Effects of Video Reversal on Gaze Patterns during Signed Narrative Comprehension

Abstract Language knowledge, age of acquisition (AoA), and stimulus intelligibility all affect gaze behavior for reading print, but it is unknown how these factors affect “sign-watching” among signers. This study investigated how these factors affect gaze behavior during sign language comprehension...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of deaf studies and deaf education 2020-05, Vol.25 (3), p.283-297
Main Authors: Bosworth, Rain, Stone, Adam, Hwang, So-One
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adults
Age Differences
American Sign Language
Behavior Patterns
Comprehension
Correlation
Empirical
Eye Movements
Hearing Impairments
Language Acquisition
Language Proficiency
Story Telling
Video Technology
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Summary:Abstract Language knowledge, age of acquisition (AoA), and stimulus intelligibility all affect gaze behavior for reading print, but it is unknown how these factors affect “sign-watching” among signers. This study investigated how these factors affect gaze behavior during sign language comprehension in 52 adult signers who acquired American Sign Language (ASL) at different ages. We examined gaze patterns and story comprehension in four subject groups who differ in hearing status and when they learned ASL (i.e. Deaf Early, Deaf Late, Hearing Late, and Hearing Novice). Participants watched signed stories in normal (high intelligibility) and video-reversed (low intelligibility) conditions. This video manipulation was used because it distorts word order and thus disrupts the syntax and semantic content of narratives, while preserving most surface phonological features of individual signs. Video reversal decreased story comprehension accuracy, and this effect was greater for those who learned ASL later in life. Reversal also was associated with more dispersed gaze behavior. Although each subject group had unique gaze patterns, the effect of video reversal on gaze measures was similar across all groups. Among fluent signers, gaze behavior was not correlated with AoA, suggesting that “efficient” sign watching can be quickly learnt even among signers exposed to signed language later in life.
ISSN:1081-4159
1465-7325
DOI:10.1093/deafed/enaa007