scholarly journals Sensorimotor system engagement during ASL sign perception: an EEG study in deaf signers and hearing non-signers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Kubicek ◽  
Lorna Quandt
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sensorimotor Cortex ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Central Electrode ◽  
Action Simulation ◽  
Sensorimotor Processing ◽  
Sensorimotor Systems ◽  
The One ◽  
First Time ◽  
Deaf Signers

ABSTRACTWhen a person observes someone else performing an action, the observer’s sensorimotor cortex activates as if the observer is the one performing the action, a phenomenon known as action simulation. While this process has been well-established for basic (e.g. grasping) and complex (e.g. dancing) actions, it remains unknown if the framework of action simulation is applicable to visual languages such as American Sign Language (ASL). We conducted an EEG experiment with deaf signers and hearing non-signers to compare overall sensorimotor EEG between groups, and to test whether sensorimotor systems are differentially sensitive to signs that are produced with one hand (“1H”) or two hands (“2H”). We predicted greater alpha and beta event-related desynchronization (previously correlated with action simulation) during the perception of 2H ASL signs compared to 1H ASL signs, due to greater demands on sensorimotor processing systems required for producing two-handed actions. We recorded EEG from both groups as they observed videos of ASL signs, half 1H and half 2H. Event-related spectral perturbations (ERSPs) in the alpha and beta ranges were computed for the two conditions at central electrode sites overlying the sensorimotor cortex. Sensorimotor EEG responses in both Hearing and Deaf groups were sensitive to the observed gross motor characteristics of the observed signs. We show for the first time that despite hearing non-signers showing overall more sensorimotor cortex involvement during sign observation, mirroring-related processes are in fact involved when deaf signers observe signs.

scholarly journals Cross-modal translation priming and iconicity effects in deaf signers and hearing learners of American Sign Language

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 1032-1044 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Mott ◽  
Katherine J. Midgley ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Karen Emmorey
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Lexical Access ◽  
Time Window ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Priming Effects ◽  
Translation Priming ◽  
Beginning Learners ◽  
Iconic Signs ◽  
Deaf Signers

AbstractThis study used ERPs to a) assess the neural correlates of cross-linguistic, cross-modal translation priming in hearing beginning learners of American Sign Language (ASL) and deaf highly proficient signers and b) examine whether sign iconicity modulates these priming effects. Hearing learners exhibited translation priming for ASL signs preceded by English words (greater negativity for unrelated than translation primes) later in the ERP waveform than deaf signers and exhibited earlier and greater priming for iconic than non-iconic signs. Iconicity did not modulate translation priming effects either behaviorally or in the ERPs for deaf signers (except in a 800–1000 ms time window). Because deaf signers showed early translation priming effects (beginning at 400ms-600ms), we suggest that iconicity did not facilitate lexical access, but deaf signers may have recognized sign iconicity later in processing. Overall, the results indicate that iconicity speeds lexical access for L2 sign language learners, but not for proficient signers.

Second language acquisition across modalities: Production variability in adult L2 learners of American Sign Language

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 375-388 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allison I Hilger ◽  
Torrey MJ Loucks ◽  
David Quinto-Pozos ◽  
Matthew WG Dye
Keyword(s):  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Linear Trend ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Experience Levels ◽  
Novel Approach ◽  
Production Variability ◽  
Deaf Signers

A study was conducted to examine production variability in American Sign Language (ASL) in order to gain insight into the development of motor control in a language produced in another modality. Production variability was characterized through the spatiotemporal index (STI), which represents production stability in whole utterances and is a function of variability in effector displacement waveforms (Smith et al., 1995). Motion capture apparatus was used to acquire wrist displacement data across a set of eight target signs embedded in carrier phrases. The STI values of Deaf signers and hearing learners at three different ASL experience levels were compared to determine whether production stability varied as a function of time spent acquiring ASL. We hypothesized that lower production stability as indexed by the STI would be evident for beginning ASL learners, indicating greater production variability, with variability decreasing as ASL language experience increased. As predicted, Deaf signers showed significantly lower STI values than the hearing learners, suggesting that stability of production is indeed characteristic of increased ASL use. The linear trend across experience levels of hearing learners was not statistically significant in all spatial dimensions, indicating that improvement in production stability across relatively short time scales was weak. This novel approach to characterizing production stability in ASL utterances has relevance for the identification of sign production disorders and for assessing L2 acquisition of sign languages.

