The ability to generate visual mental images, to maintain them, and to rotate them was studied in deaf signers of American Sign Language (ASL), hearing signers who have deaf parents, and hearing non-signers. These abilities are hypothesized to be integral to the production and comprehension of ASL. Results indicate that both deaf and hearing ASL signers have an enhanced ability to generate rela...

In noisy situations with competing voices, people often find it easier to hear out and recognize what familiar voices say. However, people with hearing loss report difficulties in utilizing this ability in situations with competing voices. This research investigates if hearing devices can learn and utilize voice characteristics to separate voices, and furthermore, if presenting the separated vo...

The emerging reading and spelling abilities of 24 deaf and 23 hearing beginning readers were followed over 2 years. The deaf children varied in their language backgrounds and preferred mode of communication. All children were given a range of literacy, cognitive and language-based tasks every 12 months. Deaf and hearing children made similar progress in literacy in the beginning stages of readi...

Linguistic context is known to influence speech perception abilities in adults with normal hearing. Recent reports question the importance of context for adults with a severe-to-profound hearing impairment. The severe reduction and distortion in acoustic input may result in the listener perceiving insufficient acoustic-phonetic cues to allow access to higher level linguistic processing. To inve...

Seven- and eight-year-old deaf children and hearing children of equivalent reading age were presented with a number of tasks designed to assess reading, spelling, productive vocabulary, speechreading, phonological awareness, short-term memory, and nonverbal intelligence. The two groups were compared for similarities and differences in the levels of performance and in the predictors of literacy....

Hearing loss is one of the most prevalent chronic conditions affecting older adults. In U.S. studies, prevalent estimates of hearing loss in adults aged 65 and older range from 30% to 83% depending upon the definition used. European studies suggest a steady decline in hearing from the sixth to ninth decades. Although age-related hearing loss is not life-threatening, it affects quality of life a...

BACKGROUND hearing discrimination abilities in children with phonological disorders. AIM to investigate the ability of hearing discrimination in children with Phonological Disorders who received or were receiving phonological treatment; to verify if the altered phonemes were the same as those which were not discriminated in the Picture Test for Hearing Discrimination (adapted for Portuguese l...

Background: hearing discrimination abilities in children with phonological disorders. Aim: to investigate the ability of hearing discrimination in children with Phonological Disorders who received or were receiving phonological treatment; to verify if the altered phonemes were the same as those which were not discriminated in the Picture Test for Hearing Discrimination (adapted for Portuguese l...

Otophysine fish possess Weberian ossicles, which connect the swimbladder to the inner ear and improve hearing ability. There is a high diversity in the morphology of the swimbladder and Weberian apparatus in catfishes, which might affect hearing. We have examined these structures in representatives of six families with large, single bladders (Ariidae, Auchenipteridae, Heptapteridae, Malapteruri...

BACKGROUND Auditory fitness for duty (AFFD) refers to the possession of hearing abilities sufficient for safe and effective job performance. In jobs such as law enforcement and piloting, where the ability to hear is critical to job performance and safety, hearing loss can decrease performance, even to the point of being hazardous to self and others. Tests of AFFD should provide an employer with...