Opening Remarks !

A#er experiencing the warmest winter and the coldestdays in record, here comes another new year! PAL Lab isreadytoembracethenewyearwithabrandnewpage.Wehave new member and a series of new projects tointroducetoyou. In the past few months, we completed some infantexperiments inwhichwewillsharetheresultswithyouinthis issue.Weareverygrateful your supportandwe lookforward to the conCnuaConanddevelopmentof theHKUBaby ScienCst Programme. Our visit to a toy designcompanywas an eye-widening journeywherewe learnedaboutthelatestdevelopmentoftoysforkidswithdifferentneeds.MoredetailsareavailableinthisnewsleMeraswell.We visited to the Engineering Laboratory inHKU and TheHongKongInsCtuteofEducaContolearnabouttheuseofnew apparatuseswhichwill be available soon in our Lab.WeenjoyedtheCmeofexchangingideasandlearningnewthingstogetherverymuch.IwouldalsoliketotakethisopportunityonbehalfofPALLab,wishyouallahappyChineseNewYear!

Editor-in-chargeCarboLeung

Feb2016/Vol.15

A Tour to a Toy Design Company ! Have you spent hoursbrowsing the toy store andfound nothing perCnentenoughforyourkid?Thiswaswhat bothered Karen whenshe first became a motherover 20 years ago, and drovehertoestablishatoycompanyofherown-K’sKids.It’satoybrand focusing on enhancingyoung children’s physical,social and cogniCve abiliCesth rough i nnovaCve toydesigns, and itsproductsnowreach kids in more than 70regionsintheworld. InDecember,our labwas invitedtovisittheHongKongofficeofK’skids inTsimShaTsui.Duringthevisit,wegottoknowabouttheproductdevelopmentprocessforasub-lineofproduct,theTraining2s,parCcularlytargetedforkidswithdifferentdevelopmentalneeds.Mostofthemweredesignedinthewaythatparentsandteacherscouldefficientlymake use of the toys to train kids’ eye-hand coordinaCon, sensory integraCon, bodybalance, and even emoCon recogniCon in convenient seangs. A#er the enjoyable toysession, the visit was ended with an informaCve sharing on toy safety issues, and welearntaboutthesafetystandardsofdifferenttoysaroundtheworld.Wefoundthevisitvery fruibul and inspiring,whichdefinitely contributed toourunderstandingof the toyindustryandchildrendevelopmentingeneral.

JaneDing

Safe toys tests!

Let’sdoatest–Whichoneis‘kiki’?Whichoneis‘bubu’? Answer: If you paired ‘kiki’with the spiky shape and ‘bubu’with the curvy shape,congratulaCons,yousharesimilarsound-shapeassociaConwithotheradults. Infact,aresearchshowsthatevenEnglish-speaking4-month-oldinfantsexhibitsuchpairing!ButwhataboutCantonese-speakinginfants?ToanswerthequesCon,forty-eight8-10-montholdHKinfantsparCcipatedinasound-shape matching study. The result suggests that Cantonese-speaking infantsdemonstrate pairing bias like that of English-speaking infants, meaning that theassociaConsareuniversal!Sowhyaresound-shapeassociaConsimportant?Actually,theyareusefulforlanguagelearning. Forexample,aprotruded,roundlipproducesroundsoundlike/o/. Wewillremember it as ‘rule of pairing’, and apply it to unfamiliar condiCons! The bias alsohelpsbabiestoexploretheworldsafely,assharpobjectso#enhavenamescontainingsharpsyllables.

Infants’sound-shapeassocia2on(CynthieHo)Whichoneis ? Whichis ??

All toys sold in HK, regardless of where they are made, must be tested to verifycompliancewith rigorousHK toy safety requirements, includingmore than100 safetytestsandstandards.ThesestandardsareshapedbyavarietyofconsideraConsofchilddevelopment,dynamicsafetytesCng,andriskanalysis.Herearesomecommontestsrequiredbymostcountriesbeforeatoycanbesoldtoafamily: Mechanical test: A toy has to survive physical tests to be dropped, soaked,compressed, loaded, and etc. This is to ensure that a toy is endured to serve its newhost.Chemicaltest:ThecoaCng,paint,andpartsmustavoidtoxicelementstokeepchildrensafewhentheytouch,bite,orchewonthetoys. Flammabilitytest:Mostmaterialsused intoyproducConwillburn.Therefore,atestmethod based on a limited rate of spread of flame ormaximum ‘a#er flame Cme’ isintroduced, to allow the child to drop the toy or becomedistanced from the productbeforeseriousinjuryoccurs.

New People!

PercepCon,AMenConandLearningLabDepartmentofPsychologyRoom683,6/F.,JockeyClubTowerTheUniversityofHongKong

e-mail:hku.pal@gmail.comWebsite:hMp://www.psychology.hku.hk/pall/Facebookpage:hMps://www.facebook.com/HKUbb

2016 Infant Projects!Infantvisualacuity:Infants' visual abiliCesgrow rapidlyduring thefirst yeara#erbirthandarethe basic foundaCons for other cogniCve abiliCes, such as learning andspeaking.However,thetesCngofinfantsvisualacuityhasbeenproventobechallenging. Together with experts in Boston and Ohio, U.S.A., we aredeveloping a flexible and efficient way to accurately measure pre-verbalinfants'visualacuity.Infantpreferenceforma2on:How to find out what your babies like and dislike? Our lab conductsexperiments to develop novel tools to help us uncover the young infants'favoritesanddislikes,andhowthesepreferencesareformed.Infantlearning:Newborns are like spongeswho eagerly and quickly learn about theworldfrom the rich visual and auditoryworld.We conCnue to contribute to theunderstanding of the best environment suitable for infants acquisiCon ofcomplexlearningmaterials.VisualaAen2on:WerelyonourselecCveaMenContodecideonwhatweshouldfocuson,andouraMenCondetermineswhatweseefromtheworld.OurlabtheoriesandquanCfies aMenCon which eventually helps design devices containingarCficialintelligence.

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Hello! My name is Arnold and I am a Year1 HKU student.Infants’ mind is like another universe, full of possibiliCes,surprises and inspiraCons. I am always surprised by infants’amazing ability to learn and pick up a language easily and Ialways feel like infants are so smart that even though theycannot speak, their acCons, growth and development caninspire us and help reveal the mystery of human mind. Byjoiningthis lab, Iamabletoworkwithmybrilliant lab-matesand exchange our ideas. I am also able to get hands-onexperiencescreaCnga laboratoryproject. Ihope Icangainamore profound insight into infant development andpsychologythroughthisfabulousinternship!

(Dr.Chia-hueiTseng)