The development of temporal cognition in hearing-impaired children and educational recommendations

An experiment was conducted by temporal sequencing, selection, and judgment tasks to investigate the developmental characteristics of temporal cognition in hearing-impaired children and propose targeted educational strategies. Participants included 79 hearing-impaired students (aged 11–17) from special education schools, grouped into lower- (11–13 years), middle- (14–15 years) and upper-grade (16–17 years) cohorts. All participants had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, used hearing aids regularly, and received structured auditory rehabilitation. Tasks assessed both concrete short-term sequences (e.g., water flowing in funnels) and integrated long-term sequences (e.g., seasonal cycles, abstract time concepts). Results revealed three key findings including: (1) Age-Related Progression. Temporal cognition in hearing-impaired children exhibited a clear developmental trajectory, with performance improving steadily with age. A rapid growth phase was observed in the middle-grade group (14–15 years), indicating a critical period for intervention; (2) Concrete vs. Integrated Temporal Cognition. Children demonstrated superior performance in short-term, concrete temporal tasks (e.g., daily routines) compared to long-term, integrated tasks (e.g., abstract time concepts or seasonal cycles); (3) Future-Oriented Bias: Future-oriented temporal cognition significantly outperformed past-oriented cognition, suggesting unique compensatory mechanisms in temporal reasoning. Time span, temporal representation, children’s life experiences, and event complexity were important factors that affected the temporal cognitive development of hearing-impaired children. These findings underscore the need for tailored educational approaches that leverage visual–spatial strengths and experiential learning and inform auditory rehabilitation practices.