Executive Function in Deaf Native Signing Children

Abstract

The aim of this study is twofold: To examine if deafness is invariably associated with deficits in executive function (EF) and to investigate the relationship between sign language proficiency and EF in deaf children of deaf parents with early exposure to a sign language. It is also the first study of EF in children acquiring Polish Sign Language. Even though the mothers of the deaf children (N = 20) had lower levels of education compared with the mothers of a hearing control group, the children performed similarly to their hearing peers (N = 20) on a variety of EF task-based assessments. Only in the Go/No-go task were weaker inhibition skills observed in younger deaf children (6–9 years) compared with hearing peers, and this difference was not seen in older children (10–12 years). Hence, deafness does not necessarily impair EF; however, attentional and inhibition abilities may be acquired via a different route in deaf children. Sign language receptive skills predicted EF in deaf children. In conclusion, we highlight the importance of deaf parenting building the scaffolding for EF in deaf children.

Social perception in deaf individuals: A meta‐analysis of neuroimaging studies

“…Deaf individuals typically rely on sign language, or hearing devices to interact with other people. Consistent evidence suggests that sign language supports the proper development of language brain circuits in deaf participants (for recent evidence, see Cheng et al, 2023; Wang et al, 2023) and sign language proficiency is associated with higher executive functions (e.g., performance in Go/no‐go task, Simon task; Kotowicz et al, 2023). Although it has been suggested that knowing sign language can help deaf individuals to feel comfortable and less stressed in social contexts (La Grutta et al, 2023), sign language can only be used with other signing individuals and hearing aids and cochlear implants (CIs) may not always work efficiently (e.g., Orji et al, 2020).…”