Teachers need to use a child’s name and articu-
late clearly and slowly when directing speech to a
hearing-impaired child. They should kneel at a desk
and focus on cuing. Cued speech, developed by Dr.
Cornett at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C.,
is a system of teacher hand cues that enhances lip-
reading by children. The hand cues, used near the
lips, match what is being said to clarify ambiguities.
Cued speech used by a trained adult helps the hear-
ing-impaired school-age child increase reading skills.
Multimedia technology has been used to develop
materials and activities for Mexican-American deaf
children, the fastest-growing minority group in the
U.S. school-age population of deaf children. Video
dictionaries of sign language can be built directly into
stories onscreen. CD-ROM reading software is now
becoming available for hearing-impaired children.
Teachers and parents working together create
opportunities for deaf children so that they can use
total language communication to achieve inter-
personal goals. Enthusiasm and acceptance help
hearing-impaired children experiment with their lan-
guage systems so that they can learn well and have a
positive social effect on others, as well as engage in
peer friendships.
See also: AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE; LANGUAGE
DEVELOPMENT
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Alice Sterling HonigHEREDITY VERSUS ENVIRONMENT
Many aspects of human characteristics (such as height
and eye color) are largely genetically determined.
Psychology researchers, however, tend to be interest-
ed in dimensions that are relatively less determined
by genetics—traits that subject more to environmen-
tal influences, such as how a person feels, acts, and
thinks. Given that the degree of genetic determina-
tion appears to vary from one dimension to another
(e.g., spatial skills versus language acquisition), how
can one determine the relative influences of heredity
and environment for various human characteristics,
and how can one understand the complex relation-
ship between them?
For example, Javier has two biological daughters
who share the same biological mother. Both are tall,
well mannered, and musically inclined. Despite these
similarities, the older child appears socially reserved
and quiet, while the younger one, who was born into
the same family environment, seems more outgoing.
In addition, one of his children has been diagnosed
with a learning disability while the other seems excep-
tionally well-functioning cognitively. How can these
similarities and differences between the two children
be explained? One may think, ‘‘Well, Javier is tall and
he is also a talented musician himself, so these girls
must have gotten these ‘good genes’ from Javier. And
he is quite strict when it comes to disciplining his chil-
dren, so that explains their good manners. But why
is the younger one so sociable—and what about her
learning disability? Maybe she hasn’t been read to as
much as the older one has.’’ In essence, hereditary in-
fluences and various environmental factors in these
children’s lives are being weighed and analyzed in ex-
plaining the characteristics of these children.HEREDITY VERSUS ENVIRONMENT 181