Verbal learning and memory in prelingually deaf children with cochlear implants.
William G Kronenberger, Shirley C Henning, Allison M Ditmars and 2 others
PMID 29933710WHAT IT FOUND
Children with cochlear implants recalled as many words as matched hearing peers on a verbal list learning test.
They differed in how they approached the task, using more rote order later and for a new list.
Key findings
01Children with cochlear implants and normal-hearing peers recalled similar numbers of words across the free recall trials.
02The groups differed in rote order recall: normal-hearing peers used it more during early trials on the first list, while the cochlear implant group used it more on the new list.
03In children with cochlear implants, sentence recognition related to initial exposure and recency recall, while verbal working memory related to later list learning and the new list.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study included a modest number of participants, so smaller differences may not have been detected. The children with cochlear implants were experienced users with high nonverbal IQ, so the results may not apply to newer implant users or children with lower nonverbal IQ. The analyses were exploratory and did not correct for multiple comparisons, so some associations should be treated cautiously. Sentence recognition was tested only in quiet, not in background noise. The study compared groups rather than testing whether a treatment caused the differences.
Declared interests
One author is a paid consultant for the Indiana Hemophilia and Thrombosis Center and Shire Pharmaceuticals. The other authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that children with cochlear implants have typical verbal learning and memory overall. They recalled similar numbers of words as hearing peers, but they used different recall strategies and still showed differences in verbal working memory and sentence recognition.