Control Study Of Executive Function And Theory Of Mind In4-6Year-old Deaf Children With Cochlear Implant

Objective:The aims of the present study were as follows:(1) To investigate the executive function (EF) and theory of mind (ToM) in4-6year-old deaf children with cochlear implant, understanding the influence of cochlear implant on deaf children’s cognitive development;(2) To explore the impact factors on deaf children’s EF and ToM;(3)To explore the relationship between EF and ToM in deaf children with cochlear implant.Methods:In this study,36deaf children of4-6year-old age with cochlear implant,35deaf children with hearing aids and46normal children were compared on three EF performance, including the "Dimensional Change Card Sorting" task, the Day/Night task and the Gift Delay task, and four ToM tasks, including the "non-conflicting desire" task、the "diverse desire" task、the "unexpected-location" task and the "unexpected-content" task. This study analyzed the factors of the development of executive function and theory of mind in deaf children with cochlear implant. Meanwhile, the relationship between EF and ToM in deaf children with cochlear implant was also examined.Results:(1) One-way ANOVA shows that the difference of EF among deaf children with cochlear implant, deaf children with hearing aids and normal children were significant(F=34.53,p<0.01), Post hoc testfound the deaf children with cochlear implant was significantly lower than the normal children, better than deaf children with hearing aids; deaf children with cochlear implant working memory capacity develop at5years old, and mental flexibility6-year-old,inhibitve ability is no significant among4-6years old;(2)X2showed that the deaf children with cochlear implant performed significantly better than deaf children with hearing aids in the "non-conflicting desire" task、the "diverse desire" task、the "unexpected-location" t ask and the "unexpected-content" task(χ2tom1=8.25, p<0.01;χ2tom2=8.89, p<0.01;χ2tom3=7.94,p<0.01; χ2tom4=7.75, p<0.01); besides the "non-conflicting desire" task, deaf children with cochlear implant performed significantly worse than normal children(χ2tom1=21.64, p<0.001; χ2tom2=31.26,p<0.001;χ2tom3=28.92, p<0.001;χ2tom4=34.84, p<0.001).Further analysis revealed that deaf children with cochlear implant could develop their desire ability at5years old, which was one year later behind normal children; however deaf children with cochlear implant could not grasp false belief ability at6years old, sharply delayed when comparing with normal children.(3) language ability can influence EF and ToM’s development.(4) After controlling language,the relevant coefficient between the Gift Delay task and four ToM task is among.29-.47(p<0.01).Conclusions:The development of EF and ToM in4-6year-old deaf children with cochlear implant has lagged behind normal children, but better than deaf children with hearing aids, which shows cochlear implant benefit deaf children’s cognitive development. Language can affect executive function and theory of mind development in deaf children with cochlear implant. EF significantly was correlated with ToM; however, different EF components were correlated with ToM differently.