Perceptual learning and nonword repetition using a cochlear implant simulation

Abstract

This study examined the effects of perceptual learning on nonword repetition performance of normal-hearing listeners who were exposed to severely degraded auditory conditions that were designed to simulate the auditory input of a cochlear implant. Twenty normal-hearing adult listeners completed a nonword repetition task using an eight-band, frequency-shifted cochlear implant simulation strategy both before and after training on open- and closed-set word recognition tasks. Feedback was provided during training. The nonword responses obtained from each participant were digitally recorded and played back to normal-hearing listeners. These listeners rated the nonword repetition accuracy in comparison to the original unprocessed target stimuli using a seven-point scale. The mean nonword accuracy ratings were significantly higher for the nonwords repeated after training than for nonwords repeated prior to training. These results suggest that the word recognition training tasks encouraged auditory perceptual learning that generalized to novel, nonword auditory stimuli. The present findings also suggest that adaptation and learning from the degraded auditory stimuli produced by a cochlear implant simulation can be achieved even in a difficult perceptual–motor task such as nonword repetition which involves both speech perception and production of an auditory stimulus that lacks any lexical or semantic representation.