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. 2020 Jun;12(2):243-249.
doi: 10.1109/tcds.2018.2877658. Epub 2018 Oct 23.

Joint Attention in Hearing Parent-Deaf Child and Hearing Parent-Hearing Child Dyads

Heather Bortfeld  1 , John Oghalai  2
Affiliations

Joint Attention in Hearing Parent-Deaf Child and Hearing Parent-Hearing Child Dyads

Heather Bortfeld et al. IEEE Trans Cogn Dev Syst. 2020 Jun.

Abstract

Here we characterize establishment of joint attention in hearing parent-deaf child dyads and hearing parent-hearing child dyads. Deaf children were candidates for cochlear implantation who had not yet been implanted and who had no exposure to formal manual communication (e.g., American Sign Language). Because many parents whose deaf children go through early cochlear implant surgery do not themselves know a visual language, these dyads do not share a formal communication system based in a common sensory modality prior to the child's implantation. Joint attention episodes were identified during free play between hearing parents and their hearing children (N = 4) and hearing parents and their deaf children (N = 4). Attentional episode types included successful parent-initiated joint attention, unsuccessful parent-initiated joint attention, passive attention, successful child-initiated joint attention, and unsuccessful child-initiated joint attention. Group differences emerged in both successful and unsuccessful parent-initiated attempts at joint attention, parent passive attention, and successful child-initiated attempts at joint attention based on proportion of time spent in each. These findings highlight joint attention as an indicator of early communicative efficacy in parent-child interaction for different child populations. We discuss the active role parents and children play in communication, regardless of their hearing status.

Keywords: joint attention; language learning; multimodal cue integration.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Total proportion of time dyads spent in successful, parent-initiated joint attention by child’s hearing status.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Total proportion of time dyads spent in unsuccessful, parent-initiated joint attention by child’s hearing status.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Total proportion of time dyads spent with parent in passive attention by child’s hearing status.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Total proportion of time dyads spent in successful, child-initiated joint attention by child’s hearing status.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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