ABSTRACT
If one examines the research literature relating to individuals who are deaf, perhaps the most dominant single research theme over the past 100 years has been memory. Central to understanding memory is how information is encoded, that is, brought into memory from outside and stored there in some metaphorical, if not literal, sense. In this regard, investigations of the forms (or formats) of mental representation in people who use visual-spatial languages as compared to those who use oral-aural languages have provided important information concerning basic cognitive processes in people who are deaf and yielded key theoretical evidence with regard to human cognition in general.1 That literature also should have a
significant impact on methods of educating deaf children, although the lines of communication between basic research and application are not yet as effective as they should be.
