Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026

Exploring Infant Sensitivity to Visual Language using Eye Tracking and the Preferential Looking Paradigm
Published on: May 15, 2019
Perception of iconicity in American sign language by hearing and deaf subjects
Abstract:
Three groups of subjects differing in age, language experience, and familiarity with American Sign Language were compared on three tasks regarding the perception of iconicity in signs from American Sign Language. Subjects were asked to guess the meaning of signs, to rate signs for iconicity, and to state connections between signs and their meaning in English. Results showed that hearing college students, deaf adults, and hearing first-grade children perform similarly on tasks regarding iconicity. Results suggest a psycholinguistic definition of iconicity based on association values, rather than physical resemblances between signs and real-world referents.

