The effects of auditory deprivation on successive processing.

Reviews the literature on sequential memory in hearing impaired Ss, focusing on successivity and successive processing using the model of cognitive processing proposed by J. Das et al (1979, see also PA, Vol 53:8767). Results suggest that the syntactic processing of English is so difficult for deaf students because, while deaf individuals are able to use successive processing, the processing of linguistic information may be different in deaf children and adults than in the hearing. The spatial bias of deaf individuals seems to result in a decreased emphasis on temporal ordering. Implications for the development of speech and reading English by prelingual profoundly deaf students are discussed. (French abstract) (65 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Peer interaction in young deaf children: The effect of partner hearing status and familiarity.

14 deaf 54–83 mo olds were videotaped playing once with each of 4 partners: a familiar deaf playmate, a familiar hearing playmate, an unfamiliar hearing child who was a playmate of another deaf child, and an unfamiliar hearing child who had little experience playing with deaf children. 21 hearing and 7 deaf playmates participated. Deaf Ss rarely used language, and formal language use was not related to measures of interaction or play even when playing with another deaf child. Instead, interaction and pretense seemed to be related to the deaf Ss' nonlinguistic communication abilities. Partner hearing status primarily affected communication, with communication between deaf playmates being more visual (both linguistic and nonlinguistic) and less object-based than communication between deaf and hearing playmates. Familiarity played a larger role than experience in improving interaction between deaf and hearing children. The hearing children were more responsive to and used more visual communication devices with their deaf playmate than an unfamiliar deaf child. But the hearing playmates were no better at playing with an unfamiliar deaf child than were hearing children who had little experience playing with deaf children. Implications for the understanding of young children's communication abilities and for deaf educational programs are discussed. (20 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processing by prelingual deaf students as a function of language context.

Investigated the influence of language mode (print or sign) and syntax (English or American Sign Language [ASL]) on recall, preference, and comprehension. In Exp I, the effects of reading meaningful print passages in ASL or English were tested for 12 16–29 yr old deaf and 12 16–28 yr old hearing Ss. An effort toward comprehension interpretation was supported for the hearing Ss only. Deaf Ss not trained in ASL exhibited a familiarity with ASL syntax not exhibited by the hearing Ss. In Exp II, meaningful passages were presented to 30 15–19 yr old prelingual deaf Ss in 4 language contexts (signed English, signed ASL, print English, and print ASL) in a free recall task. Results show greater recall from ASL than from English contexts. Findings indicate that the visual orientation of prelingual deaf individuals, regardless of training in ASL, leads to the development of a sign-based encoding system that responds to ASL as a familiar language. (30 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reading, memory, and metacognition.

Investigated relations among reading skills, metareading (knowledge about reading), memory, and metamemory (knowledge about memory) as they relate to reading ability (good vs poor readers), operativity, and grade level. 40 2nd graders (aged 7.25–9.83 yrs) and 40 4th graders (aged 9.42–22.00 yrs) were interviewed to assess the reading–memory variables. Significant but low correlations were obtained between metareading and reading, metamemory and memory, metareading and metamemory, and reading and memory. Significant effects of operativity were revealed on all dependent measures. Operative Ss had higher scores on the metareading and metamemory tasks, read at higher levels, and remembered more items on the memory tasks than did nonoperative Ss. Effects of grade level were revealed on most dependent measures. Fourth-grade Ss received higher scores on the metareading and metamemory tasks and read at higher levels than did 2nd-grade Ss. An interaction between operativity and grade level revealed that operative 2nd-grade and both groups of 4th-grade Ss made fewer total reading errors than did nonoperative 2nd-grade Ss. The effects of operativity, experience, and metacognition on reading and memory skills are discussed. (43 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Visual memory for shapes in deaf signers and nonsigners and in hearing signers and nonsigners: Atypical lateralization and enhancement.

[Correction Notice: An erratum for this article was reported in Vol 21(3) of Neuropsychology (see record 2007-06185-013). Figure 1 on p. 117 (Stimulus Materials section) depicting sample and match stimuli was incorrect. The labels Object condition and Shape condition should be reversed so that the top row is indicated as the shape condition and the bottom row as the object condition.] Deaf and hearing individuals who either used sign language (signers) or not (nonsigners) were tested on visual memory for objects and shapes that were difficult to describe verbally with a same/different matching paradigm. The use of 4 groups was designed to permit a separation of effects related to sign language use (signers vs. nonsigners) and effects related to auditory deprivation (deaf vs. hearing). Forty deaf native signers and nonsigners and 51 hearing signers and nonsigners participated in the study. Signing individuals (both deaf and hearing) were more accurate than nonsigning individuals (deaf and hearing) at memorizing shapes. For the shape memory task but not the object task, deaf signers and nonsigners displayed right hemisphere (RH) advantage over the left hemisphere (LH). Conversely, both hearing groups displayed a memory advantage for shapes in the LH over the RH. Results indicate that enhanced memory performance for shapes in signers (deaf and hearing) stems from the visual skills acquired through sign language use and that deafness, irrespective of language background, leads to the use of a visually based strategy for memory of difficult-to-describe items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cerebral laterality in deaf and hearing children.

