The Reception of Signs in Peripheral Vision by Deaf Persons

Abstract

To test whether deaf persons can read signs in peripheral vision, 12 profoundly deaf students, aged 15 to 18, in a residential school for the deaf, were seated between two signers, who presented common signs in random turns. Subjects responded by signing back to a video-camera, on which they were to fix their gaze. The tape recorded their responses as well as their eye movements, if any. Twenty-four signs were presented in each of two conditions: with the stimulus signs between 45° and 61° in the periphery, and with the signs between 61° and 77°. Mean performances, respectively, were 79.7% and 68%. The results support the supposition that peripheral vision may be linguistically and communicatively useful for deaf people, particularly as signs in isolation may be more difficult to read than signs in discourse.