Jennie Pyers (Psychology) shows how the study of deaf signers can clarify our understanding of the ways in which language and cognition interact. Please download the accompanying PDF (also on iTunes U) to see the slides of her presentation. Studies with speakers of spoken languages have demonstrated some relationship between Ianguage and cognitive ability. In this talk, Jennie presents studies with learners of an emerging sign language in Nicaragua, fluent signers of American Sign Language, and children acquiring a sign language to argue that some aspects of human cognition are crucially dependent on learning a language, signed or spoken, and that other aspects are uniquely shaped by learning a sign language.