Number Processing in Deaf College Students

Magnitude comparison, calculation verification, and short-term memory span experiments were conducted as a means of investigating number processing in deaf college students. The level of accuracy shown by the deaf students did not differ from that shown by their hearing peers. However, mean response times for the deaf students were greater than those of the hearing students for all experimental tasks. The authors question the importance of development, working memory, and sign communication as factors that may contribute to explanations of the experimental results.