Categorization in early infancy and the continuity of development

Arguments and evidence are presented for the conclusion that the young infant's perceptually based categorical representations for natural kinds--animals in this case--are the basis for their mature conceptual counterparts. In addition, it is argued that conceptual development is continuous in nature and without the need for special developmental processes. A consideration of the development of the syllabic, segmental, and featural categories of phonology shows a more complex pattern of change--one marked by both continuities and discontinuities in the representations themselves and the processes that produce them.