The factorial similarity of the WISC-R performance Scale in deaf and hearing samples

Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children—Revised (WISC-R) Performance Scale metrics and subtest factor loadings, derived separately from deaf (N = 1228) and hearing (N = 2200) samples, are practically identical. Small mean differences are probably attributable to the higher incidence of brain damage among deaf children. In addition to demonstrating the absence of construct bias in WISC-R Performance IQ (PIQ) measurement for deaf children, the results contradict theories which propose linguistic bias as the cause of the white-black difference in Performance IQ. Spearman's hypothesis that white-black mental test differences are primarily a difference in g received significant support. The results indicate that cognition, as measured by PIQ, is virtually independent of language acquisition.     

听力障碍者听阈及主观响度变异调查

用amplaid455型电子纯音听力计对100名听力障碍者及100名正常人进行纯音听阈测试并进行听阈水平级的ABLB测试。结果,听力障碍者临床所测听阈值与实际听阈值不一致,共误差程度与正常人相比差异显著（P＜0．05),且听力障碍者听阈水平的双耳主观响度变异非常显著（P＜0．01）。此现象的发现提示,在对有听力障碍的被试进行ABLB及纯音检测时应注意随机变化的感觉因素的作用。     

The cultural bounds of maternal accommodation: how Chinese and American mothers communicate with deaf and hearing children

Children with special needs typically require family accommodation to those needs. We explore here the extent to which cultural forces shape the accommodations mothers make when communicating with young deaf children. Sixteen mother-child dyads (8 Chinese, 8 American) were videotaped at home. In each culture, 4 mothers interacted with their deaf children, and 4 interacted with their hearing children. None of the deaf children knew sign language, nor spoke at age level. We found that mothers adjusted their communicative behaviors to their deaf children, but in every case, those adjustments were calibrated to cultural norms. American mothers, for example, increased their use of gesture with deaf children but stopped far short of the Chinese range—despite the obvious potential benefits of gesturing to children who cannot hear. These findings provide the first cross-cultural demonstration that children are, first and foremost, inculcated into their cultures and, only within that framework, then treated as special cases.     

聋人手语视觉表象生成能力的实验研究

通过视觉表象判断实验,对聋手语使用者和听力正常人两类被试视觉表象生成的能力进行了比较。实验发现：与听力正常的人相比,聋手语使用者学习和记忆大写字母的时间短于听力正常的被试,并且两组被试记忆复杂字母的时间都较长;聋被试和听力正常被试采用了相同的字母表征方式。但是,习得手语的年龄对聋手语者生成表象的能力没有明显的影响。     

Prenatal Diagnosis for Inherited Deafness—What is the Potential Demand?

Genetic testing for inherited deafness is now available within some genetics centres. This study used a structured questionnaire to assess the potential uptake of prenatal diagnosis (PND) for inherited deafness, and document the opinions of deaf and hearing individuals toward PND and termination of pregnancy (TOP) for hearing status. Participants were self-selected from the whole of the UK, of whom 644 were deaf, 143 were hard of hearing or deafened, and 527 were hearing individuals who had either a deaf parent or child. The results showed that 21% of deaf, 39% of hard of hearing and deafened, and 49% of hearing participants said they would consider PND for deafness. Six percent of deaf, 11% of hard of hearing and deafened, and 16% of hearing participants said they would consider a TOP if the fetus was found to be deaf. Two percent of deaf participants said they would prefer to have deaf children and would consider a TOP if the fetus was found to be hearing.     

