Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

Absence or malfunctioning of the bile ducts that carry the secretion called bile away from the liver. Causes for the disorder are unclear, but some bile duct damage may be caused by viral infection near birth. Symptoms of biliary atresia generally appear two to six weeks after birth and include jaundice and a swollen abdomen.…

Skills learned in elementary school that are fundamental to all other, later learning, such as reading, spelling, adding, and subtracting. Acquisition of such skills is often tested by achievement tests, such as the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills.  

The age level at which a child is consistently able to correctly answer all of the items on a standardized test, such as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test, the opposite being the ceiling age.  

The degree awarded by most four-year colleges and universities to students who successfully complete their program of study, usually a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) or Bachelor of Science (B.S.). Bachelor’s degrees are sometimes also awarded for longer courses of study, as in architecture or pharmacy, or for some kinds of graduate study, as in theology.…

Legislation designed to protect the right of handicapped infants to receive medical care, whether or not the parents wish it; named after a New York case in which an anonymous baby, dubbed “Baby Jane Doe,” was given lifesaving surgery for spina bifida and other defects, despite her parents’ objections. As part of the Child Abuse…

An illegal type of private adoption in which large sums of money are paid to the intermediaries and to the birth mother.  

Popular nickname for developmental screening tests or diagnostic assessment tests, when used as admission tests; a reference to the dreaded pre-college tests offered by the College Board.