Studied the development of lateralization of cerebral function in 20 hearing and 20 prelingually deaf children using the concurrent task paradigm. Ss were aged 5–6 and 11–12 yrs; all were right-handed. Concurrent processing of a nonverbal task did not cause a selective hand impairment monitored by a manual tapping task. However, deaf Ss were more impaired than hearing Ss in both age groups. Using a concurrent verbal task, both groups manifested a selective impairment of right-hand performance. The deaf also showed a greater left-hand decrement than did the hearing Ss. This result suggests that hemispheric specialization may be less apparent in the deaf than in hearing children. The factor of cognitive task difficulty is suggested as an explanation of these results. (23 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Short-term memory processes in children with reading and arithmetic learning disabilities.

Examined the role of phonemic coding in short-term memory in 45 children with a reading disability, 38 children with a specific arithmetic disability, and 89 normal children, as measured by the Wide Range Achievement Test. Ss, aged 7–13 yrs, were administered a series of tasks that involved the visual or auditory presentation of rhyming and nonrhyming letters and either an oral or a written response. Younger Ss (7–8 yrs) with a reading disability did not show any difference between the recall of nonrhyming and rhyming letters, whereas normal Ss of the same age did. Older reading-disabled Ss (aged 9–23 yrs), like their normal counterparts, had significantly poorer recall of rhyming as opposed to nonrhyming letters. However, their overall levels of performance were significantly lower than normals. The same pattern was found with Ss with arithmetic disabilities for the visual presentation of stimuli. For the auditory presentation of stimuli, the performance of Ss with arithmetic disabilities resembled that of normals, except at the youngest ages. Whereas a deficiency in phonological coding may characterize younger children with learning disabilities, older children with learning disabilities appear to use a phonemic code but have a more general deficit in short-term memory. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Conceptual performance in deaf adults.

Noncollege deaf adults were compared with hearing controls on a series of 8 nonverbal learning and transfer or shift tasks which were designed to test an S's ability to combine previously discovered elements into new disjunctive and conjunctive groupings. In terms of total errors, successes, and trials to criterion, performance on these tasks was found to differentiate high from low IQ normal Ss and deaf Ss performed similar to hearing Ss on all tasks except one. These results would seem to refute the hypothesis that deaf people are generally inferior to hearing people in conceptual ability or that deaf children's experimental deficiency would leave a permanent lack in their conceptual development. The need for clarifying the role of language in cognition was stressed. (17 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

English as the second language of deaf children.

Administered the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) to 13 deaf adolescents with deaf parents and to 13 deaf adolescents with hearing parents. Scores achieved by all Ss on the Paragraph Meaning and Language subtests of the Stanford Achievement Test were also available. Ss with deaf parents scored significantly higher than Ss with hearing parents on all but 1 measure. Performance by hearing, foreign students on the TOEFL was more highly correlated with the performance by Ss with deaf parents than with the performance by Ss with hearing parents. Results indicate that English may be a 2nd language for deaf children and that early experience with sign language may facilitate later learning of English. (27 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Relationship between shyness in children and constricted cognitive control as measured by the Stroop Color-Word Test.

103 4th and 5th graders, rated as either shy or nonshy by their teachers, were administered the Stroop Color-Word Test. Results support the hypothesis that shy Ss would have slower reading rates, which indicates high interference proneness (constricted control), whereas nonshy Ss would have more rapid reading rate, which indicates low interference proneness (flexible control). To determine if the procedures for identifying shy Ss also inadvertently differentiated Ss on cognitive skills (verbal ability), and not simply cognitive styles, a subsample of 32 Ss were administered the Stanford Achievement Test (SAT). Results indicate no significant difference between shy and nonshy Ss' group mean stanine scores on the language section of the SAT. Final classroom grades in reading, spelling, and English were also calculated for these 2 groups. Results indicate that the GPA of the shy group exceeded the GPA of their nonshy peers; however, differences were not significant. It appears, therefore, that the results were not confounded by differences in language ability or academic achievement and that these variables do not account for the distractibility findings. Results support the assumption that shy children are unable to maintain effective performance in the presence of interfering or distracting stimuli. (12 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"Visual Memory for Shapes in Deaf Signers and Nonsigners and in Hearing Signers and Nonsigners: Atypical Lateralization and Enhancement": Correction.

