Foveal Processing Under Concurrent Peripheral Load in Profoundly Deaf Adults

• Published in: Journal of deaf studies and deaf education Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 122 - 128
• Main Author: Dye, Matthew W. G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Oxford University Press 01-04-2016; Oxford Publishing Limited (England)
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Adults; Assistive Technology; Attention; Audiology; Auditory Perception - physiology; Computer Peripherals; Deafness; EMPIRICAL MANUSCRIPT; Empirical Research; Female; Hearing (Physiology); Humans; Individual Differences; Male; People with disabilities; Persons With Hearing Impairments; Photic Stimulation - methods; Reaction Time; Spatial Processing - physiology; Visual Fields - physiology; Visual Perception - physiology; Visual task performance; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1081-4159; 1465-7325
• DOI: 10.1093/deafed/env054

Development of the visual system typically proceeds in concert with the development of audition. One result is that the visual system of profoundly deaf individuals differs from that of those with typical auditory systems. While past research has suggested deaf people have enhanced attention in the visual periphery, it is still unclear whether or not this enhancement entails deficits in central vision. Profoundly deaf and typically hearing adults were administered a variant of the useful field of view task that independently assessed performance on concurrent central and peripheral tasks. Identification of a foveated target was impaired by a concurrent selective peripheral attention task, more so in profoundly deaf adults than in the typically hearing. Previous findings of enhanced performance on the peripheral task were not replicated. These data are discussed in terms of flexible allocation of spatial attention targeted towards perceived task demands, and support a modified "division of labor" hypothesis whereby attentional resources co-opted to process peripheral space result in reduced resources in the central visual field.