Nonverbal Visual Sequential Learning in Children With Cochlear Implants: Preliminary Findings.

Twenty children with cochlear implants is a small sample, so the findings are preliminary. The normal-hearing group did not have complete cognitive-linguistic data, so the groups may not have been fully comparable. The cochlear implant group had no grammar-ability data, and grammar ability may affect sequential learning. The cochlear implant group was generally strong in visuospatial processing: 8 of 14 children with available scores were at least one standard deviation above the normative mean. The sample was described as cognitively within normal limits, so results may not apply to children with cochlear implants who have cognitive or language delays. Only one implicit learning measure was used, the serial reaction time task, and the sequence was a 10-item repeating pattern. Age at implantation had a restricted range, so the study could not detect effects in children implanted later. The cochlear implant group included 6 children with bilateral implants, and the study could not separate the effect of bilateral implantation. The study did not test more challenging sequences, so group differences might emerge with harder tasks.

The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Do not conclude that children with cochlear implants have no cognitive or language differences. The study tested only one nonverbal visual learning task in a small group, and children with cochlear implants were slower to respond during random blocks, which may reflect processing speed rather than learning.