Visual field asymmetries for motion processing in deaf and hearing signers

Recently, we reported a strong right visual field/left hemisphere advantage for motion processing in deaf signers and a slight reverse asymmetry in hearing nonsigners (Bosworth & Dobkins, 1999). This visual field asymmetry in deaf signers may be due to auditory deprivation or to experience with a visual-manual language, American Sign Language (ASL). In order to separate these two possible sources, in this study we added a third group, hearing native signers, who have normal hearing and have learned ASL from their deaf parents. As in our previous study, subjects performed a direction-of-motion discrimination task at different locations across the visual field. In addition to investigating differences in left vs right visual field asymmetries across subject groups, we also asked whether performance differences exist for superior vs inferior visual fields and peripheral vs central visual fields. Replicating our previous study, a robust right visual field advantage was observed in deaf signers, but not in hearing nonsigners. Like deaf signers, hearing signers also exhibited a strong right visual field advantage, suggesting that this effect is related to experience with sign language. These results suggest that perceptual processes required for the acquisition and comprehension of language (motion processing in the case of ASL) are recruited by the left, language-dominant, hemisphere. Deaf subjects also exhibited an inferior visual field advantage that was significantly larger than that observed in either hearing group. In addition, there was a trend for deaf subjects to perform relatively better on peripheral than on central stimuli, while both hearing groups showed the reverse pattern. Because deaf signers differed from hearing signers and nonsigners along these domains, the inferior and peripheral visual field advantages observed in deaf subjects is presumably related to auditory deprivation. Finally, these visual field asymmetries were not modulated by attention for any subject group, suggesting they are a result of sensory, and not attentional, factors.     

Dorsal stream deficits suggest hidden dyslexia among deaf poor readers: correlated evidence from reduced perceptual speed and elevated coherent motion detection thresholds

Prelingual deafness and developmental dyslexia have confounding developmental effects on reading acquisition. Therefore, standard reading assessment methods for diagnosing dyslexia in hearing people are ineffective for use with deaf people. Recently, Samar, Parasnis, and Berent (2002) reported visual evoked potential evidence that deaf poor readers, compared to deaf good readers, have dorsal stream visual system deficits like those previously found for hearing dyslexics. Here, we report new psychometric and psychophysical evidence that deficits in dorsal stream function, likely involving extrastriate area MT, are associated with relatively poor reading comprehension in deaf adults. Poorer reading comprehension within a group of 23 prelingually deaf adults was associated with lower scores on the Symbol Digit Modality Test, a perceptual speed test commonly used to help identify dyslexia in hearing people. Furthermore, coherent dot motion detection thresholds, which reflect the functional status of area MT, correlated negatively with reading scores in each visual quadrant. Elevated motion thresholds for deaf poor readers were not due to general cognitive differences in IQ but were specifically correlated with poor perceptual speed. With IQ controlled, a highly reliable right visual field advantage for coherent motion detection was found. Additional analyses suggested that the functional status of dorsal stream motion detection mechanisms in deaf people is related to reading comprehension, but the direction and strength of lateralization of those mechanisms is independent of reading comprehension. Our results generally imply that dyslexia is a hidden contributor to relatively poor reading skill within the deaf population and that assessment of dorsal stream function may provide a diagnostic biological marker for dyslexia in deaf people.     

Memory for Faces and Objects by Deaf and Hearing Signers and Hearing Nonsigners

The memory of 11 deaf and 11 hearing British Sign Language users and 11 hearing nonsigners for pictures of faces of and verbalizable objects was measured using the game Concentration. The three groups performed at the same level for the objects. In contrast the deaf signers were better for faces than the hearing signers, who in turn were superior to the hearing nonsigners, who were the worst. Three hypotheses were made: That there would be no significant difference in terms of the number of attempts between the three groups on the verbalizable object task, that the hearing and deaf signers would demonstrate superior performance to that of the hearing nonsigners on the matching faces task, and that the hearing and deaf signers would exhibit similar performance levels on the matching faces task. The first two hypotheses were supported, but the third was not. Deaf signers were found to be superior for memory for faces to hearing signers and hearing nonsigners. Possible explanations for the findings are discussed, including the possibility that deafness and the long use of sign language have additive effects.     

听觉障碍对聋人视觉功能影响的理论之争：缺陷还是补偿？

听觉通道受损,是否会影响聋人的视觉功能？有三种理论对此做出了解释。缺陷理论：聋人视觉功能存在缺陷,包括听觉脚手架假说和劳动分工假说。补偿理论：聋人视觉功能会表现出增强,包括响应增强假说、知觉增强假说、超通道功能假说和背侧通路假说。整合理论：聋人视觉功能既可能表现为缺陷,也可能表现为增强,与实验任务和被试年龄有关。本文评述了听觉障碍对聋人视觉功能影响的三种理论,并对其今后的发展趋势进行了展望。     

