Animism | Belief that inanimate objects have "lifelike" qualities and are capable of action
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Basal metabolism rate (BMR) | The minimum amount of energy a person uses in a resting state
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Centration | The focusing of attention on one characteristic to the exclusion of all others
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Child-centered kindergarten | Education that involves the whole child by considering all aspects of development
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Conservation | In Piagets theory, awareness that altering an objects appearance does not change its basic properties
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Developmentally appropriate practice | Education that focuses on the typical developmental patterns of children and on the uniqueness of each child
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Egocentrism | Inability to distinguish one's own perspective from that of someone else
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Intuitive thought substage | Piagets second substage of preoperational thought
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Montessori approach | Educational philosophy in which children have freedom and spontaneity
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Myelination | The process in which the nerve cells are covered and insulated with a layer of fat cells to increase the speed that information travels through the nervous system
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Operations | In Piagets theory, an internalized set of actions that allows children to do mentally what they formerly did physically
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Scaffolding | In a teaching session, a skilled person adjusts guidance to fit a child's current performance level
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Short-term memory | The memory component in which individuals retain information for 15 to 30 seconds
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Social constructivist approach | Emphasizes the social contexts of learning
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Symbolic function substage | Piagets first substage of preoperational thought
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Theory of mind | Individuals' thoughts about how mental processes work
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Zone of proximal development (ZPD) | Vygotskys term for the range of tasks too difficult for children to master alone but that can be mastered with assistance
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