Hearing College Students Research Articles

Solving word problems: more than reading issues for deaf students.

Deaf and hearing college students were given 30 mathematics problems to solve. The initial 15 were presented as numeric/graphic problems, followed by 15 corresponding word problems, with both conditions sequenced for a progressive increase in problem complexity. Each word problem described the kind of shape and measurement information that was presented in its corresponding numeric/graphic problem. The results showed that the deaf college students, regardless of reading level, were comparable in performance to the hearing college students when solving the numeric/graphic problems and the initial, least complex set of corresponding word problems. However, as the complexity of the descriptive information in the word problems increased along with the complexity of the problem situations, the performance scores of the deaf students decreased. No comparable decrease was observed in the hearing students' scores. While reading ability level was associated with the deaf students' lower scores when solving word problems, the analyses show that other factors also contributed.

Production of intoxication states by actors: perception by lay listeners

The effects of ingesting ethanol have been shown to be somewhat variable in humans; there appear to be but few universals. Yet, questions about intoxication often are asked by law enforcement personnel (especially relative to DUI), clinicians and various individuals in social settings. A key question: Is it possible to determine if a person is intoxicated by observing them in some manner? A closely associated one: Can speech be used for that purpose? Two of the many issues related to the second of these questions involve the possibility that (1) speakers, especially actors, can effectively mimic the speech of intoxicated individuals, and (2) they may be able to volitionally reduce any speech degradation which results from intoxication. The approach used to test these two questions tasked auditors to determine if these simulations were possible. To this end, young, healthy actors chosen on the basis of a large number of selection criteria were asked to produce several types of controlled utterances (1) during a learning phase, (2) when sober, (3) at three simulated levels of intoxication (mildly, legally and severely drunk), (4) during actual, and parallel, levels of intoxication, and (5) at the highest intoxication level attained but when attempting to sound completely sober. Two aural-perceptual studies were conducted; both involved counterbalanced ABX procedures where each subject was paired with him/herself. Listeners were normally hearing university students drawn from undergraduate phonetics and linguistics courses. In the first study, they rated the actors as being more intoxicated--when they actually were sober but simulating drunkenness--88% more often than when they actually were intoxicated. In the second study, they were judged as sounding less inebriated when attempting to sound sober (than they actually were) 61% of the time. These relationships would appear to impact a number of situations; one of special importance would be the detection of intoxication in motorists.

Production of Intoxication States by Actors: Perception by Lay Listeners

The effects of ingesting ethanol have been shown to be somewhat variable in humans; there appear to be but few universals. Yet, questions about intoxication often are asked by law enforcement personnel (especially relative to DUI), clinicians and various individuals in social settings. A key question: Is it possible to determine if a person is intoxicated by observing them in some manner? A closely associated one: Can speech be used for that purpose? Two of the many issues related to the second of these questions involve the possibility that (1) speakers, especially actors, can effectively mimic the speech of intoxicated individuals, and (2) they may be able to volitionally reduce any speech degradation which results from intoxication. The approach used to test these two questions tasked auditors to determine if these simulations were possible. To this end, young, healthy actors chosen on the basis of a large number of selection criteria were asked to produce several types of controlled utterances (1) during a learning phase, (2) when sober, (3) at three simulated levels of intoxication (mildly, legally and severely drunk), (4) during actual, and parallel, levels of intoxication, and (5) at the highest intoxication level attained but when attempting to sound completely sober. Two aural-perceptual studies were conducted; both involved counterbalanced ABX procedures where each subject was paired with him/herself. Listeners were normally hearing university students drawn from undergraduate phonetics and linguistics courses. In the first study, they rated the actors as being more intoxicated--when they actually were sober but simulating drunkenness--88% more often than when they actually were intoxicated. In the second study, they were judged as sounding less inebriated when attempting to sound sober (than they actually were) 61% of the time. These relationships would appear to impact a number of situations; one of special importance would be the detection of intoxication in motorists.

Problem-solving strategies for teaching mathematics to deaf students.

