Referential Labeling Can Facilitate Phonetic Learning in Infancy

All languages employ certain phonetic contrasts when distinguishing words. Infant speech perception is rapidly attuned to these contrasts before many words are learned, thus phonetic attunement is thought to proceed independently of lexical and referential knowledge. Here, evidence to the contrary is provided. Ninety‐eight 9‐month‐old English‐learning infants were trained to perceive a non‐native Cantonese tone contrast. Two object–tone audiovisual pairings were consistently presented, which highlighted the target contrast (Object A with Tone X; Object B with Tone Y). Tone discrimination was then assessed. Results showed improved tone discrimination if object–tone pairings were perceived as being referential word labels, although this effect was modulated by vocabulary size. Results suggest how lexical and referential knowledge could play a role in phonetic attunement.     

Droplet based microfluidic fabrication of designer microparticles for encapsulation applications

Developing carriers of active ingredients with pre-determined release kinetics is a main challenge in the field of controlled release. In this work, we fabricate designer microparticles as carriers of active ingredients using droplet microfluidics. We show that monodisperse droplet templates do not necessarily produce monodisperse particles. Magnetic stirring, which is often used to enhance the droplet solidification rate, can promote breakup of the resultant microparticles into fragments; with an increase in the stirring time, microparticles become smaller in average size and more irregular in shape. Thus, the droplet solidification conditions affect the size, size distribution and morphology of the fabricated particles, and these attributes of the microparticles strongly influence their release kinetics. The smaller the average size of the microparticles is, the higher the initial release rate is. The release kinetics of drug carriers is strongly related to their characteristics. The understanding of this relationship enables the fabrication of tailor-designed carriers with a specified release rate, and even programmed release to meet the needs of applications that require a complex release profile of the active ingredients.     

Attributional beliefs of Singapore students: relations to self-construal,competence and achievement goals

This study investigates attributional beliefs of Singapore secondary students in their English study and how they can be predicted by self-construal, competence and achievement goals. A total of 1,496 students were administered surveys on seven attributions, independent and interdependent self-construals, previous achievement, self-efficacy, mastery approach and avoidance goals and performance approach and avoidance goals. We found that Singapore students attributed academic success mainly to internal regulation (effort, interest and study skills), followed by teachers’ help, ability, parents’ help and tuition classes. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that three predictors (self-construal, competence and achievement goals) explained 4.2–12.3% of the variances in students’ attributional beliefs. In particular, students with interdependent self-construal, high competence or mastery goals tended to attribute academic success to internal regulation (effort, interest and study skills) and support from teachers and parents. Students with low competence, high mastery avoidance goals or high performance goals were more likely to value tuition classes, and those with high performance avoidance goals also tended to ascribe academic success to ability and parent’s help. The findings are discussed in relation to the culture of Singapore.