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Abstract

A pilot study of the effects of the cognitive intervention program Instrumental Enrichment for hearing-impaired adolescents was conducted. Experimental and control groups were contrasted in regard to general cognitive functioning, problem-solving strategies, and reading comprehension. Experimental subjects were found to demonstrate improvement in: (a) systematic approaches to problems, (b) analysis of problem situations, (c) vocabulary size, (d) analysis of source-of-error in problem-solving situations, (e) completeness, organization, and planning in problem-solving situations, (f) peer cooperation in problem solving, (g) abstract thinking, (h) precision, and (i) development of multiple strategies to solve a problem. These results establish the efficacy and strong potential of systematic cognitive intervention programs for improvement of thinking skills in the hearing impaired adolescent. Additional and more comprehensive research is in process in order to examine these and other effects with larger groups under varying instructional conditions.

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Cognitive Modification for the Hearing Impaired Adolescent: The Promise

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