The present experiment examined the effects of rehearsal strategies on immediate free recall in the deaf. Subjects were first instructed to memorize visually presented lists of 12 words, using three rehearsal strategies (signing, fingerspelling, and vocalizing), and then in the final session they were free to use any kind of rehearsal strategy in order to study another list. It was found that signing rehearsal improved recall performance more than fingerspelling or vocalizing rehearsal did in the rehearsal-directed conditions. Videotape recordings and a questionnaire revealed that the spontaneous rehearsal strategy which most of the subjects used involved memorizing individual items by signing and vocalizing. Overt and covert rehearsers gave differential patterns of serial position curves in the spontaneous rehearsal condition. These findings were discussed in relation to the ordinary communication methods of the subjects.