Assimilation occurs when we modify or change new information to fit into our schemas (what we already know). It keeps the new information or experience and adds to what already exists in our minds. Accomodation is when we restructure of modify what we already know so that new information can fit in better.

Why does assimilation occur?

Making a sound more like another in the same or next word in continuous utterance is called assimilation (Oxford Dictionary, 2008). Assimilation usually occurs because two sounds share common features in place or manner. Thus, assimilation of consonants occurs when a consonant takes on features of another one.

What stage is assimilation?

During the sensorimotor stage, for example, some information is assimilated, while some experiences must be accommodated. It is through these processes that infants, children, and adolescents gain new knowledge and progress through the stages of development.