The relationship between sign production and sign comprehension: what the
hands reveal (ASL)
During spoken language processing the same perceptual feedback system can be used
for speech comprehension when listening to another person's output, and during
speech production when monitoring “self-output”. For sign language processing,
however, visual input when comprehending another person's signing is distinct from
visual input from one’s own signing and, further, while there is proprioceptive
feedback during sign production there is no proprioceptive feedback during
comprehension. To date, very little is known about how signers monitor their own
production, or the relationship between sign production and sign comprehension with
initial research suggesting that while sign comprehension relies on vision, sign
monitoring during production relies more on proprioceptive feedback (Emmorey,
Gertsberg, Korpics, & Wright, 2009; Emmorey, Korpics & Petronio, 2009).
Here we investigate the relationship between sign production and sign
comprehension, making use of the fact that signers have two primary articulators (the
hands) and can differ in which hand is their dominant articulator. Specifically, we ask
if hand dominance (right or left) during sign production influences comprehension of
signs produced with the same (congruent) or different hand (incongruent). We explore
two possibilities:
1. Perceptual input drives comprehension
More frequent exposure to right-handed signers (approximately 85% of all signers)
results in a perceptual frequency effect such that all signers (both left- and righthanded) are faster to comprehend right-handed signers.
2. Sign production is tied to sign comprehension
There is a relationship between production and comprehension systems such that
right-handed and left-handed signers are faster to comprehend congruent (samehanded) signs.
Methods: British Sign Language sign participants decided whether a picture followed
by a sign video matched (120 match trials, 120 mismatch). Sign stimuli (balanced
across one-handed, two handed signs with same handshapes, and two-handed signs
with different handshapes) were created using two left-handed, and two right-handed
sign models. During the experiment, each participant (6= left-handed, 22= righthanded; 13 native signers, all deaf) saw each sign produced by only one of the four
models with congruent/incongruent signing hand balanced within each experiment
and across participants.
Results: The data reveal a 3-way interaction: Sign Type x Model Handedness x
Participant Handedness (p=.006). Examining left- and right-handed participant groups
separately indicates that right-handed participants are faster overall when making
decisions about right-handed (congruent) signs (main effect of Model Hand, p= .001),
while left-handed signers are only faster for left-handed (congruent) signs that are 2handed (same or different handshapes). For 1-handed signs they are faster for righthanded models: Model Hand x Sign Type interaction (p=.03).
Overall the results indicate a tight relationship between production and
comprehension systems for signers such that the dominant hand used for production is
privileged during comprehension. However frequency of exposure during
comprehension must also play a role with both left- and right-handed signers faster to
recognize 1-handed signs from right-handed models. These preliminary results follow
from a model of sign monitoring in which action systems used during production are
also active during sign comprehension, but also a model in which perceptual input
plays an important role.
Emmorey, K., Gertsberg, N., Korpics, F., & Wright, C.E. (2009). The influence of
visual feedback and register changes on sign language production: A kinematic study
with deaf signers. Applied Psycholinguistics, 30, 187-203.
Emmorey, K., Korpics, F., & Petronio, K. (2009). The use of visual feedback during
signing: Evidence from signers with impaired vision. Journal of Deaf Studies and
Deaf Education, 14(1), 99-104.