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Input is considered crucial in bilingual children’s language development. This is especially true for bilingual children’s mother tongue language learning given its common reduction in input opportunities due to the dominance of one language within society, as seen in countries and regions from Wales to Singapore. Previous studies tend to focus on the quantity and quality of conventional active communication and resources (e.g., speaking and reading with parents) on bilingual children’s language development, and substantially, fewer studies have explored this topic from the perspective of digital media. However, the COVID-19 pandemic has accentuated the critical role of digital media in various aspects of life, including bilingual children’s home language environment. Thus, to holistically understand bilingual children’s daily language input patterns, it is imperative to explore both their conventional and digital media input resources. The current study focuses on English-Mandarin bilingual children in Singapore and would like to explore (1) whether their conventional and digital media language environments have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and (2) whether the societal status of a language and familial socioeconomic status (SES) would affect bilingual children’s conventional and digital media input. Survey data from 162 parents of English-Mandarin bilingual preschoolers (3 to 6 years old) were used to explore the two research questions. Two online parental questionnaires were employed for data collection. One-way repeated-measures MANOVA and path models were used to address the questions. The results indicated that input patterns from nuclear family members had not been affected by COVID-19; however, the amount and frequency of conventional and digital media materials and activities increased significantly since COVID-19. Higher-SES families possessed more conventional materials and conducted conventional activities more often, while lower-SES families possessed more digital media materials. Both conventional and digital media materials and activities were richer in English than in Mandarin. Higher-SES families perceived digital media usage for learning to be of less importance than lower-SES families. The implications for early bilingual learning following COVID-19 are discussed.

BackgroundThe psychobiological state known as mental fatigue (MF) is by engaging in mentally taxing activities for an extended period, which is typically found in team sports, of the high cognitive demand and unpredictable environment. It increases the perception of effort and influences executive functions, impairing sport-specific performance in athletes. However, the consequences of MF on sport-specific motor performance (SSMP) among athletes in team sports remain unclear.ObjectiveThis scoping review seeks to find and map research publications that investigate the effect of MF on SSMP in team sports.MethodsWeb of Science, Scopus, and PubMed were searched as the main databases, and CENTRAL, Psychology, and Behavioral Sciences Collection, SPORTDicus obtained from EBSCOhost, as well as gray literature was searched for relevant literature and Google Scholar. Cognitive tasks before the SSMP exam are the focus of the selected literature on mental exhaustion. Only experiments testing mental and non-mental exhaustion were chosen.ResultsTwelve studies fulfill the requirement of selection criteria. SSMP in team sports, including soccer, basketball, cricket, and Australian football mainly is examined as physical and technical performance. More specifically, MF significantly influenced physical performance measured as intermittent endurance and total distance (P < 0.05), while data was inclusive when assess in an ecological setting (e.g., small-sided game) (P > 0.05). Technical performance was mainly measured as ball loss, errors in passing and shooting, interception, and successful tackle and showed a dramatic impairment (P < 0.05). The decline of physical activity is relevant with higher level PRE, while decreased technical performance is related to impaired attention resources shown as visual perceptual.ConclusionMF adversely influences SSMP in team sports. The most relevant theory for future study to examine the impacts of MF on team-sport athletes could be the psychological model of exercise and its potential extension on attention resources, rather than the traditional “catastrophe” theory.

BackgroundDue to causing inability of self-regulation (ego depletion) and executive functions such as directed attention and visual searching for relevant information (e.g., the ball location and the position of teammates), mental fatigue impairs skilled performance in various sports. On the other hand, natural scenes could improve directed attention, which may considerably benefit visual searching ability and self-regulation. However, nature exposure as a potential intervention to improve skilled performance among mentally fatigued athletes has not been discussed thoroughly.PurposeTo propose the potential intervention for the impairment of skilled performance among mentally fatigued athletes and generate a framework for future studies.MethodsA narrative review was applied to search broadly across disciplines, retrieving literature from several databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and EBSCOhost).ResultsThirty-three works of literature including 39 experiments (mental fatigue 15; ego depletion 5; and nature exposure 19) were obtained. Finally, a conceptual framework was built regarding the effect of nature exposure intervention on skilled performance in athletes for future studies.ConclusionThree theories (the psychobiological model of exercise performance, the strength model of self-regulation, and attention restoration theory) could be potentially integrated to be a conceptual framework and explain the mechanism of preventing prior mental exertion (e.g., mental fatigue and ego depletion). Future studies could examine more on the duration of the intervention.

