This is exactly the headline that one of the many newspapers and websites published about research that reveals that sign language enhances better reaction time in peripheral vision.
|
| S is for Superman (por Gareth Simpson, CC BY 2.0 via Flickr) |
The research was done by researchers from English and one French university: the University of Sheffield, in central England and one of the top 100 universities in the world; the University of Grenoble Alpes, in south-eastern France; and the University of York, also in England. The research paper was published in one of the world's most prestigious journals in psychology: Frontiers in Psychology.
The researchers recruited three groups of people: a group of 17 people who were born deaf and sign language users, a second group of 8 hearing people fluent in British Sign Language (interpreters) and a third group of 18 hearing people totally unfamiliar with Sign Language.
The Deaf group performed better in peripheral vision reaction times but this did not surprise the researchers, as it seems obvious that the lack of one of the senses (hearing) is compensated for by another (sight). Charlotte J. Codina, the group's lead researcher, said:
Deaf people have exceptional visual abilities that hearing adults do not
Benefits of Sign Language for Driving a Vehicle or in Sports
What did surprise the researchers, however, was that hearing people who had learned Sign Language performed better than hearing people who did not know Sign Language, showing the benefit of Sign Language on vision even when learning it in adulthood.
This benefit on vision can become an advantage in some activities, as Charlotte Codina explains:
This shows that becoming a BSL interpreter is not only an interesting job, but it also has benefits such as making you more alert to changes in your peripheral field that could help when driving, playing sport or refereeing a football match for example
One might think that peripheral vision is silly, but it is actually very important, not only for activities such as driving or sports, but also for reading and in our everyday life. A well-known example is the following image: the train can appear to be moving forwards or backwards just by focusing your eyes to the centre of the image or to the right, an optical effect determined by peripheral vision.
|
| The train seems to change direction of travel due to peripheral vision |
Just One More in the Long List of Benefits of Sign Language
This discovery adds to the many benefits and contributions of sign language, some of which have already been published in Unusualverse:- Sign Language helps to understand synaesthesia
- It is a cinematic language
- It improves the understanding of art
- It drives a better understanding of autism
- Facilitates human-robot interaction
Sources:
- Bengtsson, M. (2017, February 7). Peripheral Vision Reaction Time Faster In Sign Language Users. In Relia Ware. Retrieved from http://reliawire.com/peripheral-visual-reaction-sign-language/
- Borkhartaria, C. (2017, February 6). Learning sign language could give you SUPER VISION: Researchers say the skill can boost your peripheral vision. In Daily Mail. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4197106/Learning-sign-language-SUPER-VISION.html
- Codina, C. J., Pascalis, O., Baseler, H. A., Levine, A. T., & Buckley, D. (2017). Peripheral visual reaction time is faster in deaf adults and British Sign Language interpreters than in hearing adults. Frontiers in Psychology, 8. Retrieved from http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.00050/full
- Dovey, D. (2017, February 6). Learning A New Language Can Change How You Think: Sign Language May Improve Visual Skills, Even If You’re Not Deaf. In Medical Daily. Retrieved from http://www.medicaldaily.com/learning-new-language-can-change-how-you-think-sign-language-may-improve-410334
- Horowitz, K. (2017, February 8). Fluency in Sign Language May Sharpen Peripheral Vision". In Mental Floss. Retrieved from http://mentalfloss.com/article/92015/fluency-sign-language-may-sharpen-peripheral-vision
- Lavars, N. (2017, February 6). Taking up sign language found to boost visual reaction times". In New Atlas. Retrieved from http://newatlas.com/sign-language-visual-reaction/47761/
- Powell, S. (2017, February 9). Sign language and peripheral vision. In Optometry Today. Retrieved from https://www.aop.org.uk/ot/science-and-vision/research/2017/02/09/sign-language-and-peripheral-vision
- Romm, C. (2017, February 9). Learning Sign Language Can Help You Improve Your Vision. In Science of Us. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/scienceofus/2017/02/learning-sign-language-can-help-you-improve-your-vision.html
