Sign language iconicity and its influence on the ability to describe the function of objects.

UNLABELLED: We examined the influence of sign language iconicity on children's ability to describe the function of objects. Forty-eight hearing preschoolers were divided into three groups and asked to describe the function of 15 high and 15 low iconic signs. We questioned the Hearing/Verbal (H/V) group verbally, Hearing/Verbal + Sign (H/V+S) group verbally with objects simultaneously signed, and the Hearing/Sign (H/S) group with objects signed without voice. Ten deaf children (D/S) were also tested using sign language. H/S and D/S performed significantly better on high than low iconic items. Nine signs were sufficiently iconic to aid function identification by sign naïve hearing children. Results suggest that certain highly iconic signs may contribute to performance on tests administered in sign language. LEARNING OUTCOMES: The reader will learn about sign language iconicity and its influence on the ability of hearing and deaf children to perform on object function questions.