Assertion (A): There is no objectively definable moment when a child enters…
2024
Assertion (A): There is no objectively definable moment when a child enters middle childhood or adolescence.
Reason (R): Development is continuous in nature.
Choose the correct option.
- A.
Both (A) and (R) are true and (R) is the correct explanation of (A).
- B.
Both (A) and (R) are true but (R) is not the correct explanation of (A).
- C.
(A) is true but (R) is false.
- D.
Both (A) and (R) are false.
Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: A
Concept: Developmental psychology treats human growth (physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional) as a continuous, cumulative process — capacities build gradually on top of earlier ones across the whole lifespan rather than switching on at one sharply-marked instant. Because change unfolds this way, the labeled "stages" (early childhood, middle childhood, adolescence, etc.) are descriptive ranges on a continuum, not fixed boundary lines with a knowable starting moment.
Application:
The assertion claims that no objective instant can be pointed to as the moment a child enters middle childhood or enters adolescence — i.e., at either of these stage boundaries.
The reason states that development is continuous in nature.
Since growth accumulates gradually rather than switching on abruptly, any "entry" into a named stage — middle childhood or adolescence alike — is necessarily a gradual, approximate shift, not a discrete event that can be marked as the exact moment of entry.
This gradual, continuous unfolding is exactly what makes the assertion true for both stage boundaries, so the reason correctly explains the assertion rather than being merely a separate true statement.
Cross-check: Each of the other combinations fails a different way:
Treating the reason as true but unconnected to the assertion overlooks that the very gradual, cumulative nature of growth is the mechanism producing the absence of a sharp entry point at either stage boundary — the link is causal, not coincidental.
Treating the reason as false would require growth to proceed in discrete jumps between fixed points rather than gradually — but physical, cognitive, and socio-emotional growth are consistently described as cumulative and gradual, not abrupt.
Rejecting both statements would additionally require a specific, fixed marker (such as an exact age or single event) to define entry into middle childhood or adolescence — no such objective marker exists in how developmental stages are framed.
Conclusion: Both statements hold, and the continuous nature of development is precisely the reason no objective entry moment can be defined for either stage.