Self-concept in Profoundly Deaf Adolescent Pupils

This study compares the concept of self of profoundly deaf adolescents with that of their hearing companions of the same age. The technique originally designed by Khun and Portland was used: “Who am I?” The chief results indicate on the one hand some significant differences between the hearing and the deaf, and on the other hand the difficulties of the latter in defining themselves as deaf. However, it is necessary to point out that the few references to hearing deficiency do not carry a negative connotation. These data are interpreted in the framework of the educational conditions of the country in which integration is a general mode of schooling and frequently the deaf pupil has no opportunity to have class or school companions who are also deaf. It concludes with some considerations of an educational nature about the future lines of research in which a greater variety of educational and social conditions could be taken into account.     

Effects of signability and imagery on word recall of deaf and hearing students

This study examined 40 deaf and 20 hearing students' free recall of visually presented words varied systematically with respect to signability (i.e., words that could be expressed by a single sign) and visual imagery. Half of the deaf subjects had deaf parents, while the other half had hearing parents. For deaf students, recall was better for words that had sign-language equivalents and high-imagery values. For the hearing students, recall was better for words with high-imagery values, but there was no effect of signability. Over-all, the hearing students recalled significantly more words than the deaf students in both immediate and delayed free-recall conditions. In immediate recall, deaf students with deaf parents reported using a sign-language coding strategy more frequently and recalled more words correctly than deaf students with hearing parents. Serial-position curves indicated several differences in patterns of recall among the groups. These results underline the importance of sign language in the memory and recall of deaf persons.     

Early interactions and the socioemotional development of deaf infants

Studies of the early face-to-face interactions and later attachment behaviours between infants and their caregivers are reviewed, with a particular focus on implications for deaf infants. Since the majority of deaf infants are born to hearing parents, it is to be expected that many parental responses will rely on vocalizations which are inaccessible to the deaf infant. Are other sensory modalities enhanced or used in a compensatory manner by hearing parents so as to make their communication with a deaf infant more effective? Is the deaf infant's heightened need for visual and tactile input adequately met during normal interactions with their caregivers? Does the deaf infant develop the same strategies for signalling distress and coping with separation as does the hearing infant? Although the research literature on this population is sparse, there are beginning to be more reports addressing these questions as early identification becomes increasingly possible. Therefore, this paper will cover issues of the role of eye contact and mutual coordination in early interactions, compensatory parenting behaviours from the perspective of the ‘intuitive parenting’ model, and precursors to later attachment behaviours in deaf infants.     

Deaf and hearing adults' recollections of childhood and beyond

Whereas the average age of earliest reportable personal memory among adults is 3 to 3 1/2, there is considerable individual and group variability in the age of earliest autobiographical memory. Some of the variability is thought to be attributable to differential narrative socialisation. In the present research we tested the hypothesis that by virtue of later exposure to language, individuals born deaf to hearing parents will have earliest memories from later in life, relative to hearing individuals. The average age of single earliest identifiable memory for adults who are deaf and adults who are hearing did not differ. Nevertheless, adults who are deaf were found to have less dense representations of early autobiographical memories and to include in their narrative reports fewer categories of information, including visual-spatial information, relative to hearing adults. Participants' ratings of their memories on a number of dimensions were found to have low utility in predicting the content of autobiographical reports from both early and later in life (i.e., after age 10 years).     

听觉障碍人群检测任务基于位置的返回抑制

基于位置的返回抑制（IOR）是指对先前注意过的位置上靶子反应变慢的现象。探讨听觉障碍被试检测任务IOR的时程和量是否受听觉剥夺的影响。实验1中,听觉障碍被试和听力正常组被试具有相同的IOR时程和量;但在取消中央线索化的实验2中,当SOA为350ms时,听力正常被试没有出现IOR,听觉障碍被试出现了IOR,说明听觉障碍被试的注意脱离快于听力正常被试。听觉障碍被试对外周靶子的反应快于听力正常被试,表明听障人群外周注意资源增强。这些结果表明听觉障碍被试的空间注意更具有效性和策略性。     

