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Semantic organization in deaf and hearing subjects
Journal of Psycholinguistic Research
|January 1, 1975
Summary
Deaf adolescents demonstrate abstract thinking comparable to hearing peers, unaffected by lack of auditory experience. Their semantic structures are not reliant on visual or acoustic mediators.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Linguistics
- Developmental Psychology
Background:
- Understanding semantic structures in deaf individuals is crucial for educational and communication strategies.
- Previous research has debated the role of sensory experience in abstract concept formation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compare the semantic structures of deaf and hearing adolescents.
- To investigate the influence of sensory experience (auditory and visual) on abstract hierarchical relations.
Main Methods:
- Hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to noun word sorting tasks.
- Two studies were conducted: one with sound-related words and common nouns/pictures, the other with high- and low-imagery words.
- Participants included 63 profoundly deaf and 63 hearing adolescents.
Main Results:
- Deaf adolescents' performance differed from hearing peers only on sound-related words, not common nouns or pictures.
- No significant differences were found between deaf and hearing subjects when comparing high- and low-imagery words.
- Abstract hierarchical relations were evident in deaf subjects' semantic structures.
Conclusions:
- Deaf individuals possess abstract hierarchical semantic structures.
- Abstract concept formation in deaf adolescents is not dependent on "visual mediators" or hindered by the absence of "acoustic mediators".