How sociolinguistic factors shape children's subjective impressions of teacher quality.

When university students are asked to rate their instructors, their evaluations are often influenced by the demographic characteristics of the instructor-such as the instructor's race, gender, or language background. These influences can manifest in unfair systematic biases against particular groups of teachers and hamper movements to promote diversity in higher education. When and how do these biases develop? Here, we begin to address these questions by examining children's sociolinguistic biases against teachers who speak with different accents. To do this, we presented 5-year-old Canadian English-speaking children with pairs of adult talkers. Children were asked to select "who they'd like to be their teacher" then they rated "how good of a teacher" they thought each talker would be on a 5-point scale. In each trial, one talker spoke in the locally dominant variety of Canadian English, and the other spoke in a different accent. Children strongly preferred Canadian-accented teachers over teachers who spoke with non-native (i.e., French or Dutch) accents, but also demonstrated a preference for Canadian teachers over teachers who spoke with non-local regional accents (i.e., Australian or British). In line with the binary choice data, children rated the Canadian talkers more favourably. The relationship between the gender of the teacher and the gender of the child also impacted ratings. This work demonstrates that even at the onset of formal education, children may already exhibit signs of accent-based biases. We discuss these findings in relation to the growing literature on implicit bias in higher education.

A Global Perspective on Testing Infants Online: Introducing ManyBabies-AtHome.

Online testing holds great promise for infant scientists. It could increase participant diversity, improve reproducibility and collaborative possibilities, and reduce costs for researchers and participants. However, despite the rise of platforms and participant databases, little work has been done to overcome the challenges of making this approach available to researchers across the world. In this paper, we elaborate on the benefits of online infant testing from a global perspective and identify challenges for the international community that have been outside of the scope of previous literature. Furthermore, we introduce ManyBabies-AtHome, an international, multi-lab collaboration that is actively working to facilitate practical and technical aspects of online testing and address ethical concerns regarding data storage and protection, and cross-cultural variation. The ultimate goal of this collaboration is to improve the method of testing infants online and make it globally available.

The effect of accent exposure on children's sociolinguistic evaluation of peers.

Language and accent strongly influence the formation of social groups. By five years of age, children already show strong social preferences for peers who speak their native language with a familiar accent (Kinzler, Shutts, DeJesus, & Spelke, 2009). However, little is known about the factors that modulate the strength and direction of children's accent-based group preferences. In three experiments, we examine the development of accent-based friendship preferences in children growing up in Toronto, one of the world's most linguistically and culturally diverse cities. We hypothesized that the speaker's type of accent and the amount of accent exposure children experienced in their everyday lives would modulate their preferences in a friend selection task. Despite literature suggesting that exposure leads to greater acceptance (Allport, 1954), we find no evidence that routine exposure to different accents leads to greater acceptance of unfamiliarly accented speakers. Children still showed strong preferences for peers who spoke with the locally dominant accent, despite growing up in a linguistically diverse community. However, children's preference for Canadian-accented in-group members was stronger when they were paired with non native (Korean-accented) speakers compared to when they were paired with regional (British-accented) speakers. We propose that children's ability to perceptually distinguish between accents may have contributed to this difference. Children showed stronger preferences for in-group members when the difference between accents was easier to perceive. Overall, our findings suggest that although the strength of accent-based social preferences can be modulated by the type of accent, these preferences still persist in the face of significant diversity in children's accent exposure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Input matters: Speed of word recognition in 2-year-olds exposed to multiple accents.

Although studies investigating language abilities in young children exposed to more than one language have become common, there is still surprisingly little research examining language development in children exposed to more than one accent. Here, we report two looking-while-listening experiments examining the impact of routine home exposure to multiple accents on 2-year-olds' word recognition abilities. In Experiment 1, we found that monolingual English-learning 24-month-olds who routinely receive exposure to both Canadian English and a non-native variant of English are less efficient in their recognition of familiar words spoken in Canadian English than monolingual English-learning 24-month-olds who hear only Canadian English at home. In Experiment 2, we found that by 34months of age all children recognize words equally quickly regardless of their accent exposure at home. We conclude that monolingual toddlers in some locations may form a less homogeneous population than past work has assumed, a factor that should be considered when drawing generalizations about language development across different populations.

