Short-term recall of printed English words by deaf signers of American Sign Language was found to be less than that of hearing subjects when ordered recall, but not when free recall, was required. Results were consistent with the hypothesis that a speech-based code facilitates retention of order information. (Author/RD)

The role of sensory attributes in a vocabulary learning task was investigated for a non-oral language using deaf and hearing individuals, more or less skilled in the use of sign language. Skilled signers encoded invented signs in terms of linguistic structure rather than as visual-pictorial events. (Author/RD)