Which of the following examples best represents Piaget's notion of assimilation?

• A. A child sees a zebra for the first time and calls it a horse, using their existing schema for horses.
• B. A child is surprised when a ball sinks in water and changes their understanding of floating objects.
• C. A child learns that not all four-legged animals are dogs and creates a new schema for cats.
• D. A child realizes that some birds cannot fly and adjusts their bird schema to include flightless birds.

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Understand Piaget's concept of assimilation: it occurs when a person incorporates new information into existing schemas without changing the schema itself.
2. Identify the key feature of assimilation in the examples: the child uses an existing schema to interpret new information, rather than modifying or creating a new schema.
3. Examine the example where a child sees a zebra for the first time and calls it a horse; here, the child is applying their existing 'horse' schema to a new but similar animal.
4. Contrast this with examples involving schema modification or creation, which represent accommodation, not assimilation.
5. Conclude that the example where the child calls a zebra a horse best illustrates assimilation because the child is fitting new information into an existing framework without changing it.