Linguistic Context Versus Semantic Competition in Word Recognition by Younger and Older Adults With Cochlear Implants.
Nicole M Amichetti, Eriko Atagi, Ying-Yee Kong and 1 others
PMID 28700448WHAT IT FOUND
Older cochlear implant users recognized sentence-final words more easily when the sentence strongly pointed to the word.
Weak context and many possible endings slowed them more than younger users.
Key findings
01As the sentence made the target word more likely, both younger and older implant users needed less of the word onset to recognize it.
02In low-expectancy contexts, older adults required a larger word-onset gate than younger adults.
03When many alternative sentence endings were possible, older adults showed a larger negative effect on recognition thresholds than younger adults.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
Only 16 participants were tested, so the results are a small laboratory observation rather than evidence for a broad clinical population. The task measured recognition of single sentence-final words in a quiet laboratory setting, not everyday communication outcomes. The younger and older groups differed in hearing history and implant manufacturer, although they were matched on CNC word recognition scores. The authors did not directly measure inhibition, so the interference effect is inferred from competitor-pool patterns. Data were excluded when participants could not repeat the sentence context correctly.
Declared interests
The authors reported no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that sentence context is always helpful for older cochlear implant users. Context helped when the target was highly likely, but older users were slowed more when many alternative endings were possible. This was a lab word recognition task, not a test of therapy.