Comparable visual temporal order judgement abilities in profound deaf and normal-hearing individuals
Single Paper Presentation

Elena Nava
Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy

Davide Bottari
Dipartimento di Scienze della Cognizione e della Formazione, Università di Trento, Italy

Massimiliano Zampini
Dipartimento di Scienze della Cognizione e della Formazione, Università di Trento, Italy

Francesco Pavani
Dipartimento di Scienze della Cognizione e della Formazione, Università di Trento, Italy

     Abstract ID Number: 77
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: May 30, 2007
     Presentation date: 07/05/2007 2:00 PM in Quad General Lecture Theatre
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
Comparable visual temporal order judgement abilities
in profound deaf and normal-hearing individuals

Elena Nava1, Davide Bottari2, Massimiliano Zampini1,2 & Francesco Pavani1,2

1- Centre for Mind/Brain Sciences, University of Trento, Italy
2- Department of Cognitive Sciences and Education, University of Trento, Italy


Several studies have examined different types of visual abilities following profound deafness, but lacked to investigate temporal processing in this population as a possible emerging change after long-term sensory deprivation. The present study tested the ability to make unspeeded temporal order judgments (TOJs) for pairs of visual stimuli in 9 profound deaf participants and 12 normal-hearing controls. Both groups judged which of two visual stimuli appeared first. Stimuli were presented on a screen on opposite sides with respect to central fixation at 10 different stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs). There were three different spatial arrangements on azimuth: both peri-foveal (at 3 degrees from fixation), both peripheral (at 8 degrees from fixation) or asymmetrical (the first peri-foveal and the second peripheral, or vice versa). Both groups showed comparable performances in the visual TOJ task. In particular, both groups performed better for central than peripheral pair of stimuli, and when the first stimulus appeared at central locations in asymmetrical pairs. These findings challenge the notion that auditory deprivation affects temporal processing abilities in the spared sensory modalities, and reveal that visual processing is not enhanced at peripheral than peri-foveal locations in the deaf group, contrarily to previous findings in the literature.

Keywords: temporal order judgment, early deafness, peri-foveal and peripheral visual processing, cortical plasticity, attention