Project Abstract
Most deaf/hard-of-hearing (DHH) children are born to hearing parents who do not know sign language. Current
methods for auditory amplification are unpredictable, with some children succeeding and many others
struggling to access language through amplification. If L1acquisition is delayed, this cascades to negative life-
long academic and health effects. Per Early Intervention approaches, caregivers are ideal sources of protective
input. However, caregivers require support to quickly learn sign language (using an entirely new modality) to
provide language exposure to their child. Signs are produced in the visual-motor modality, with articulators that
can map onto visual elements of the world. This mapping between form and meaning is called iconicity.
Studies suggest iconicity may facilitate both first and second-language vocabulary acquisition. Both child and
adult language processing involves knowledge from sensory-motoric experiences (e.g., implied object
orientation or manner of grip). This embodied cognition scaffolds into language processing. Motorically-iconic
signs depict the signer manipulating the referent. This visual-motoric mapping provides a place for integrating
sign language with the caregivers’ existing embodied cognition, as well as a chance to learn the visual-motor
modality. If learning motorically-iconic signs is facilitated by embodied cognition, these signs may be a good
starting place for caregiver interventions. This proposal aims to assess the role of embodied cognition in the
processing and acquisition of motorically-iconic ASL signs. Aim 1 assesses the role of embodied cognition in
sign production (Study 1a) and comprehension (Study 1b) in native signers. Behavioral and EEG results will
be compared between motorically-iconic and non-iconic signs. EEG will be used for Event-Related Potential
(N400 component) and mu rhythm analysis. The N400 indexes semantic processing. Desynchronization of the
mu rhythm indexes embodied engagement of the sensorimotor cortex. Aim 2 uses these measures to assess
the role of embodied cognition in production (Study 2a) and comprehension (Study 2b) for hearing caregivers
of DHH children. The results of Study 1/2 will lead to an understanding of the roles of embodied cognition in
sign learning. If Study 2 finds evidence of facilitation for motorically-iconic signs, it suggests that hearing
caregivers integrated iconicity and embodied cognition to aid their learning. Sign acquisition is the best
defense against linguistic deprivation for DHH children, but these children need rich, accessible language input
as soon as possible in order to set the foundation for healthy development, requiring their caregivers to learn to
sign early in their lives. Interventions that capitalize on existing embodied cognition may support caregiver
learning. As caregiver signing improves, so does communication with the DHH child, providing a foundation for
language development and protection against the lifelong effects of linguistic deprivation.
