods. Our analysis has distilled the most driving and scientifically relevant approaches to assimilation and accommodation within psychological research, with the work of Baldwin and Piaget influencing practically all views. Thus, we have identified a common understanding of assimilation and accommodation, although the direction of the adaptation process should be made explicit in the future. Based on our analyses, we were able to identify white spots on the research map that should be focused on in future work: the need to better understand the interdependence and synchronicity of both processes, the connection to affects and emotions, and the potential co-research with artificial intelligence.
Highlights
The concepts of assimilation and accommodation were introduced by Jean Piaget, who extensively applied these in his theory of cognitive development
Baldwin proposed that learning behavior, based on assimilation and accommodation, directly influences natural selection and evolution in an epigenetic sense
She comments on the vagueness of Piaget’s theoretical statements: “‘assimilation’ and ‘accommodation’ have clear meaning in biological contexts. Whether they are or – even usefully – clear in psychological or epistemological contexts” (Boden, 1994, p. 13). We suggest that this ambiguity is one reason for the wide application of the concepts in different psychological research contexts, as it allows a degree of freedom in understanding the structure and functioning of developmental and adaptation processes in different psychological contexts, from individual to the system and vice versa
Summary
The concepts of assimilation and accommodation were introduced by Jean Piaget, who extensively applied these in his theory of cognitive development. Park (2010) published an integrative review of meaning-making research and discussed assimilation and accommodation processes in the context of situation reappraisal, referring to Brandtstädter’s coping approach (Brandtstädter & Renner, 1990) and Block (1982).
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