RELATIONAL LEARNING IN CHILDREN WITH DEAFNESS AND COCHLEAR IMPLANTS
Ana Claudia Almeida-Verdu,
Edson M. Huziwara, Deisy G. De Souza,
Julio C. De Rose, Maria Cecilia Bevilacqua, Jair Lopes Jr., Cristiane O. Alves, William J. McIlvane,
Ana Claudia Almeida-Verdu
UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA, BRAZIL
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Deisy G. De Souza
UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SÃO CARLOS, BRAZIL
Departamento de Psicologia, Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos, Caixa Postal 676; 13565-905 Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil (e-mail: [email protected]).Search for more papers by this authorAna Claudia Almeida-Verdu,
Edson M. Huziwara, Deisy G. De Souza,
Julio C. De Rose, Maria Cecilia Bevilacqua, Jair Lopes Jr., Cristiane O. Alves, William J. McIlvane,
Ana Claudia Almeida-Verdu
UNIVERSIDADE ESTADUAL PAULISTA, BRAZIL
Search for more papers by this authorCorresponding Author
Deisy G. De Souza
UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DE SÃO CARLOS, BRAZIL
Departamento de Psicologia, Universidade Federal de Sao Carlos, Caixa Postal 676; 13565-905 Sao Carlos, SP, Brazil (e-mail: [email protected]).Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
This four-experiment series sought to evaluate the potential of children with neurosensory deafness and cochlear implants to exhibit auditory-visual and visual-visual stimulus equivalence relations within a matching-to-sample format. Twelve children who became deaf prior to acquiring language (prelingual) and four who became deaf afterwards (postlingual) were studied. All children learned auditory-visual conditional discriminations and nearly all showed emergent equivalence relations. Naming tests, conducted with a subset of the children, showed no consistent relationship to the equivalence-test outcomes. This study makes several contributions to the literature on stimulus equivalence. First, it demonstrates that both pre- and postlingually deaf children can acquire auditory-visual equivalence relations after cochlear implantation, thus demonstrating symbolic functioning. Second, it directs attention to a population that may be especially interesting for researchers seeking to analyze the relationship between speaker and listener repertoires. Third, it demonstrates the feasibility of conducting experimental studies of stimulus control processes within the limitations of a hospital, which these children must visit routinely for the maintenance of their cochlear implants.
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