Poster #68 - Theory of Mind Development in Deaf Children: The Effects of Language Exposure and Usage

• In Event: Poster Session 12

Abstract

Theory of Mind (ToM), the ability to understand others’ internal states, develops dramatically in childhood and quickly becomes crucial for human social life (Wellman, 2014). Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) children, especially those of hearing parents, are substantially delayed in ToM (Peterson et al., 2005). Hearing loss causes decreased access to spoken language (Moeller & Tomblin, 2015), thereby limiting social communicative experiences and hence delaying DHH children’s ToM.
Research has supported as least two interventions aimed at facilitating ToM growth. First, increased access to spoken language via early use of cochlear implants (CIs) or advanced hearing aids (HAs) can facilitate ToM development (Yu et al., 2021). Second, access to social communication can also occur through sign language, and indeed, DHH children of deaf parents who sign proficiently typically experience little to no ToM delays (Schick et al., 2007).
Almost all studies treat DHH children in one or two groups — those with hearing or deaf parents – while important, this does not address the diversity in language exposure and usage that characterize DHH children. This undoubtedly misses important differences in ToM development and obscures how the effects of the two interventions might influence such development.
To better examine DHH children’s ToM development, we included 279 DHH children and considered their language exposure and usage by dividing them into three groups based on language availability and accessibility in daily life. (Lederberg et al., 2019): a Spoken-only group exposed to and learning only spoken English (n = 86), a Sign-only group exposed to and learning only sign (n = 124), and a Bimodal group exposed to and learning both (n = 69). We assessed these DHH children’s language, ToM, and hearing status when they were enrolled in kindergarten, first, or second grade. ToM was assessed twice; once in the fall and again in the spring. Focally, we asked: How do parental background (i.e., having signing deaf parents or not) and accumulated hearing experience (via CIs/HAs) influence the development of ToM?
An overall model accounted for DHH ToM development: parental background, accumulated hearing experience, and chronological age predict language facility, which, in turn, predicts ToM. Figure 1 shows the model structure holds for all groups yet also yields informative specific profiles for each group. For the Spoken-only group, children’s chronological age accounts for the language-ToM effect, as it does for typically-developing children (Wellman, 2014). The Sign-only group, which included children with or without a signing parent at home, shows that having a signing parent strongly advantaged the language-ToM effect. For the Bimodal group, all three factors (parental background, hearing experience via CIs/HAs, and chronological age) were strongly predictive.
In sum, early exposure to social communication in any modality helps DHH children develop language, which in turn strongly impacts their ToM. This demonstration has theoretical implications for understanding the diversity in DHH children and in ToM development. Practically, it suggests the importance of early language access for DHH children, including exposure to sign language and to spoken language via CIs/HAs.

Authors

• Chi-Lin Yu, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor
  Presenting Author

• Christopher Stanzione, Georgia Institute of Technology

• Lee Branum-Martin, Georgia State University

• Henry M. Wellman, University of Michigan

• Amy R Lederberg, Georgia State University