Three teaching and learning strategies for problem solving were implemented with first- and second-year deaf college students enrolled in mathematics courses at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID), Rochester Institute of Technology. These strategies involved the students in (a) giving an explanation to a peer observer in sign language, after which they would put their understanding of a problem and its solution in writing; (b) visualizing the problem-solving process prior to starting to solve a problem; and (c) observing their teacher modeling the analytical process step by step for a sample problem prior to solving math word problems. The students were asked to solve two types of problems: typical word problems, and a visual/manipulative puzzle that would provide a problem-solving experience that would contrast with the experience of solving a problem presented in text format. The results showed that these kinds of instructional strategies can enhance the problem-solving performance of deaf and hard of hearing college students.

A Comparison of Sexual Knowledge, Behavior, and Sources of Health Information between Deaf and Hearing University Students

Abstract Utilizing a 76 item questionnaire, sources of health information and levels of sexual knowledge and behavior were compared in convenience samples of hearing and nonhearing university students. Both groups of students demonstrated high levels of sexual activity, moderate condom usage, similar levels of alcohol/drug usage during sex, and similar incidence of pregnancy and sexually transmitted disease transmission. Hearing students scored higher on a sexuality knowledge scale, but gender was a more accurate predictor than hearing status for knowledge levels, age at first intercourse, number of sexual partners in the past three months, and preventive health practices. Deaf students were more likely to practice withdrawal as a method of contraception, while hearing students were more likely to use the birth control pill and condoms. Deaf students reported a significantly higher rate of forced sexual intercourse and also were more likely to obtain health information from alternate sources. Implications...

Visual word recognition in two facial motion conditions: full-face versus lips-plus-mandible.

The present study used a new method to develop video sequences that limited exposure of facial movement. A repeated-measures design was used to investigate the visual recognition of 60 monosyllabic spoken words, presented in an open set format, for two face exposure conditions (full-face vs. lips-plus-mandible). Twenty-six normal hearing college students and 4 adults with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss speechread a video laserdisc presentation of a male talker under the two face exposure conditions. Percent phoneme correct scores were similar in the part-face and full-face conditions. However, scores significantly improved for the repeated measure independent of the face exposure condition observed. The results suggested that speechreaders (a) can recognize monosyllabic words in video sequences that provide information only about movements of the lips-plus-mandible region and (b) are sensitive to practice effects.

Sexual Knowledge, Behavior and Sources of Information Among Deaf and Hard of Hearing College Students

A sexual health knowledge, behavior and sources of sexual health information survey was administered to 134 deaf and hard of hearing college students. Results indicated the students in this sample were not particularly well informed about sexual health and sexuality issues, were engaging in high risk sexual behaviors and relied primarily on peers for sexual health information. The need for the development of psychometrically sound measurement instruments for use with deaf populations as well as areas for future sexual health research are discussed.

Critical teaching incidents. Recollections of deaf college students.

In interviews with 56 deaf college students, we collected accounts of 839 "critical incidents" describing effective and ineffective teaching. From those incidents, 33 specific teaching characteristics were derived and were analyzed in relation to teacher, student, and course variables. Our primary goal was to identify the teaching characteristics underlying deaf students' recollections about their classroom learning experiences. The most frequently mentioned characteristics are similar to those found in studies of hearing college students, particularly within the domain of Teacher Affect. The teacher's ability to communicate clearly in sign language, however, was not only a characteristic unique to deaf college students but also the most frequently occurring characteristic of effective teaching in this study.

Memory Span for Signs & Digits Forward & Backward in Beginning Level ASL Students

Thirty-six hearing college students with approximately one semester experience in a beginning course in American Sign Language were tested for their memory span for signs and for digits forward and backward. The mean number of signs recalled by these hearing subjects was 4.44, slightly less than the mean of 4.9 previously reported for deaf subjects. The standard deviation of their memory span for signs was 1.11. Memory span for signs was significantly shorter than memory span for digits forward (6.94) and the mean reported elsewhere for words (5.5). The correlation between digits forward and signs (r = 0.419) was significant. Two conclusions emerge from the data. First, a short memory span for signs is evidence that signs are more complex than digits or words, possessing more features that need to be stored in short-term memory. Second, large individual differences in memory span for signs imply that teachers who require students to recall or translate signed discourse must take care to avoid a bias favoring students with a longer memory span. As long as students are covertly translating from a signed into a spoken language, teachers need to take into account students’ limited memory span for signs.

