Language, Learning, and Cognition among Deaf Students with and without Cochlear I

描述（由申请人提供）：各种研究调查了植入人工耳蜗的儿童的语言和阅读成绩。尽管结果存在巨大的（且很大程度上无法解释的）个体差异，但植入植入物的儿童在这些领域的表现通常优于未植入植入物的失聪儿童，尽管不如听力正常的同龄人。除了幼儿的口语和阅读能力之外，人们对人工耳蜗植入后的结果知之甚少，特别是对年龄较大的失聪儿童和青少年以及未植入人工耳蜗的人。本项目将研究(1)口语和手语技能之间的关系，(2)语言和非语言认知能力，(3)通过印刷品和通过空气（口语和/或手语）交流学习，以及(4)失聪学生的听力学背景（例如，人工耳蜗植入史，家庭交流）。在每项研究的具体比较和潜在变量路径分析中需要考虑的其他变量包括学业成就、社会情感功能、词汇知识和阅读能力，以及失聪学生的语言和人工耳蜗植入史。利用认知科学和传播科学范式的八项研究将探讨三个主要兴趣领域的差异及其相互作用。三组年轻人将参与每项研究，他们的学术能力和手语知识各不相同：耳聋学生植入人工耳蜗，耳聋学生不植入人工耳蜗，听力正常的学生。对组间差异的分析，以及通过各种方法预测其他差异的方差比例，将使迄今为止关于有和没有植入人工耳蜗的失聪学生的语言、认知和学习的最全面的研究成为可能。研究结果将对聋哑学生的教育具有具体的实际意义，并对更好地理解语言和认知之间的相互作用具有理论意义。更广泛地说，研究结果将有助于更好地为听力损失患者提供服务，使他们更有效率和更有效，同时增加教育和就业机会，以及身心健康。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A variety of studies has examined language and reading achievement among children with cochlear implants. Despite huge (and largely unexplained) individual differences in outcomes, children with implants generally perform better in these domains than deaf children without implants, although not as well as hearing age-mates. Beyond spoken language and reading abilities of young children, far less is known about outcomes following cochlear implantation, particularly in older deaf children and youth and among those without cochlear implants. This project will examine relations among various measures of (1) spoken language and sign language skills, (2) verbal and nonverbal cognitive abilities, (3) learning from print and through- the-air (spoken and/or signed) communication, and (4) audiological backgrounds of deaf students (e.g., cochlear implant histories, family communication). Additional variables to be considered in both specific comparisons for each study and in a latent variable path analysis include measures of academic achievement, social-emotional functioning, vocabulary knowledge and reading ability, and deaf students' language and cochlear implant histories. Eight studies utilizing paradigms from cognitive science and communication science will investigate differences in the three primary domains of interest and interactions among them. Three groups of young adults will participate in each study, all three varying in their academic abilities and knowledge of sign language: deaf students with cochlear implants, deaf students without cochlear implants, and hearing students. Analyses of between-group differences, and proportions of variance accounted for by various measures in predicting others will allow the most comprehensive studies to date concerning language, cognition, and learning among deaf students with and without cochlear implants. Results will have specific practical implications for educating deaf students and theoretical implications for greater understanding of interactions of language and cognition among individuals who vary in their access to spoken language. More generally, the results will help to better focus services for individuals with hearing loss, making them more efficient and effective, while enhancing educational and employment opportunities as well as physical and emotional health.