Reports an error in "Visual Memory for Shapes in Deaf Signers and Nonsigners and in Hearing Signers and Nonsigners: Atypical Lateralization and Enhancement" by Allegra Cattani, John Clibbens and Timothy J. Perfect (Neuropsychology, 2007[Jan], Vol 21[1], 114-121). Figure 1 on p. 117 (Stimulus Materials section) depicting sample and match stimuli was incorrect. The labels Object condition and Shape condition should be reversed so that the top row is indicated as the shape condition and the bottom row as the object condition. (The following abstract of the original article appeared in record 2006-23022-010.) Deaf and hearing individuals who either used sign language (signers) or not (nonsigners) were tested on visual memory for objects and shapes that were difficult to describe verbally with a same/different matching paradigm. The use of 4 groups was designed to permit a separation of effects related to sign language use (signers vs. nonsigners) and effects related to auditory deprivation (deaf vs. hearing). Forty deaf native signers and nonsigners and 51 hearing signers and nonsigners participated in the study. Signing individuals (both deaf and hearing) were more accurate than nonsigning individuals (deaf and hearing) at memorizing shapes. For the shape memory task but not the object task, deaf signers and nonsigners displayed right hemisphere (RH) advantage over the left hemisphere (LH). Conversely, both hearing groups displayed a memory advantage for shapes in the LH over the RH. Results indicate that enhanced memory performance for shapes in signers (deaf and hearing) stems from the visual skills acquired through sign language use and that deafness, irrespective of language background, leads to the use of a visually based strategy for memory of difficult-to-describe items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive processes as predictors of word recognition and reading comprehension in learning-disabled and skilled readers: Revisiting the specificity hypothesis.

Examines how cognitive processes interrelate as well as predict learning-disabled (LD) readers' word recognition and reading comprehension performance. Correlations between phonological, orthographic, semantic, metacognitive, and working memory measures with reading performance were examined in LD and skilled readers (aged 8–12 yrs). LD Ss were deficient on all cognitive processes compared with skilled Ss, but these differences do not reflect IQ scores. Reading ability group differences emerged on a component composed primarily of working memory measures (referred to as "g") as well as unique components, suggesting that these differences emerge on both general and specific (modular) processes. G best predicts reading comprehension for both groups, and phonological awareness best predicts skilled Ss' pseudoword reading, whereas g best predicts LD Ss' pseudoword performance. Overall, LD Ss' information processing difficulties were described within a general working memory model that views such children as having difficulty accessing and coordinating both general and specific processes. Results suggest that the cognitive processes that contribute to reading deficits are best understood in the context of their combination with other operations rather than in isolation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Auditory short-term memory and digit span: Normal versus poor readers.

Investigated the relationship between reading comprehension level, digit span, and short-term memory for Morse codelike temporal patterns in 3 experiments. Consistent with previous research on children, Exp I using 60 undergraduates demonstrated that Ss performed better when the 1st pattern was auditory than when it was visual or tactual. In Exps II and III with 36 undergraduates and 98 5th graders, respectively, no relationship was found between digit span and accuracy in comparing patterns of tones presented a few seconds apart. However, both tasks discriminated between children with normal and poor reading comprehension scores on a standardized test (Reading Comprehension subtest of the California Achievement Tests). It appears that these 2 tasks index fundamental processes that underlie reading comprehension. Digit span seems to assess an individual's ability to rapidly develop meaningful codes in memory for incoming verbal stimuli. The auditory pattern comparison procedure appears to measure ability to maintain information in short-term memory. (24 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Communication between deaf children and their hearing mothers: the role of language, gesture, and vocalizations

In the present longitudinal study, 20 deaf and 20 hearing children were observed during free play with their hearing mothers when the children were 22 months and 3 years of age. Compared to hearing children, deaf children were severely language delayed, with deaf 3-year-olds using less language (speech or sign) than hearing 22-month-olds. Deaf children communicated primarily through nonlinguistic vocalizations, with increasing use of gesture from 22 months to 3 years of age. Although mothers of deaf children used more visual communication than mothers of hearing children, they still primarily communicated through speech. In addition, deaf children did not visually attend to much of their mothers' communication. Therefore, deaf children received much less communication than hearing children. These results suggest that intervention efforts should be focused on increasing the quantity of perceived linguistic input by the child.     

