Article
Visual Attention in Deaf and Normal Hearing Adults
Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research
(2005)
Abstract
Visual perceptual skills of deaf and normal hearing adults were measured using the Eriksen flanker task. Participants were seated in front of a computer screen while a series of target letters flanked by similar or dissimilar letters was flashed in front of them. Participants were instructed to press one button when they saw an H, and another button when they saw an N. Targets H and N were flashed with flanking letters that were either H or N, creating response-compatible and response-incompatible arrays. Flankers were presented at different distances from the targets and reaction times were measured. In the present study, reaction times were significantly faster for the hearing group than for the deaf group. However, the hearing group had significantly more errors on this task than the deaf group, suggesting that the deaf participants may have been more deliberate in their responses. In addition, the deaf group revealed a significantly greater interference effect than the hearing group at a parafoveal (i.e., 1.0°) eccentricity. These findings suggest that deaf individuals may allocate their visual resources over a wider range than those with normal hearing.
Keywords
- Flanker compartibility effect,
- Congenital deafness,
- Visual attention
Disciplines
Publication Date
December 1, 2005
DOI
10.1044/1092-4388(2005/106)
Publisher Statement
Copyright © 2005 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
Citation Information
Sladen, D.P, Tharpe, A.M., Ashmead, D., Grantham, D.W., & Chun, M. (2005). Visual attention in deaf and normal hearing adults: Effects of stimulus compatibility. Journal of Speech, Language and Hearing Research, 48(6), 1529-1537.