urA

Strategies for apprehending and processing verbal material were studied in deaf and normal children by using color-word interference tasks Color-word interference task was described as a method of apprehension evaluation with minimum memory contribution. The task involved three cards: one containing color patches, one containing printed names of colors, and one ceataining a color name printed in conflicting ink color. Seven deaf children and 17 normal-hearing children (age range 9-15 years) identified by good academic achievement were asked to name each card upon presentation. The task criterion was reading speed and thus, stimuli perception was the major variable studied. Data on time in seconds for subjects to complete the color-word interference task indicated that the deaf seemed able to view verbal material as objects without attending to its verbalness. Normal-hearing children, in contrast, had great difficulty in responding to anything other than the word itself. Results suggested that deaf children used qualitatively different E,trategies for apprehending and processing verbal material than did normal-hearing children. (CB