Lending a helping hand: Linguistic input and sign language acquisition in deaf children

1985 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 357-370 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip M. Prinz ◽  
Louise Masin
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Deaf Children ◽  
Sentence Structure ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Spontaneous Production ◽  
Linguistic Input ◽  
Teachers And Parents ◽  
The One

ABSTRACTThis study examined the effects of adult “recasting” in sign language on the acquisition of specific syntactic-semantic structures by six deaf children between 9 and 76 months who were primarily at the one-sign utterance stage of development. In “recast” replies in conversation, the child's utterance is redisplayed in an altered sentence structure that still refers to the central meanings of the first sentence. Syntactic-semantic structures targeted for input intervention by teachers and parents using recasts included subject–verb relations, attribution, negation, subject–verb–object relations, conjunction, and conditionality. Recasting triggered the acquisition of new syntactic-semantic structures in American Sign Language and English which were evident in the spontaneous production of previously non-used sign utterances.

Phonological variation and change in Australian and New Zealand Sign Languages: The location variable

2009 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 193-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adam Schembri ◽  
David McKee ◽  
Rachel McKee ◽  
Sara Pivac ◽  
Trevor Johnston ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Citation Form ◽  
Deaf Signers

AbstractIn this study, we consider variation in a class of signs in Australian and New Zealand Sign Languages that includes the signs think, name, and clever. In their citation form, these signs are specified for a place of articulation at or near the signer's forehead or above, but are sometimes produced at lower locations. An analysis of 2667 tokens collected from 205 deaf signers in five sites across Australia and of 2096 tokens collected from 138 deaf signers from three regions in New Zealand indicates that location variation in these signs reflects both linguistic and social factors, as also reported for American Sign Language (Lucas, Bayley, & Valli, 2001). Despite similarities, however, we find that some of the particular factors at work, and the kinds of influence they have, appear to differ in these three signed languages. Moreover, our results suggest that lexical frequency may also play a role.

scholarly journals Earlier and More Robust Sensorimotor Discrimination of ASL Signs in Deaf Signers During Imitation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna C. Quandt ◽  
A. S. Willis
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Understanding ◽  
Motor Preparation ◽  
Sensorimotor System ◽  
Time Frequency ◽  
Beta Power ◽  
Sensorimotor Systems ◽  
Alpha Beta ◽  
The One ◽  
Sign Conditions ◽  
Deaf Signers

AbstractBackground: Prior research suggests that the amount of experience an individual has with an action influences the degree to which the sensorimotor systems of their brain are involved in the subsequent perception of those actions. Less is known about how action experience and conceptual understanding impact sensorimotor involvement during imitation. We sought to explore this question by comparing a group of sign language users to a group of non-signers. We pitted the following two hypotheses against each other: 1) Deaf signers will show increased sensorimotor activity during sign imitation, and greater differentiation between sign types, due to greater prior experience and conceptual understanding of the signs; versus 2): Deaf signers will show less sensorimotor system activity and less differentiation of sign types in the sensorimotor system, because for those individuals sign imitation involves language systems of the brain more robustly than sensorimotor systems. We collected electroencephalograms (EEG) while the two groups imitated videos showing one-handed and two-handed ASL signs. Time-frequency data analysis was performed on alpha- and beta-range oscillations while they watched signs with the intent to imitate, and imitated the signs. During observation, deaf signers showed early differentiation in alpha/beta power between the one- and two-handed sign conditions, whereas hearing non-signers did not discriminate between the sign categories this way. Significant differences between groups were seen during sign imitation, wherein deaf signers showed desynchronization of alpha/beta EEG signals, and hearing non-signers showed increased power. The study suggests that in an imitative context, deaf signers engage anticipatory motor preparation in advance of action production, while hearing non-signers engage slower, more memory-related processes to help them complete with the complex task.

scholarly journals Sensorimotor characteristics of sign translations modulate EEG when deaf signers read English

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorna C. Quandt ◽  
Emily Kubicek
Keyword(s):  
Sign Language ◽  
Spoken Language ◽  
Sensorimotor System ◽  
Central Electrode ◽  
Action Simulation ◽  
Linguistic Content ◽  
Deaf Signers

