Figueroa Mario, Darbra Sònia, Morgan Gary
Department of Basic, Developmental and Educational Psychology, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Department of Psychobiology and Methodology of Health Sciences, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; Neurosciences Institute, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain.
Neuropsychologia. 2025 Jun 6;212:109141. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2025.109141. Epub 2025 Apr 8.
Previous research in hearing children has consistently found theory of mind (ToM) is positively associated with executive functions (EF). However, this question has been far less examined in deaf and hard of hearing children (DHH) with cochlear implants. This may be because of the heterogeneity of developmental contexts and especially related to language that DHH children experience. The purpose of the study was to explore developmental differences in the perspective-taking skill of ToM and EF by using cluster analysis to compare groups of DHH adolescents who are CI users with typically developing hearing adolescents, aiming to identify subgroups with similar cognitive and processing profiles. Participants were 88 adolescents (12-16 years old) of which 34 were DHH with cochlear implants. The results showed that in the hearing group EF scores correlated positively with perspective-taking performance but not in the DHH group. The analysis of the hearing children's results revealed there were three clusters based on clear performance levels. In the DHH group, there was much variability and more complex relationships between both abilities. We conclude that DHH children's variable experience with early communication and access to language disrupts the typical coupling of ToM and EF.
以往针对听力正常儿童的研究一致发现，心理理论（ToM）与执行功能（EF）呈正相关。然而，对于使用人工耳蜗的聋儿和听力障碍儿童（DHH），这个问题的研究要少得多。这可能是由于DHH儿童所经历的发展环境的异质性，尤其是与语言相关的异质性。本研究的目的是通过聚类分析比较使用人工耳蜗的DHH青少年组与听力正常的发育中青少年组，以探索ToM和EF的观点采择技能的发展差异，旨在识别具有相似认知和加工特征的亚组。研究参与者为88名青少年（12 - 16岁），其中34名是使用人工耳蜗的DHH青少年。结果显示，在听力正常组中，EF得分与观点采择表现呈正相关，但在DHH组中并非如此。对听力正常儿童结果的分析表明，根据明确的表现水平可分为三个聚类。在DHH组中，两种能力之间存在很大的变异性和更复杂的关系。我们得出结论，DHH儿童在早期沟通和语言接触方面的不同经历破坏了ToM和EF之间的典型关联。
