Final answer:
Colin has engaged in the process of accommodation, as per Piaget's cognitive development theory, adapting his sucking schema to be able to eat solid foods like Cheerios.
Step-by-step explanation:
When Colin was born, he was able to suck, but not chew food. Now, at 10 months old, as he learns to eat Cheerios, he's modifying his original sucking scheme to eat solid foods. This process, according to Jean Piaget's cognitive development theory, would be termed as accommodation. Piaget believed that children develop schemata, which are mental models that help categorize and interpret information. When new information is encountered that doesn't fit into existing schemata, children adapt by changing or accommodating their schemata to incorporate the new experiences. In this case, Colin is accommodating his sucking schema to handle solid food.
According to Piaget, as children like Colin interact with their environment, they use two processes to adjust their understanding of the world: assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation is the process of taking in new information that is comparable to what they already know, while accommodation is when they change their schemata based on new information. This process continues throughout childhood as they mature and learn from their experiences.