BackgroundIt has been well investigated that nature exposure intervention can restore directed attention and improve subsequent cognitive performance. The impairment of decision-making skills in mentally fatigued soccer players was attributed to the inability of attention allocation. However, nature exposure as the potential intervention to counter mental fatigue and improve the subsequent decision-making skill in soccer players has never been investigated.ObjectsThis study aimed to evaluate the effects of nature exposure intervention on decision-making skills among mentally fatigued university soccer players. Moreover, different durations of nature exposure were also evaluated.MethodsA random control between-subject design was adopted. Players were randomly assigned into six groups with three different durations of the experimental group compared with the corresponding control group (4.17 min: Exp 1 vs. Con 1; 8.33 min: Exp 2 vs. Con 2; and 12.50 min: Exp 3 vs. Con 3). All players were first mentally fatigued by performing a 45-min Stroop task; then, they viewed virtual photos of natural or urban scenes; and finally, they performed a soccer decision-making task.ResultsThe subjective ratings of mental fatigue were significantly higher following the Stroop task. Only Exp 3 (12.50 min viewing natural scenes) significantly improved decision-making reaction time compared with Con 3 (p = 0.09). Moreover, the accuracy slightly increased in Exp 3 after the intervention.ConclusionIn line with attention restoration theory, nature exposure significantly improved decision-making skills in mentally fatigue university players. However, the duration must be 12.50 min for each stimulus to stay longer to attract involuntary attention.

Mental fatigue (MF) is a psycho-biological state that impairs sports-related performances. Recently, it has been proved that MF can affect basketball performance. However, a systematic overview detailing the influences of MF on basketball performance is still lacking. This study aims to investigate the effects of MF on the physical, technical, tactical, and cognitive performance of basketball. We used the databases of PubMed, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus, Scopes, and CKNI for articles published up to 31 May 2021. The articles included in this study were projected to test whether MF influences basketball athlete performance. Only experimental design studies were selected, and the control condition was without MF. Finally, seven articles fit the inclusion criteria. The results imply that MF impairs the technical aspects of basketball (free throws, three-point shots, and total turnover) and the players' cognitive [take-the-first (TTF) heuristics and decision-making] performance, which results in athletes not using their techniques skillfully and being unable to make practical decisions during critical points in the game. In addition to that, the influences of MF on physical and tactical performance have not been studied. Further studies should look into comprehensive research on the influences of MF on basketball performance, especially on a player's physical and tactical performance.Systematic Review Registration: [https://inplasy.com/] [INPLASY2021100017].

The current study seeks to explore the impact of multimedia input at home on bilingual children’s language outcomes. Two hundred and two Singaporean English-Mandarin kindergarteners’ multimedia experience (i.e., the resources and the amount of multimedia input) and conventional language exposure (e.g., language use with family members) were investigated with a parental questionnaire. A series of English and Mandarin tests were conducted to assess children’s proficiency (i.e., in receptive vocabulary, receptive grammar, verbal fluency) by standardized measures. Results demonstrated that the diversity of multimedia input is more important than the amount of multimedia input in promoting children’s Mandarin language maintenance, while controlling for children’s conventional language exposure, SES, and language aptitude. The number of multimedia sources is significantly and positively related to children’s general Mandarin proficiency. In contrast, English multimedia exposure at home exerts little impact on children’s general English proficiency. The findings indicate the unique contribution of multimedia diversity to children’s early heritage language maintenance. The strong social relevance of the study is discussed at the end of the paper.

The current study seeks to illustrate the relationships between child bilinguals’ mother tongue language (MTL) exposure and reading activities at home, children’s receptive MTL proficiency, and their socio-emotional and behavioral skills (SEBS). Data from 202 Singapore preschoolers (4–5 years old) who are learning English and Mandarin were analyzed. A parental questionnaire and standard Mandarin tests (i.e., receptive vocabulary, receptive grammar) were used to assess children’s Mandarin language-literacy environment at home, as well as their receptive language skills in Mandarin. Children’s SEBS were evaluated with the strengths and difficulties questionnaire (SDQ) (parental version). A series of variables which might influence SEBS and MTL proficiency (e.g., gender and SES) were controlled and SEMs were used to conduct data analysis. Results demonstrated that both Mandarin language and literacy environmental factors are related to children’s receptive language outcomes in Mandarin, while only literacy environmental factors associate with children’s difficulty level, and prosocial skills. This suggests that good parental support in bilingual children’s MTL literacy should be promoted not only for the sake of their early language development but also because of the potential benefits to their social emotional wellbeing.