The proposed work uses a variety of experimental paradigms found in the contemporary study of attention to investigate two broad hypotheses: first, that the functioning of visual attention may be different, and perhaps enhanced, among the deaf than among the hearing, and, second, that the visual and spatial demands imposed by the use of American Sign Language (ASL) may contribute to the attentional advantage enjoyed by the deaf. Research has demonstrated that the deaf outperform the hearing on tasks in such domains of visual cognition as motion perception, face perception, and mental imagery. Hearing signers tend to outperform hearing nonsigners in these areas, suggesting that facility with ASL is at the root of the deaf and the hearing. The domain of visual attention, however, has received comparatively little attention. Three series of experiments are proposed. The first two series investigate the hypotheses that deaf signers may modulate the focus of attention more rapidly than hearing nonsigners and that deaf signers may be less susceptible to the potential interference produced by irrelevant stimuli in the visual field. The final series examines potential differences between deaf signers and hearing nonsigners in the breadth of the focus of visual attention. In all three series of experiments, the performance of hearing signers is compared to the performance of deaf signers and hearing nonsigners to help elucidate the role of experience with ASL in producing the differences observed between the deaf signers and the hearing nonsigners. The experiments reflect promising extensions of my research interests in individual differences in attentional processes.