Iconicity and Sign Vocabulary Acquisition

This study was designed to investigate learning and retention of isolated sign vocabulary as a function of sign classification (iconic, opaque, or abstract). The subjects were 28 hearing college students naive to sign vocabulary. They were drilled with 30 signs from American Sign Language that had been classified as iconic, opaque, or abstract. Training was conducted using two different media: computer-assisted instruction and videotaped presentation. Performance scores for the three types of signs were significantly different. Scores were consistently higher for iconic signs, regardless of the training mode. The videotaped presentation mode produced the greatest consistency in scores. The results of this study support the notion that it is easier for beginning students of sign language to learn and retain iconic signs.

Summarization strategies of hearing-impaired and normally hearing college students.

The purpose of this study was to compare the summary writing skills of hearing-impaired and normally hearing college students. Summarization was defined in terms of the following measures: deletion of trivial text information, inclusion of most important ideas, selection of topic sentences, creation of topic statements, and integration of information within and among several paragraphs. Inclusion of opinionated, incorrect, and uninterpretable information was measured also. Thirty hearing-impaired and 30 normally hearing students read and summarized two expository science passages that were controlled for the number of topic (main idea) sentences and that had been rated previously for the importance of "idea units." Students' factual comprehension also was assessed. Hearing-impaired and normally hearing students exhibited a similar pattern of use among several measured summarization strategies, except for the inclusion of opinions or comments in their summaries. Hearing-impaired students were not as sensitive as normally hearing students to importance of ideas and used the following summarization strategies significantly less often: inclusion of important ideas, selection of topic sentences, creation of topic statements, and integration of ideas within and among paragraphs. The results indicated that hearing-impaired college students have basic summarization skills but do not apply summarization strategies as effectively as normally hearing students.

Modification of the Beck Depression Inventory for use with a deaf population.

Research on depression in deaf individuals has been hampered by difficulties in assessment that result from the linguistic problems many deaf persons have with the English language. We report preliminary psychometric data on a modification of the Beck Depression Inventory in which it was simplified linguistically for use with the deaf population. Internal consistency of the revised version of 56 hearing college students was good and very close to that of the original version in a separate sample of 56 hearing students. Mean scores on the two versions were also very similar. Internal consistency of the revision in a sample of 102 deaf college students was moderately good, but lower than in the hearing sample. The results are considered encouraging for further instrument development.

A Test of the Similarity Hypothesis: Social Comparison in Deaf and Hearing Students

The present study explored the possibility that deaf and hearing college students would prefer similar social comparisons on achievement tests. It was also expected that deaf students, due to their communication handicap, would most prefer deaf norms on a language-based achievement test. Thirty deaf and 28 hearing college students participated in an experiment ostensibly generating normative information on a new achievement test and gave their personal preferences for the kinds of norms they would like to see: nondisabled, learning disabled, deaf, blind, disabled, or gifted. Along with the social comparison measures, subjects were asked to estimate the performance of the aforementioned groups. Results showed unexpectedly little support for the similarity hypothesis. On one measure, subjects showed a clear preference for information about higher performers. A small preference for similarity appeared on a second measure. In addition, although the deaf expected to do worse on a verbal test than on a logic te...

Access to spoken language and the acquisition of orthographic structure: evidence from deaf readers.

Sensitivity to two types of orthographic structure was investigated: linguistically based orthographic regularity and summed single letter positional frequency. Deaf college students were found to make use of positional frequency information no less than hearing college students; however, the extent to which they made use of orthographic regularities in word recognition was related to their speech production skills. In one task, subjects were presented nonword letter strings for short durations, each followed by a masking stimulus and a target letter. They were asked to indicate whether or not the target had been present in the letter string. It was found that the accuracy of deaf subjects with good speech, like that of hearing subjects, was considerably greater for orthographically regular than irregular strings. In contrast, the accuracy of deaf subjects with poor speech was much less related to orthographic regularity. In a second task, in which subjects made judgements about how word-like various letter strings appeared, the judgements of the hearing subjects were more influenced by regularity than those of deaf subjects with poor speech. These results are discussed in terms of how expertise in speech relates to appreciation of orthographic regularity.

