Sign iconicity: Single-sign receptive vocabulary skills of nonsigning hearing preschoolers

This study examined hearing preschoolers' ability to use iconic cues to comprehend signs. Twelve nonsigning 3-year-old hearing children served as subjects. Scores obtained from oral presentations of the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test—Revised (PPVT-R) were compared with the scores obtained from the manual (signed) presentations of the PPVT-R. Results suggest that even in a limited choice context, the resemblance of signs to their referents does not enable hearing children to decipher the meaning of most of the presented signs. Discussion focuses on the relevance of these findings to the selection and use of adapted assessment instruments with young hearing-impaired children.