视觉语言对听觉障碍人群阅读能力的影响及作用机制

听觉障碍人群由于听觉部分或完全受损, 视觉语言——唇读和手语就成为其阅读能力发展的主要途径。唇读有助于听觉障碍人群形成语音表征, 与词汇知识相互影响, 且可以促进字词阅读及阅读理解的水平; 口语或书面语的加工可以激活相应的手语表征, 手语影响着听觉障碍人群各个层次的阅读能力。未来研究应该关注语音意识、词汇知识等技能在视觉语言影响听觉障碍人群阅读能力过程中的作用机制, 并以视觉语言为中心, 发展出适合汉语听觉障碍人群阅读能力习得的理论模型。     

Deaf and hearing adults' recollections of childhood and beyond

Whereas the average age of earliest reportable personal memory among adults is 3 to 3½, there is considerable individual and group variability in the age of earliest autobiographical memory. Some of the variability is thought to be attributable to differential narrative socialisation. In the present research we tested the hypothesis that by virtue of later exposure to language, individuals born deaf to hearing parents will have earliest memories from later in life, relative to hearing individuals. The average age of single earliest identifiable memory for adults who are deaf and adults who are hearing did not differ. Nevertheless, adults who are deaf were found to have less dense representations of early autobiographical memories and to include in their narrative reports fewer categories of information, including visual-spatial information, relative to hearing adults. Participants' ratings of their memories on a number of dimensions were found to have low utility in predicting the content of autobiographical reports from both early and later in life (i.e., after age 10 years).     

Social interaction and cognitive growth: An examination through the role‐taking skills of deaf and hearing children

Recent research using theory‐of‐mind tasks has rekindled interest in the possibility that social interaction makes a significant contribution to cognitive development. It is proposed here that this contribution may be most pronounced with phenomena that, like belief or affective states, are internal and abstract. A more modest contribution is envisaged with phenomena that are overt and perceptible. The proposal is explored via comparison of deaf and hearing children's ability to engage in affective and perceptual role‐taking, since the aspects of social interaction that have been implicated in cognitive development are known to be problematic for deaf children. Therefore, the proposal of more marked consequences for internal and abstract phenomena leads to the hypothesis that deaf children should lag behind hearing children on affective role‐taking, while showing little or no difference on perceptual role‐taking. The hypothesis was tested in two studies, one involving 10 deaf children and 10 hearing children aged 6.94– 8.93 years and the other involving 25 deaf children and 20 hearing children aged 5.08– 11.58 years. In both studies, affective role‐taking was examined using a task developed from Chandler (1973), while perceptual role‐taking was examined via an extension of Hughes and Donaldson's (1979) hiding task. The results provide consistent support for the hypothesis, and patterns of correlation between age, affective performance and perceptual performance give clues to the relevant developmental mechanisms.     

Awareness and regulation of emotions in deaf children

In this study, deaf children's understanding of their own emotions was compared with that of hearing peers. Twenty‐six deaf children (mean age 11 years) and 26 hearing children, matched for age and gender, were presented with various tasks that tap into their emotion awareness and regulation (coping) regarding the four basic emotions (happiness, anger, sadness, and fear). The findings suggest that deaf children have no difficulties in identifying their own basic emotions and the elicitors, or multiple emotions of opposite valence (happy and sad). Yet, they did show an impaired capacity to differentiate between their own emotions within the negative spectrum, which suggests a more generic evaluation of the situation. Deaf children's emotion regulation strategies showed a strong preference for approaching the situation at hand, but almost no deaf child reported the use of an avoidant tactic in order to diminish the negative impact of the situation. Overall, deaf children's emotion regulation strategies seemed less effective than those of their hearing peers. The implications for deaf children's emotional development are discussed.     

Modality effects: Do they fall on deaf ears?

The present study tests the assumption of the PAS theory of echoic memory (Greene & Crowder, 1984) that the representation of acoustic features is necessary in producing modality effects. Performance by deaf subjects was compared to hearing subjects on serial and free-recall tasks with vocalizing and non-vocalizing conditions. For the serial tasks, typical modality and acoustic similarity effects were observed with hearing subjects, and no such effects were found with deaf subjects. However, for the free-recall task, modality effects were found for both deaf and hearing subjects. It is unlikely that phonological coding resulting from gestural cues mediates the modality effect, as phonological confusion errors for deaf and hearing subjects did not correlate with the size of this effect.