What does assimilation involve in Piaget's theory?

In Piaget's theory of cognitive development, assimilation refers to the process in which individuals incorporate new information into their existing cognitive frameworks or schemas. This process allows a person to make sense of new experiences by relating them to what they already know. For example, if a child has a schema for dogs and then encounters a new breed, they may assimilate this new information by fitting it into their existing understanding of what a dog is, rather than creating a completely new category. This adaptation of existing schemas helps individuals maintain cognitive continuity and enables learning to build upon prior knowledge.

The other choices describe different concepts or processes that do not align with Piaget's definition of assimilation. Creating new schemas pertains more to the process of accommodation, which is when learners adjust their frameworks to include new information that does not fit into existing schemas. Forgetting previously learned material does not reflect assimilation but rather suggests a loss of knowledge, which is not a part of what Piaget describes. Restructuring the brain's physical connections relates more to neurological changes and does not specifically represent the cognitive processes Piaget focused on in the context of assimilation and accommodation.