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Gradualism. Gradualism, from the Latin gradus ("step"), is a hypothesis, a theory or a tenet assuming that change comes about gradually or that variation is gradual in nature and happens over time as opposed to in large steps. [1] Uniformitarianism, incrementalism, and reformism are similar concepts. Gradualism can also refer to desired ...
t. e. In evolutionary biology, punctuated equilibrium (also called punctuated equilibria) is a theory that proposes that once a species appears in the fossil record, the population will become stable, showing little evolutionary change for most of its geological history. [1] This state of little or no morphological change is called stasis.
Phyletic gradualism contrasts with the theory of punctuated equilibrium, which proposes that most evolution occurs isolated in rare episodes of rapid evolution, when a single species splits into two distinct species, followed by a long period of stasis or non-change. These models both contrast with variable-speed evolution ("variable speedism ...
Category. v. t. e. Punctuated gradualism is a microevolutionary hypothesis that refers to a species that has "relative stasis over a considerable part of its total duration [and] underwent periodic, relatively rapid, morphologic change that did not lead to lineage branching". It is one of the three common models of evolution.
The debate between these two models is often misunderstood by non-scientists, and according to Richard Dawkins has been oversold by the media. [45] Some critics jokingly referred to the theory of punctuated equilibrium as "evolution by jerks", [46] which prompted Gould to describe phyletic gradualism as "evolution by creeps." [47]
Punctuated equilibrium in social theory is a conceptual framework for understanding the process of change in complex social systems. The approach studies the evolution of policy change, [1] including the evolution of conflicts. [2] The theory posits that most social systems exist in an extended period of stasis, which may be punctuated by ...
Incrementalism. In politics, the term "incrementalism" is also used as a synonym for Gradualism. Incrementalism is a method of working by adding to a project using many small incremental changes instead of a few (extensively planned) large jumps. Logical incrementalism implies that the steps in the process are sensible. [1]
e. In biology, saltation (from Latin saltus 'leap, jump') is a sudden and large mutational change from one generation to the next, potentially causing single-step speciation. This was historically offered as an alternative to Darwinism. Some forms of mutationism were effectively saltationist, implying large discontinuous jumps.