MODATION

I. INTRODUCTION

1. Adaptation and Accommodation

The term _adaptation_ came into vogue with Darwin's theory of the origin
of the species by natural selection. This theory was based upon the
observation that no two members of a biological species or of a family
are ever exactly alike. Everywhere there is variation and individuality.
Darwin's theory assumed this variation and explained the species as the
result of natural selection. The individuals best fitted to live under
the conditions of life which the environment offered, survived and
produced the existing species. The others perished and the species which
they represented disappeared. The differences in the species were
explained as the result of the accumulation and perpetuation of the
individual variations which had "survival value." Adaptations were the
variations which had been in this way selected and transmitted.

The term _accommodation_ is a kindred concept with a slightly different
meaning. The distinction is that adaptation is applied to organic
modifications which are transmitted biologically; while accommodation is
used with reference to changes in habit, which are transmitted, or may
be transmitted, sociologically, that is, in the form of social
tradition. The term first used in this sense by Baldwin is defined in
the _Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology_.

In view of modern biological theory and discussion, two modes of
adaptation should be distinguished: (a) adaptation through variation
[hereditary]; (b) adaptation through modification [acquired]. For the
functional adjustment of the individual to its environment [(b) above]
J. Mark Baldwin has suggested the term "accommodation," recommending
that adaptation be confined to the structural adjustments which are
congenital and heredity [(a) above]. The term "accommodation" applies
to any acquired alteration of function resulting in better adjustment
to environment and to the functional changes which are thus
effected.[221]

The term accommodation, while it has a limited field of application in
biology, has a wide and varied use in sociology. All the social
heritages, traditions, sentiments, culture, technique, are
accommodations--that is, acquired adjustments that are socially and not
biologically transmitted. They are not a part of the racial inheritance
of the individual, but are acquired by the person in social experience.
The two conceptions are further distinguished in this