The document reports on a seminar sponsored by the West Central Region for Low-Incident Handicapped Children, on the acquisition, construction, and use of American Sign Language with severely handicapped children. Topics addressed include the cognitive preconditions to language, sign formational rules, the structure of sign, and American Sign…

Recent research concerning learning via a single mode or particular combination of modes prompted an experiment which used a dual stimuli methodology. Manual sign, graphic, and oral stimuli were presented, in pure and in combination, to normal adults without previous signing experience. An efficiency rating of method of presentation was obtained.…

To better understand the mechanisms underlying encoding, manual signs and spoken words were presented in a short term memory task to six severely retarded children (11 to 14 years old). It was found that manual signs were encoded differently from spoken words for short term memory storage. (Author/PHR)

The study measured hearing-impaired (N=106) students' reception of language presented via five modes: oral, aural, manual, oral-aural;, and simultaneous manual and oral. The simultaneous manual and oral and the manual modes received the highest ratings. Results are discussed in terms of theories of cognitive processing and selective attention.…

A collection of research materials on sign language and primatology is presented here. The essays attempt to show that: sign language is a legitimate language that can be learned not only by humans but by nonhuman primates as well, and nonhuman primates have the capability to acquire a human language using a different mode. The following…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 27 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: facilitation of language development in disadvantaged preschool children; auditory-visual discrimination skills, language performance, and development of manual…