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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1979

A study of timing in a manual and a spoken language: American sign language and English.

A comparative analysis of the time variables in the production of speech and sign reveals that signers modify their global physical rate primarily by altering the time they spend articulating, whereas speakers do so by chaning the time they spend pausing. When signers increase or decrease their pause time, however little they do so, they alter the number and the length of the pauses equally, whereas speakers primarily alter the number of pauses and leave their pause durations relatively constant. An analysis of the durations of signs reveals that signs are longer at the end of sentences than within sentences and that the first occurrence of a sign is longer than the second when syntactic location is controlled (both these findings have already been reported for spoken language). The inherent duration of a sign can be accounted for almost totally by the movement characteristic; handshape, location, and number of hands in a sign are of little importance. Finally, signers retain their regular "quiet-breathing" respiratory pattern across signing rates and inhale at locations independent of syntactic importance. In this they are quite unlike speakers, who breathe at syntactic breaks.

Adult↗
PubMed1991

Recessive hereditary deafness, assortative mating, and persistence of a sign language.

We model the cultural transmission of sign language when there is one-locus genetic variation for deafness and hearing. Our premises are that the deaf are more motivated to learn sign language than the hearing, and that a vertically transmitted sign language, unlike recessive hereditary deafness, cannot "jump a generation." Conditions are obtained for persistence (i.e. protection from loss) of signers. These conditions are more easily satisfied the greater the fraction of the hearing who also learn sign language and as the frequency of the recessive gene for deafness increases. Persistence is also facilitated by assortative mating for deafness, but not by assortment for signing. With vertical transmission only, it is necessary that one signer parent be able to transmit sign language with greater than one-half the efficiency of two. Under the assumption that the hearing do not learn sign language, the following additional results are obtained. Persistence is more likely with dominant as opposed to recessive inheritance. When recessive hereditary and acquired deafness co-occur, increasing the frequency of the latter has opposite effects depending on the degree of assortment. Opportunities for the deaf to learn sign language outside the family seem not to affect the conditions for persistence.

Deafness↗
PubMed1992

Assortative mating and grandparental transmission facilitate the persistence of a sign language.

Conditions for the persistence (i.e., protection from loss) of a sign language are investigated assuming monogenic recessive inheritance of deafness, assortative mating for deafness or hearing, and cultural transmission of the sign language to deaf individuals from their deaf parents and deaf maternal grandparents. A new method is introduced to deal with the problem of grandparental transmission in which the basic variables are the frequencies of triplets comprising a mother, a father, and their daughter of permissible phenogenotypes. Usual stability analysis is then done on the system of linear recursions in the frequencies of these triplets, derived on the assumption that signers (users of the sign language) are rare. It is shown that assortative mating is the most important factor contributing to persistence, but that grandparental transmission can also have a significant effect when assortment is as strong as observed in England and the United States.

Deafness↗
PubMed1979

Sign language aphasia in a non-deaf-mute.

A 19-year-old left-handed man, who was raised by deaf-mute parents and learned sign language concurrently with normal speech, sustained a traumatic cerebral contusion. He subsequently had no evidence of apraxic, visual-spatial, or sensorimotor deficits of the left limbs with which he was accustomed to use signs. Globally aphasic with a dense right hemiparesis, he initially recovered sign language to a greater degree than spoken language with a reversal on follow-up observations. Receptive skills improved to a greater degree than expressive skills with no marked difference between verbal and sign language, but with natural signs better preserved than finger spelling.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Image processing system for interpreting motion in American Sign Language.

In this paper, an image processing algorithm is presented for the interpretation of the American Sign Language (ASL), which is one of the sign languages used by the majority of the deaf community. The process involves detection of hand motion, tracking the hand location based on the motion and classification of signs using adaptive clustering of stop positions, simple shape of the trajectory, and matching of the hand shape at the stop position.

Algorithms↗
PubMed1977

Acquisition of modified American sign language by a mute autistic child.

An attempt was made to teach a modified version of American Sign Language to mute 5-year-old boy who had been diagnosed autistic and who had a Merrill-Palmer IQ of 65. Previous attempts to teach imitative spoken language had failed, and baseline data indicated that the child's signing vocabulary was also nonexistent. Data were collected during 20 structured sessions involving presentation of stimuli, prompting and manual guidance when necessary, and reinforcement. Continuous use of signs as communication in class and at home was emphasized. The child had mastered 12 signs at the end of the study. Spontaneous signing frequency as recorded by parents and teachers during several 48 hour periods rose from 15 to 42 emitted signs over the 3 months of the study. The child made 6 months' developmental progress during this time, as measured by a sign-language adaptation of the Alpern-Boll Communication Scale. However, the child made no apparent progress in acquiring spoken language.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1992

Acquisition of signs from American sign language in hearing individuals following left hemisphere damage and aphasia.

