Linguistic abstraction and hearing handicap

The present study aimed at studying compensatory cognitive functions in the profoundly hearing-impaired. Bransford & Franks' (1971) linguistic abstraction paradigm was employed as a means of testing the hypothesis that the profoundly hearing-impaired engage in a general meaning-abstraction strategy not necessary for the normal-hearing. Twenty profoundly hearing-impaired subjects and 20 normal-hearing subjects participated in the experiment and the results unequivocally supported the hypothesis. Clinical implications of the results are indicated and discussed in relation to speech-reading tests and to training programs.