Temporal coordination of vocal turn taking between mothers and their children with hearing loss

Abstract

Normal-hearing (NH) infants participate in social exchanges soon after birth. What does vocal turn-taking look like in children with hearing loss after cochlear implantation? The study examined the prevalence and temporal structure of vocal turns during spontaneous interactions between mothers and their children with cochlear implants (CIs) over the first year after implantation compared to interactions between mothers and children with normal hearing. Mothers’ play with children with CIs (n = 12) were recorded at 3 (mean age 18.3 mo) and 9 (mean age 27.5 mo) months post CI. Mothers with age-matched hearing children (n = 12) were recorded at the corresponding time points. The CI group initially differed from the NH group in several ways (i.e., fewer vocal turns, more simultaneous speech, and longer between-speaker pauses) but progressed to NH levels by 9 months post CI, demonstrating the positive effects of CIs. Dyadic effects were also observed in the timing of mothers’ responses, which were related to those of their children. However, children with CIs continued to show an atypical pattern in the relative timing of between- vs within-speaker pauses across both test sessions, indicating a potentially protracted time course for the influence of CIs on dyadic interactions.