The Consequences Of Continuity And Discontinuity And Continual Development

Development is a process that revolves around growing and changing. Everyone experiences development. While some contend that human development is a gradual and continuous process, others assert that it is a discontinuous process, in which there is a succession of distinct stages. Sigmund Freud indubitably believed in continuity, while Jerome Kagan clearly supports contentions relating to discontinuity. The overall debate revolves around whether development is systematic and a smooth progression or a a series of abrupt changes or shifts. With regard to my own life, I see both continuity and discontinuity in various aspects of it. With that being so, my experience is suggestive of the claim that development is a combination of continuity and

As babies, we begin “cooing” and “babbling.” Then we progress to using single words, which gradually turns into two words and then complete sentences. This progression is a continuous process. Nevertheless, development does not happen at one fixed pace or rate, which makes it feasible to say that continual development doesn 't really occur “continuously” – it occurs in gradual stages, which can either be abrupt or progressive. This leads me to believe that continuity and discontinuity both play a role in development. When we are taught new concepts and information at school, our educators typically set it up in a way that we are building on our prior knowledge. Would be able to understand certain concepts if we had never heard of anything like it previously? We quite possibly could and it could just be this social construction that has caused us to learn in a continuous manner, rather than discontinuous. Similarly, in language development, an individual may quite possibly be able to go from “cooing” to using two words at a time. This may seem atypical, but it is

Nevertheless, it can be seen that continuous development occurs in change that is typically age-related, whereas discontinuous development can include quite abrupt, but significant shifts. Discontinuities can quite possibly be adaptations, which is also suggestive of plasticity. We do not necessarily always act as we did as young children and our personalities tend to change as we develop and grow. Our attitudes and behaviors are not always preserved through our lifespans. For example, my way of thinking now varies greatly from the way I used to when I was eleven. This was not a gradual process, but an abrupt one. We all think in different ways, based on our age and stage of development. Our thinking is not as consistent as we