Lateral cerebral differences in the deaf in response to linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli

Groups of deaf subjects, exposed to tachistoscopic bilateral presentation of English words and American Sign Language (ASL) signs, showed weaker right visual half-field (VHF) superiority for words than hearing comparison groups with both a free-recall and matching response. Deaf subjects showed better, though nonsignificant, recognition of left VHF signs with bilateral presentation of signs but shifted to superior right VHF response to signs when word-sign combinations were presented. Cognitive strategies and hemispheric specialization for ASL are discussed as possible factors affecting half-field asymmetry.