Can individual differences in developmental changes be explained by processual dispositions? The sample case of accommodative adaptation

Abstract

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development posits the accommodation of schemata as a central process when information cannot be incorporated (assimilated) into existing schemata. Interindividual variance in actually responding accommodatively to specific information is usually attributed to special conditions (e.g., task or context of assessment). The possibility of considering a relatively stable individual tendency to respond accommodatively as an explanation for interindividual variance has not yet been systematically investigated. The present study (N = 47 children at preoperational stage) shows variance with respect to accommodative responses across four different cognitive tasks (domains): Actually, 16 of the children showed accommodative responses across all tasks. As expected, this general tendency towards accommodation correlated neither with (nonverbal) intelligence nor with age (as a proxy variable for developmental maturity). If this can be seen as first empirical evidence indicating an individually varying disposition for accommodative reactions, this claim needs both replication and extension, in particular across different developmental stages.