This study compared tone sensitivity in monolingual and bilingual infants in a novel word learning task. Tone language learning infants (Experiment 1, Mandarin monolingual; Experiment 2, Mandarin-English bilingual) were tested with Mandarin (native) or Thai (non-native) lexical tone pairs which contrasted static vs. dynamic (high vs. rising) tones or dynamic vs. dynamic (rising vs. falling) tones. Non-tone language, English-learning infants (Experiment 3) were tested on English intonational contrasts or the Mandarin or Thai tone contrasts. Monolingual Mandarin language infants were able to bind tones to novel words for the Mandarin High-Rising contrast, but not for the Mandarin Rising-Falling contrast; and they were insensitive to both the High-Rising and the Rising-Falling tone contrasts in Thai. Bilingual English-Mandarin infants were similar to the Mandarin monolinguals in that they were sensitive to the Mandarin High-Rising contrast and not to the Mandarin Rising-Falling contrast. However, unlike the Mandarin monolinguals, they were also sensitive to the High Rising contrast in Thai. Monolingual English learning infants were insensitive to all three types of contrasts (Mandarin, Thai, English), although they did respond differentially to tone-bearing vs. intonation-marked words. Findings suggest that infants' sensitivity to tones in word learning contexts depends heavily on tone properties, and that this influence is, in some cases, stronger than effects of language familiarity. Moreover, bilingual infants demonstrated greater phonological flexibility in tone interpretation.

Little is known about how infants born and raised in a multiracial environment process ownand other-race faces. We investigated face recognition of 3-to 4-month-old (N = 36) and 8to 9-month-old (N = 38) Chinese infants from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a population that is considered multiracial, using female and male faces that are of infants' own-race (Chinese), experienced other-race (Malay) and less experienced other-race (Caucasian-White). Three-to 4-month-olds recognised own-race female faces, whereas 8-to 9-month-olds also recognised experienced other-race female faces (Malay) in addition to own-race female faces (Chinese). Furthermore, infants from this population did not show recognition for male faces at any age. This contrasts with 8-to 9-month-old British-White infants (Tham, Bremner, & Hay, 2015), a group that is considered single-race, who recognised female and male own-race faces. It appears that for infants born and raised in a multiracial environment, there is a developmental shift from a female based own-race recognition advantage to a female based own and experienced other-race advantage that may relate to infants' social and caregiving experiences.

Most prior studies of the other-race categorization advantage have been conducted in predominantly monoracial societies. This limitation has left open the question of whether tendencies to more rapidly and accurately categorize other-race faces is an effect based on social categorization (own-versus other-race) or perceptual expertise (frequent or infrequent exposure). To address this question, we tested Malay and Malaysian Chinese children (9-to 10-year-olds) and adults on (1) own-race faces (i.e., Malay faces for Malay participants and Chinese faces for Malaysian Chinese participants), (2) high frequency other-race faces (i.e., Chinese faces for Malay participants, and Malay faces for Malaysian Chinese participants), and (3) low frequency other-race faces (i.e., Caucasian faces). While the other-race categorization advantage was in evidence in the accuracy data of Malay adults, other aspects of performance were supportive of either the social categorization or perceptual expertise accounts, and were dependent on the race (Malay vs. Chinese) or age (child vs. adult) of the participants. Of particular significance is the finding that Malaysian Chinese children and adults categorized own-race Chinese faces more rapidly than high frequency other-race Malay faces. The overall pattern of outcomes indicates that experience with different class of faces tunes the face recognition system towards the majority class of faces present in a multiracial society. Moreover, in accord with a perceptual expertise account, the other-race categorization advantage is more an advantage for racial categories of lesser experience, regardless of whether these face categories are own or other race.

Parenting practices are essential in promoting children’s mental health, especially in effective and ineffective parenting. The use of ineffective parenting practices is no longer encouraged in the west; however, it remains a common practice among Asian households. Ineffective parenting consists of inconsistent discipline, corporal punishment, and poor monitoring which may result in mental health consequences. Thus, this study assessed the mediating effects of adolescents’ self-efficacy and parental acceptance-rejection on the relationship between ineffective parenting practices and adolescents’ mental health. The current study involved a total of 761 school-going Malaysian adolescents aged 13–18 (38.5% males; Mage = 15.65; SDage = 1.43). This study utilized a cross-sectional design where it measured adolescents’ mental health, ineffective parenting practices, parental acceptance-rejection, and adolescents’ self-efficacy. Both paternal and maternal parenting practices and acceptance-rejection were measured independently. Adolescents’ self-efficacy and perceived paternal and maternal acceptance-rejection were found to be significant mediators for ineffective parenting practices and adolescents’ mental health. Our findings suggest that ineffective parenting practices will result in perceived parental rejection and lower self-efficacy which in turn resulted in poorer mental health among adolescents. It means parents should be mindful of their parenting approaches as they have a direct and indirect impact on the mental health of their offspring.

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