Parafoveal attention in congenitally deaf and hearing young adults

This reaction-time study compared the performance of 20 congenitally and profoundly deaf, and 20 hearing college students on a parafoveal stimulus detection task in which centrally presented prior cues varied in their informativeness about stimulus location. In one condition, subjects detected a parafoveally presented circle with no other information being present in the visual field. In another condition, spatially complex and task-irrelevant foveal information was present which the subjects were instructed to ignore. The results showed that although both deaf and hearing people utilized cues to direct attention to specific locations and had difficulty in ignoring foveal information, deaf people were more proficient in redirecting attention from one spatial location to another in the presence of irrelevant foveal information. These results suggest that differences exist in the development of attentional mechanisms in deaf and hearing people. Both groups showed an overall right visual-field advantage in stimulus detection which was attenuated when the irrelevant foveal information was present. These results suggest a left-hemisphere superiority for detection of parafoveally presented stimuli independent of cue informativeness for both groups.

Effects of parental deafness and early exposure to manual communication on the cognitive skills, English language skill, and field independence of young deaf adults.

Congenitally deaf college students with deaf parents who were native ASL signers (the ASL group) were compared to congenitally deaf college students who learned to sign between the ages of 6 and 12 years and who had hearing parents (the Delayed sign language group) on tests of cognitive skills, the cognitive style of field independence/dependence, and English language presented and produced through spoken, written, and sign modes. A control group of hearing college students was also included in the study. Differential effects of parental deafness and early exposure to manual communication, generally reported for deaf children, were not observed in the cognitive and communication performance of the experimental subjects. Furthermore, the Delayed sign language group performed significantly better than the ASL group on tests of speech perception and speech intelligibility. No differences on tests on cognitive skills were observed between the deaf and hearing subjects or between males and females. However, deaf females in both groups were more field dependent than deaf males and hearing females, while deaf males did not differ from hearing males. A test of speech reception skill was the only predictor of field independence for the ASL group while a test of cognitive skills was the only predictor of field independence for the other two groups.

Perception of iconicity in American sign language by hearing and deaf subjects.

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.

The effects of reviewing class notes for deaf and hearing students.

Some 53 deaf and 33 hearing college students observed a videotaped lecture followed by a 15-minute period of reviewing prepared class notes. Two days later half of each group again reviewed the notes before taking a test measuring learning outcomes in four areas: (a) recall, (b) recognition, (c) concept acquisition, and (d) problem solving. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that repeated review was much more helpful to deaf students than to hearing students on the recall and recognition measures, but not on the higher level learning outcomes. It was further shown that hearing students outperformed deaf students on each of the four dependent measures. It was concluded that repeated review is more beneficial to deaf than to hearing students and that it selectively affects memory tasks (recall, recognition) more than tasks requiring higher level processing (concept acquisition, problem solving).

Acoustic Image in Visual Detection for Deaf and Hearing College Students

To explore the role of acoustic factors in visual detection, this study employed 40 deaf and hearing Ss. Ss were requested to cancel all the letters "e" in a passage from Treasure Island. Results were analyzed in terms of probabilities of missing a pronounced or silent e and the e in the word "the." Hearing and hard of hearing Ss were more likely to miss silent e's than pronounced e's. There was no significant difference between silent and pronounced e's for the profoundly deaf. Deaf and hearing Ss missed significantly more e's in "the" than pronounced or silent e's. The deaf, when compared to the hearing Ss, were more efficient in detecting pronounced and silent e's. They did not differ significantly from the hearing Ss in detecting the e in "the."

Consonant recognition in noise: sensorineural loss

Consonant recognition in quiet and noise was studied for 18 outpatient listeners who had moderate sensorineural losses. The 16 consonants were presented in a CV context, using three different vowels. Each subject heard 10 lists of 96 nonsense syllables for each condition. Syllables were presented monaurally at approximately 100 dB SPL, noise at 95 dB SPL. For these conditions of signal and noise level, the performance of normally hearing college students (n = 4) was reduced from 90% to 55% correct recognition by the addition of the noise and that of outpatient listeners with normal hearing (n = 6) from 70% to 45% correct recognition. For the 18 listeners with moderate sensorineural losses, the performance of nine was not affected adversely by addition of the noise and that of only five showed a decrement comparable to that seen in normals. The trend was for listeners with low performance in quiet to do as well in noise as they had done in quiet. These results required the use of forced-choice method, as opposed to the write-down technique used in earlier studies, which suggested that listeners with sensorineural loss are more adversely affected by noise than are normals. The present results suggest that the effects of sensorineural loss on speech recognition might be comparable to those of masking noise. [Supported by Public Health Service Award NS 07790.]