[Paired-associate learning in deaf patients with and without sign language assist]

In previous experiments our group has shown that test subjects with normal hearing are able to draw pertinent information from visual signals generated from the analysis and transformation of speech. However, the results of these tests could be applied indiscriminately to the deaf. More recently we have studied the speed with which deaf subjects could learn to identify visual patterns generated from speech, the stability of learning, and the strategies developed by our subjects for learning sonogram-like patterns. The subjects tested were taught under two different conditions: pedagogy based on sign language and pedagogy based on speech. Deaf subjects and subjects with normal hearing dealt with associating visual patterns with meanings in a similar fashion. Deaf subjects required more repetitions to associate patterns with meanings than those with normal hearing, but they needed less time. The deaf developed strategies that increased their ability to learn new lists of patterns. In general, the deaf learned lists of patterns in the framework of feedback training well. Interestingly, the deaf taught on the basis of sign language did better than those taught on the basis of speech.