Abstract:

The appearance of the CI (Cochlear Implant) has allowed deaf adolescents (DA) to have a better developing of language and, therefore, have a better reading comprehension (RC) during early years of hearing, too. Nevertheless, few studies have assessed RC in adolescence nor what other processes can have an involvement in it. The aim of this study is to analyze the benefits of CI in RC during adolescence and the influence of executive functions (EEFF). Three tests sessions were performed on two groups of adolescents between 12 and 16 years old: one formed by 10 DA implanted before 4 years of age and the other formed by 20 normal hearing adolescents (NHA). The evaluation was focused in RC and cognitive processes: RC was assessed by PROLEC-SE-R (Catalan version) and cognitive processes were assessed by computerized tests from the Psychology Experiment Building Language battery (Stroop, Plusminus, Digit Span and Corsi Task) and Letter Memory Task. Results could indicate that DA performance on RC is lower than NHA. Furthermore, RC seems to have a relation with some cognitive processes such as memory and updating. This relation between EEFF and RC could be different between the two groups. Although their auditory age is bigger in the adolescence and the implantation is precocious, DA keep having problems for text comprehension. Some executive functions could play a fundamental role in the development of RC and its relation with EEFF could be explained by their lower level of reading. Future research is necessary to confirm our results.

Keywords:

Deaf, executive function, reading comprehension, adolescence, cochlear implant.