ABSTRACTBilingual individuals automatically translate written words from one language to another. While this process is established in spoken-language bilinguals, there is less known about its occurrence in deaf bilinguals who know signed and spoken languages. Since sign language uses motion and space to convey linguistic content, it is possible that action simulation in the brain’s sensorimotor system plays a role in this process. We recorded EEG from deaf participants fluent in ASL as they read individual English words and found significant differences in alpha and beta EEG at central electrode sites during the reading of English words whose ASL translations use two hands, compared to English words whose ASL translations use one hand. Hearing non-signers did not show any differences between conditions. These results demonstrate the involvement of the sensorimotor system in cross-linguistic, cross-modal translation, and suggest that action simulation processes may be key to deaf signers’ language concepts.

scholarly journals An Exploratory Study of ASL Demonstratives

Languages ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jill P. Morford ◽  
Barbara Shaffer ◽  
Naomi Shin ◽  
Paul Twitchell ◽  
Bettie T. Petersen
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Eye Gaze ◽  
American Sign ◽  
Completion Task ◽  
Deaf Signers

American Sign Language (ASL) makes extensive use of pointing signs, but there has been only limited documentation of how pointing signs are used for demonstrative functions. We elicited demonstratives from four adult Deaf signers of ASL in a puzzle completion task. Our preliminary analysis of the demonstratives produced by these signers supports three important conclusions in need of further investigation. First, despite descriptions of four demonstrative signs in the literature, participants expressed demonstrative function 95% of the time through pointing signs. Second, proximal and distal demonstrative referents were not distinguished categorically on the basis of different demonstrative signs, nor on the basis of pointing handshape or trajectory. Third, non-manual features including eye gaze and facial markers were essential to assigning meaning to demonstratives. Our results identify new avenues for investigation of demonstratives in ASL.

scholarly journals ERP Evidence for Co-Activation of English Words during Recognition of American Sign Language Signs

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Lee ◽  
Gabriela Meade ◽  
Katherine J. Midgley ◽  
Phillip J. Holcomb ◽  
Karen Emmorey
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
Event Related Potentials ◽  
Distinct Pattern ◽  
American Sign ◽  
N400 Effect ◽  
Co Activation ◽  
English Translations ◽  
Related Potentials ◽  
Deaf Signers

Event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate co-activation of English words during recognition of American Sign Language (ASL) signs. Deaf and hearing signers viewed pairs of ASL signs and judged their semantic relatedness. Half of the semantically unrelated signs had English translations that shared an orthographic and phonological rime (e.g., BAR–STAR) and half did not (e.g., NURSE–STAR). Classic N400 and behavioral semantic priming effects were observed in both groups. For hearing signers, targets in sign pairs with English rime translations elicited a smaller N400 compared to targets in pairs with unrelated English translations. In contrast, a reversed N400 effect was observed for deaf signers: target signs in English rime translation pairs elicited a larger N400 compared to targets in pairs with unrelated English translations. This reversed effect was overtaken by a later, more typical ERP priming effect for deaf signers who were aware of the manipulation. These findings provide evidence that implicit language co-activation in bimodal bilinguals is bidirectional. However, the distinct pattern of effects in deaf and hearing signers suggests that it may be modulated by differences in language proficiency and dominance as well as by asymmetric reliance on orthographic versus phonological representations.

Epenthesis in Italian Sign Language

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlo Geraci
Keyword(s):  
American Sign Language ◽  
Sign Language ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
American Sign ◽  
General Phenomenon ◽  
Formal Approach ◽  
Neutral Space ◽  
The One ◽  
Selection Of

The aim of this study is to provide a detailed account for the phenomenon of movement epenthesis in Italian Sign Language (LIS). LIS displays at least two cases of epenthesis of movement, one affecting signs that involve contact with the body, the other affecting signs that do not (i.e. signs articulated in neutral space). The two cases of epenthesis of movement receive a unified analysis, once the mechanism of selection of the plane of articulation is spelled out. The general phenomenon of movement epenthesis is captured by a formal approach within a constraint-based framework, such as the one developed first for American Sign Language (ASL) in Brentari (1998). Cases of movement epenthesis in ASL will be discussed and compared to cases of LIS epenthesis

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