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35 - Working Memory and Childhood Deafness

from Part VI - Language Disorders, Interventions, and Instruction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2022

By
Gary Morgan
Edited by
John W. Schwieter  and
Zhisheng (Edward) Wen
John W. Schwieter
Affiliation:
Wilfrid Laurier University
Zhisheng (Edward) Wen
Affiliation:
Hong Kong Shue Yan University
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Summary

This chapter focuses on how working memory develops in children who are born deaf. It includes studies of deaf users of spoken and signed languages from within the medical and social models of deafness. It also reviews how differences in working memory capacity have been explained between deaf and hearing children. It reviews the role of auditory function in the establishment of working memory, as well as consideration of language as a mediator. It concludes with a proposal that deafness leads to disrupted early exposure to language and reduced subvocal rehearsal abilities, which both impact on the operation of the working memory system.

Keywords

Deafnessdevelopment languagedelayinner speechsign language
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Working Memory and Language , pp. 801 - 819
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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