Three severely aphasic hearing patients with no prior knowledge of sign language were able to acquire competency in aspects of American Sign Language (ASL) lexicon and finger spelling, in contrast to a near complete inability to speak the English counterparts of these visuo-gestural signs. Two patients with damage in left postero-lateral temporal and inferior parietal cortices mastered production and comprehension of single signs and short meaningful sign sequences, but the one patient with damage to virtually all left temporal cortices was less accurate in single sign processing and was unable to produce sequences of signs at all. These findings suggest that conceptual knowledge is represented independently of the auditory-vocal records for the corresponding lexical entries, and that left anterior temporal cortices outside of traditional "language areas" are part of the neural network which supports the linkage between conceptual knowledge and linguistic signs, especially as they are used in the sequenced activations required for production or comprehension of meaningful sentences.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

The acquisition of question formation in spoken English and American sign language by two hearing children of deaf parents.

This longitudinal study investigated the acquisition of question formation in spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL) by two young hearing children of deaf parents. The linguistic environment of the children included varying amounts of exposure and interaction with normal speech and with the nonstandard speech of their deaf parents. This atypical speech environment did not impede the children's acquisition of English question forms. The two children also acquired question forms in ASL that are similar to those produced by deaf children of deaf parents. The two languages, ASL and English, developed in parallel fashion in the two children, and the two systems did not interfere with each other. This dual language development is illustrated by utterances in which the children communicated a sentence in spoken English and ASL simultaneously, with normal English structure in the spoken version and sign language structure in the ASL version.

Child, Preschool↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Perceptual evidence against internal structure in American Sign Language syllables.

Syllables in spoken languages have been argued to have an internal structure which may cluster the consonants and vowels into subgroups. The most commonly used subgroups are the Onset (initial consonants) and Rhyme (vowel and remaining consonants), with the further possibility of dividing the Rhyme into Nucleus (the vowel and any on- or off-glides) and the Coda (the final consonants). Although linguistic debate continues about the exact formulation of such syllable models, the evidence is clear that listeners identify rhythmic beats at a particular point inside the syllable, namely at the release of the initial consonants into the following linguistically stressed vowels (referred to as the syllable peak, assumed to be part of the Nucleus). To determine whether such loci would be identified for syllables in American Sign Language, deaf native signers, hearing native signers, and hearing subjects unfamiliar with sign language were asked to tap to videotaped signed stimuli. Analysis of the tap locations in signed syllables revealed a relatively flat distribution across the syllable for all three groups and for individual subjects. The absence of syllable peak perception is discussed in relation to the motoric characteristics of sign production.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Lexical recognition in sign language: effects of phonetic structure and morphology.

Two experiments are reported which investigate lexical recognition in American Sign Language (ASL). Exp. 1 examined identification of monomorphemic signs and investigated how the manipulation of phonological parameters affected sign identification. Over-all sign identification was much faster than what has been found for spoken language. The phonetic structure of sign (the simultaneous availability of Handshape and Location information) and the phonotactics of the ASL lexicon are argued to account for this difference. Exp. 2 compared the time course of recognition for monomorphemic and morphologically complex signs. ASL morphology is largely nonconcatenative which raises particularly interesting questions for word recognition. We found that morphologically complex signs had longer identification times than matched monomorphemic signs. Also, although roots and affixes are often articulated simultaneously in ASL, they were not identified simultaneously. Base forms of morphologically complex signs were identified initially followed by recognition of the morphological inflection. Finally, subjects with deaf parents (Native signers) were able to isolate signs faster than subjects with hearing parents (Late signers). This result suggests that early language experience can influence the initial stages of lexical access and sign identification.

Adult↗
PubMed1978

Acquisition of sign language by autistic children. I: Expressive labelling.

There has been growing interest in teaching sign language to autistic children who have failed to develop speech. However, controlled experimentation in this area is nonexistent. In the present study, four nonverbal autistic children were taught expressive sign labels for common objects, using a training procedure that consisted of prompting, fading, and stimulus rotation. The efficacy of the procedure was demonstrated in a multiple-baseline design across objects. The results were reliable, replicable across children, and generalizable across therapists. A stimulus control analysis demonstrated that, for three of the children, correct signing was controlled solely by the visual cues associated with the presentation of a given object and was independent of respect to the known perceptual and linguistic deficits of autistic children.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1976

Sign language acquisition in a mute autistic boy.

A mute autistic boy learned to communicate extensively through American Sign Language. Over a six-month period he produced many spontaneous signs and sign combinations, and analyses of child's sign combinations indicated the presence of a full range of semantic relations. Further evidence of conceptual progress was provided by the child's increased score on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test. In addition, parents' and teacher's reports indicated that the child's social behavior improved. The extent of the boy's linguistic progress and associated improvement in social behavior markedly exceeds that usually reported for mute autistic children.