Dutch and German 3-Year-Olds' Representations of Voicing Alternations.

The voicing contrast is neutralized syllable and word finally in Dutch and German, leading to alternations within the morphological paradigm (e.g., Dutch 'bed(s)', be[t]-be[d]en, German 'dog(s)', Hun[t]-Hun[d]e). Despite structural similarity, language-specific morphological, phonological and lexical properties impact on the distribution of this alternation in the two languages. Previous acquisition research has focused on one language only, predominantly focusing on children's production accuracy, concluding that alternations are not acquired until late in the acquisition process in either language. This paper adapts a perceptual method to investigate how voicing alternations are represented in the mental lexicon of Dutch and German 3-year-olds. Sensitivity to mispronunciations of voicing word-medially in plural forms was measured using a visual fixation procedure. Dutch children exhibited evidence of overgeneralizing the voicing alternation, whereas German children consistently preferred the correct pronunciation to mispronunciations. Results indicate that the acquisition of voicing alternations is influenced by language-specific factors beyond the alternation itself.

Using Distributional Statistics to Acquire Morphophonological Alternations: Evidence from Production and Perception.

Morphophonological alternations, such as the voicing alternation that arises in a morphological paradigm due to final-devoicing in Dutch, are notoriously difficult for children to acquire. This has previously been attributed to their unpredictability. In fact, the presence or absence of a voicing alternation is partly predictable if the phonological context of the word is taken into account, and adults have been shown to use this information (Ernestus and Baayen, 2003). This study investigates whether voicing alternations are predictable from the child's input, and whether children can make use of this information. A corpus study of child-directed speech establishes that the likelihood of a stem-final obstruent alternating is somewhat predictable on the basis of the phonological properties of the stem. In Experiment 1 Dutch 3-year-olds' production accuracy in a plural-elicitation task is shown to be sensitive to the distributional statistics. However, distributional properties do not play a role in children's sensitivity to mispronunciations of voicing in a Preferential Looking Task in Experiment 2.

Non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia in association with porphyria cutanea tarda: co-incidence or trigger?

We present an interesting case of porphria cutanea tarda with hereditary haemochromatosis and non-classical congenital adrenal hyperplasia in a postmenopausal woman. This unusual combination of conditions does not appear to be reported in the literature. The exact mechanism causing porphyria in this patient is not clear. We consider the possibility that in addition to iron accumulation and excess alcohol, altered steroid milieu may have been a possible trigger for the development of bullous lesions in this patient.

The menopause transition: endocrine changes and clinical symptoms.

Several biological changes take place during the menopause transition. The number of oocytes declines progressively from before birth but reaches a critically low level by the time of the menopause. The regular pattern of the menstrual cycle becomes disrupted and the frequency of normal ovulatory cycles declines. Rising gonadotrophin levels, particularly of follicle stimulating hormones (FSH), and declining estrogen levels are thought to characterize the menopausal transition. It now appears that declining levels of inhibin may play an important role in maintaining estrogen levels until just before the menopause, while causing increased levels of gonadotrophins. Wide variations in hormonal profiles between and within individuals occur. The clinical responses to this endocrine instability include vasomotor symptoms, psychological symptoms, sexual dysfunction and irregular menstrual bleeding. Estradiol deficiency induces a rapid phase of increased bone turnover in the early postmenopausal period, which can contribute to osteoporosis later in life. Similarly, changes in lipid profiles, particularly high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and triglycerides, can also occur.

Screening for insulin resistance in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome.

