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Language and problem solving ability: A comparison between deaf and hearing adolescents
Author(s) -
TELLEVIK JON MAGNE
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.743
H-Index - 72
eISSN - 1467-9450
pISSN - 0036-5564
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-9450.1981.tb00383.x
Subject(s) - sign language , psychology , spoken language , sign (mathematics) , linguistics , developmental psychology , cognitive psychology , audiology , mathematics , medicine , mathematical analysis , philosophy
Two groups of subjects, one deaf and one hearing, were tested in pairs on problem solving tasks. The poorer performance of the deaf observed in other studies has been explained as due to difference in language ability between the two groups. This finding was not replicated in the present study where use of language was required to solve tasks of different complexity. It is suggested that sign language may be as effective a tool for problem solving as spoken language. The postulated supremacy of spoken language to other forms of communication with regard to logical and symbolic functioning is thus questioned.