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Deaf and hearing children's conceptions of the body interior
Purpose:
To determine if deaf and hearing children differ in their conceptions of the body interior and to examine children's conceptions of their internal bodies at three different age stages.
Method:
Eighty deaf children and 190 hearing children ages 5 to 15 years were grouped by age to reflect preoperation, concrete operation, and formal operation stages of cognitive development. The Goodenough-Harris Draw-A-Person and Inside-the-Body Test were administered. Results were analyzed by ANOVA.
Results:
Deaf children in each of the three groups knew significantly fewer body parts than the hearing children. Adolescents knew significantly more about their body interiors than did the younger age groups.
Conclusion:
Results of this study lend empirical support to Crider's (1981) development theory of how conceptions of the body interior develop.