Autistic Disorder↗
PubMed1979

Teaching autistic children to use sign language: some research issues.

Three questions are raised with respect to the use of sign language as an alternative system of communication for nonverbal autistic children. First, does teaching a child to sign facilitate speech development? The data suggest that following simultaneous communication training, mute children are not likely to learn to talk; however, a combination of simultaneous communication training and separate vocal training may have a synergetic effect on speech development. In contrast, children who initially have good verbal imitation skills apparently show gains in speech following simultaneous communication training alone. Second, what is the upper limit of sign acquisition? Data suggest that abstract concepts, syntax, and generative skills can be taught. Procedures used in the operant conditioning of speech may prove useful in training complex signing skills. Third, does sign acquisition result in a general improvement in adaptive functioning? It appears that following sign training, some children do show increases in spontaneous communication, decreases in self-stimulatory behavior, and improvement in social skills. However, these outcomes are often difficult to interpret. Some data are described that help clarify the relationship between sign training and general behavioral improvement.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1991

Repetition priming with aspect and agreement morphology in American Sign Language.

Two experiments are reported which investigate the organization and recognition of morphologically complex forms in American Sign Language (ASL) using a repetition priming technique. Three major questions were addressed: (1) Is morphological priming a modality-independent process? (2) Do the different properties of agreement and aspect morphology in ASL affect priming strength? (3) Does early language experience influence the pattern of morphological priming? Prime-target pairs (separated by 26-32 items) were presented to deaf subjects for lexical decision. Primes were inflected for either agreement (dual, reciprocal, multiple) or aspect (habitual, continual); targets were always the base form of the verb. Results of Experiment 1 indicated that subjects exposed to ASL in late childhood were not as sensitive to morphological complexity as native signers, but this result was not replicated in Experiment 2. Both experiments showed stronger facilitation with aspect morphology compared to agreement morphology. Repetition priming was not observed for nonsigns. The scope and structure of the morphological rules for ASL aspect and agreement are argued to explain the different patterns of morphological priming.

Adult↗
PubMed1992

Biomechanical factors affecting upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders in sign language interpreters.

Symptoms associated with upper extremity cumulative trauma disorders (UECTDs) recently have been reported in professional sign language interpreters. The present investigation is a case control study of potential biomechanical factors that may exacerbate or maintain UECTD-related symptoms in this occupational group. Based on the results of a medical screening, interpreters were classified into two groups: working with pain (n = 16) and working without pain (n = 13). There were no significant differences between the groups on age, gender, years signing, years interpreting, and wrist and forearm endurance and flexibility as measured during an isokinetic strength test of the upper extremities. Subjects were exposed to a standard interpreting task. Groups were compared on measures of repetitiveness of hand/wrist motion, work/rest cycle, postural stress, and smoothness of movement. Heart rate, pain, fatigue, and perceived reduction in extremity flexibility also were measured. The group working with pain demonstrated a distinct pattern of potential biomechanical risk factors previously associated with UECTDs in other occupations. By comparison with the control group, those working with pain exhibited fewer rest breaks, more frequent hand/wrist deviations from neutral, more frequent lateral excursions from an optimal work envelope, and more rapid finger/hand movements while interpreting. Significant group differences on self-report measures of pain, fatigue, and perceived limitation in range of motion also were observed. An analysis of heart-rate response to the interpreting task revealed that both groups demonstrated a modest increase in heart rate to the interpreting task, although interpreters working with pain displayed lower heart rates across all phases of the experimental task.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗
PubMed1991

The role of iconicity in sign language learning by hearing adults.

The feature of transparency has been identified as facilitating the learning of manual signs as word surrogates. The recognition and retention of transparent and nontransparent signs by 50 sign-naive hearing college freshmen was investigated in three tasks: (1) a transparency task; (2) after a training period, a short-term memory task; and (3) a long-term memory task. Results indicated that both transparent and nontransparent signs were retained over a short and a long period of time; however, there was a significant decrease in the number of nontransparent signs retained as the period of time after training increased. Implications for sign language training are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1990

Intelligent temporal subsampling of American Sign Language using event boundaries.

How well can a sequence of frames be represented by a subset of the frames? Video sequences of American Sign Language (ASL) were investigated in two modes: dynamic (ordinary video) and static (frames printed side by side on the display). An activity index was used to choose critical frames at event boundaries, times when the difference between successive frames is at a local minimum. Sign intelligibility was measured for 32 experienced ASL signers who viewed individual signs. For full gray-scale dynamic signs activity-index subsampling yielded sequences that were significantly more intelligible than when every mth frame was chosen. This result was even more pronounced for static images. For binary images, the relative advantage of activity subsampling was smaller. We conclude that event boundaries can be defined computationally and that subsampling from event boundaries is better than choosing at regular intervals.

Adolescent↗