A review of the literature indicated that a reappraisal of
the conceptual and methodological approach to the study of
deafness was necessary if research is to explain why deaf
children fail to achieve the scholastic potential predicted
by I. Q. tests.
This study aims to test the utility and validity of an
approach, in which the psychological consequences of
deafness are viewed as an alternative perspective on
normal human information processing; the result of
functional adaptation to the environment. Qualitative and
quantitative methods of data analysis, are used to examine
process and structure underlying outcome.
The approach is tested by examining control of attention
and visuo-spatial processing and the relationship of these
to language in severely and profoundly prelingually deaf
children between the ages of 2 and 6 years, whose primary
means of communication is British Sign language (BSL).
These were examined using tests of problems solving,
memory, intelligence and observational studies of play.
The results emphasise the importance of visual information
gathering and processing for deaf children. Control of
attention is seen to vary as a function of the visual
complexity of the environment and of stimuli, ease of
environmental monitoring, and social factors. An
observational study indicated that the deaf child uses
language to direct his/her behaviour and as an adjunct to
play. It was also observed that the ch ildren spent time
exploring and using mirror images, and that this activity
was related to BSL structures and functions.
The use of these same mirror image like structures
was also evident in visuo-spatial problem solving. In general visuo-spatial abilities were found to vary as a function of task and information characteristics, attentional demands of the stimuli and social factors; the presence of a deaf experimenter improved problem solving performance for concrete problems. The results were discussed with reference to Sign language, and its ability to represent information, and also interference, both positive and negative, consequent on tasks requiring the processing of both a visuo-spatial language and visuo-spatial information.
It was concluded that the approach offered the potential
to generate data which would lead to a richer, and
ecologically more useful, description of the cognitive
abilities of deaf children.