INTRODUCTION: Insulin resistance is implicated in the pathogenesis of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Insulin-sensitizing agents are increasingly used in the treatment of infertility and hirsutism in PCOS. However, not all women with PCOS are insulin-resistant. OBJECTIVE: To assess the degree of insulin resistance within a clinic population of women referred for treatment of oligomenorrhoea or infertility. DESIGN: We evaluated 25 consecutive PCOS outpatients referred for treatment of menstrual dysfunction/infertility and a matched control group. All underwent a standard oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) with serial insulin measurements. Insulin sensitivity was calculated using homeostasis model assessment (HOMA). RESULTS: Five of the 25 clinic patients had abnormal glucose handling (two had previously unknown type 2 diabetes and three had impaired glucose tolerance). Fasting and 2-h insulin levels were significantly higher in the PCOS women. Mean HOMA-S (insulin sensitivity) was even lower for PCOS women with normal GTT status (mean (95% confidence interval): 0.53 (0.34-0.72)) than for controls (0.94 (0.84-1.04)) (F = 4.2, p < 0.001). HOMA-B (pancreatic beta-cell function) was nearly tripled for normal GTT status PCOS women at 273 (205-342) versus 105 (70-139) for controls (F = 6.8, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest a role for routine measurement of HOMA-S in identifying women with PCOS with insulin resistance with a view to targeting them with insulin-sensitizing agents.

Long-term negative impact on quality of life in patients with successfully treated Cushing's disease.

OBJECTIVE: A cohort of pituitary tumour patients, who had undergone definitive treatment within a 15-year period at a single neuroscience centre, were investigated as to whether there were differences in psychological well-being and psychosocial functioning, dependent on endocrine pathology and treatment variables. DESIGN: A detailed assessment of 114 patients with benign pituitary tumours in relation to primary diagnosis and mode of treatment was carried out. Psychological rating scales used were: the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale--UK version (HADS-UK), the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale--abbreviated version (WHOQOL-BREF), General Health Questionnaire 28 (GHQ-28), the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) and the Social Adjustment Scale--modified (SAS1 and SAS2; the former completed by the patient and the latter by another person who knows the patient well). All Cushing's patients were biochemically cured as defined by a normal 24-h urine free cortisol excretion within the previous 6 months. RESULTS: Patients with treated Cushing's disease had significantly impaired psychological well-being and psychosocial functioning across all tested domains compared with all other pituitary tumours, where scores were similar. When participants with Cushing's disease were excluded, patients who had undergone transfrontal surgery scored significantly higher on GHQ and HADS ratings than transsphenoidally treated patients. CONCLUSION: Cushing's disease even when biochemically stable has long-term adverse effects on mood and social functioning. We hypothesize that this may be related to irreversible changes in central neural function. Further studies are necessary to define the precise pathways involved.

The effect of a novel vaginal ring delivering oestradiol acetate on climacteric symptoms in postmenopausal women.

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of a novel vaginal ring delivering oestradiol acetate (Menoring) versus oral oestradiol for relief of climacteric symptoms in postmenopausal women. DESIGN: Prospective, multicentre, randomised, double-blind, comparator-controlled, parallel group study. SETTING: Twenty-one centres in the United Kingdom. POPULATION: Postmenopausal women, aged <65 years experiencing > or =20 hot flushes/night sweats per week for two consecutive weeks. METHODS: Patients received a vaginal ring releasing oestradiol acetate at a rate equivalent to 50 microg/day in addition to placebo tablets (vaginal ring group) or oral oestradiol 1 mg/day in addition to placebo vaginal ring (oral group) for 24 weeks. For patients with inadequate control of vasomotor symptoms, dosage was doubled at 12 weeks. Non-hysterectomised women received norethisterone 1 mg/day for 12 days in each 28 day cycle. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Efficacy was assessed by change in climacteric symptoms measured by the Greene Climacteric Scale, as well as mean change in frequency of hot flushes/night sweats. RESULTS: A total of 159 patients were enrolled (84 vaginal ring, 75 oral). Significant improvement (P < 0.05) in mean total Greene Climacteric Scale scores in both treatment groups was observed at 12 and 24 weeks and for every subscale score including anxiety, depression and sexual dysfunction (P < 0.05). In both groups, frequency of hot flushes/night sweats was significantly reduced (P < 0.001) at 12 and 24 weeks. No significant between-group differences were noted at 12 or 24 weeks. CONCLUSIONS: The oestradiol vaginal ring significantly improved climacteric symptoms as measured by Greene Climacteric Scale scores and reduced the frequency of hot flushes/night sweats. Efficacy and safety of vaginal ring oestradiol were comparable with those of oral therapy. Patient evaluations of oestradiol vaginal ring tolerability and acceptability were excellent.