Different Language Modalities Yet Similar Cognitive Processes in Arithmetic Fact Retrieval.

Does experience with signed language impact the neurocognitive processes recruited by adults solving arithmetic problems? We used event-related potentials (ERPs) to identify the components that are modulated by operation type and problem size in Deaf American Sign Language (ASL) native signers and in hearing English-speaking participants. Participants were presented with single-digit subtraction and multiplication problems in a delayed verification task. Problem size was manipulated in small and large problems with an additional extra-large subtraction condition to equate the overall magnitude of large multiplication problems.