Color-object paired associates in deaf and hearing children with and without response competition.

Deaf and hearing Ss, aged 6 and 10, were compared in 2 nonverbally presented paired-associates tasks. One condition used neutral color stimuli unrelated to toy response objects and another condition had colors systematically related to the same objects to provide interfering response competition. Age differences were observed, while task interacted with deafness such that hearing but not deaf Ss were impeded by the interference condition relative to the neutral condition. It was concluded that deaf Ss showed no perceptual rigidity and that covert verbalizations of hearing Ss or experiential poverty in deaf Ss produced the differential task effects. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comment on "Linguistic deficiency and thinking: Research with deaf subjects 1964-1969."

In H. Furth's (see record 1972-03464-001) previous review of 39 studies, with some exceptions, deaf children performed as well as hearing children on cognitive tasks. Because Furth believes that deaf subjects are linguistically deficient, he concluded that the thinking processes of deaf children are similar to those of hearing children and therefore must be explained without recourse to verbal processes. He offers as evidence for language deficiency 1 standardization study which shows that the mean reading achievement of deaf students on the nationally standardized Metropolitan Achievement Tests (MAT) falls below 4th grade equivalence. The present authors argue that (a) the MAT was normative referenced and does not provide evidence for an inability to handle English sentences, and (b) there exists still other evidence of deaf student mean achievement at 4th and 5th grade equivalence. Deaf Ss cannot be regarded as language deficient without explicit demonstration to that effect. Failing this, the reviewed studies cannot be said to contribute evidence for or against the hypothesis that language is not related to or required for cognitive development. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Finger electromyographic activity during sleep: Its relation to dreaming in deaf and normal subjects.

Observations carried out during the sleep of 13 deaf Ss showed that: (a) the rates of dream recall from rapid eye movement (REM) periods were similar to those for normal hearing Ss; (b) finger electromyographic (EMG) bursts outside of REM periods were not related to the recall of mental activity; (c) in both deaf and hearing Ss, REM periods showed a consistently accelerated rate of finger EMG activity in comparison with other stages of sleep; (d) contrary to expectations, rates of finger EMG activity for 10 normal hearing Ss were just as high as those of the deaf group. The implications of this finding for the motor theory of thinking were discussed. (18 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Political attitudes as social categories: A new look at selective memory.

Tested the selectivity hypothesis against the bipolar model of memory using 110 undergraduates. The selectivity hypothesis asserts a tendency to remember confirming rather than disconfirming statements about in- and out-group attitude members. The bipolar hypothesis argues that attitude labels serve to organize and enhance memory for both confirming and disconfirming information. Ss, divided into for, against, and neutral on abortion, formed impressions of pro- and antitarget groups by reading favorable, unfavorable, and nonvalence items about them. Ss were later asked to recognize the items and their associated attitude categories. Signal-detection analysis supported the bipolar model: Category members recognized more favorable and unfavorable information than did neutrals. Neutrals' performance was attributable to item-category confusion, not to item inattention. Possible explanations for the absence of selectivity effects are offered. (41 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Misleading postevent information and recall of the original event: Further evidence against the memory impairment hypothesis.

Evaluated the hypothesis that misleading postevent information impairs memory for the original event using 174 undergraduates in Exp I and 228 Ss in Exp II. Ss were assigned either to a recall test condition or an original recognition test condition. Ss viewed a sequence of slides depicting an event, read a postevent narrative that presented neutral or misleading information about critical details, and were tested on their ability to recall the critical details. No difference in recall performance between misled and control conditions was found. These results, in conjunction with the finding of M. McCloskey and M. Zaragoza (see record 1986-03053-001) that misleading information did not affect Ss' ability to recognize original information, argue strongly against the memory impairment hypothesis. (15 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adequacy of a translation of the MMPI into American Sign Language for use with deaf individuals: Linguistic equivalency issues.

Translated the MMPI into American Sign Language (ASL) via the back-translation procedure and recorded it on videotape to determine the linguistic equivalency of a sign language translation of a psychological test for use with deaf individuals. The bilingual retest technique was conducted whereby both forms of the instrument were administered to 28 ASL-English bilingual deaf Ss. Due to the advent of the MMPI-2 during the conduct of this study, a new set of T scores was calculated from the present MMPI data to compare the effect of shifting to the MMPI-2 norms. The results demonstrate adequate linguistic equivalencies of the ASL MMPI items and underscore the potential utility and practicality of future ASL translations of psychological tests for use with deaf individuals. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)