Abstract
Purpose: Cochlear implants (CIs) enable children with severe and profound hearing impairments to perceive the sensation of sound sufficiently to permit oral language acquisition. So far, studies have focused mainly on technological improvements and general outcomes of implantation for speech perception and spoken language development. This study quantitatively explored the organization of the semantic networks of children with CIs in comparison to those of age-matched normal hearing (NH) peers.Method: Twenty seven children with CIs and twenty seven age- and IQ-matched NH children ages 7–10 were tested on a timed animal verbal fluency task (Name as many animals as you can). The responses were analyzed using correlation and network methodologies. The structure of the animal category semantic network for both groups were extracted and compared.Results: Children with CIs appeared to have a less-developed semantic network structure compared to age-matched NH peers. The average shortest path length (ASPL) and the network diameter measures were larger for the NH group compared to the CIs group. This difference was consistent for the analysis of networks derived from animal names generated by each group [sample-matched correlation networks (SMCN)] and for the networks derived from the common animal names generated by both groups [word-matched correlation networks (WMCN)].Conclusions: The main difference between the semantic networks of children with CIs and NH lies in the network structure. The semantic network of children with CIs is under-developed compared to the semantic network of the age-matched NH children. We discuss the practical and clinical implications of our findings.
Highlights
Cochlear Implantation (CI) has been the procedure of choice in the last quarter of a century for successful treatment of profound sensorineural hearing loss (Balkany et al, 2002)
The average shortest path length (ASPL) and the network diameter measures were larger for the normal hearing (NH) group compared to the CIs group
This difference was consistent for the analysis of networks derived from animal names generated by each group [sample-matched correlation networks (SMCN)] and for the networks derived from the common animal names generated by both groups [word-matched correlation networks (WMCN)]
Summary
Cochlear Implantation (CI) has been the procedure of choice in the last quarter of a century for successful treatment of profound sensorineural hearing loss (Balkany et al, 2002). Very young implantation brought expectations for children with CIs to develop language within normal-age limits. Early implantation generally yields good progress, many children with CIs still do not reach age equivalent language capabilities. This population shows great variance in their language performance, variance which is believed to result from factors that interact and effect language development trajectories in an unpredictable manner (Schwartz et al, 2013). Walker and McGregor (2013) demonstrated deficits in word learning processes in a group of young early implanted children (ages of 3; 6–6; 9). The research presented here is the first quantitative analysis of the semantic level of children with CIs, compared to that of age-matched normal hearing (NH) peers
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