Summarize: Continuous theories of development assume that development occurs in a smooth progression as skills develop and experiences are provided by caregivers and the environment. Continuous theories emphasize the importance of environment rather than heredity in determining development. A second perspective assumes that children progress through a set of predictable and invariant stages of development. All children are believed to acquire skills in the same sequence, although rates of progress differ from child to child. The abilities children gain in each subsequent stage are not simple “More of the same”; at each stage, children develop qualitatively different understandings, abilities, and beliefs. Skipping stages is rare or impossible, although at any given point the child may exhibit behaviors characteristic of more than one stage. The contrast to continuous theories, these discontinuous theories of development focus on inborn factors rather than environmental influences to explain change over time.