Working Memory Capacity, Verbal Rehearsal Speed, and Scanning in Deaf Children With Cochlear Implants

Abstract

This chapter reviews recent studies which assessed the working memory processes and abilities of deaf children with cochlear implants. Although most of the clinical research examining deaf children using cochlear implants has focused on traditional audiological outcome measures of speech and language skills to assess benefit, important new knowledge about speech and language development has come from recent studies on memory processing abilities in this population. These studies have shown that subvocal verbal rehearsal and serial scanning operate much more slowly in deaf children with cochlear implants and contribute to their shorter memory spans. It appears that slower processing speeds may play an even greater role in the deaf children's memory performance than do the initial encoding problems related to their current hearing impairment and cochlear implant use. In addition, these studies suggest that the amount and/or nature of the auditory exposure which children receive after implantation can influence their performance on immediate memory tasks which require the encoding, verbal rehearsal, and serial scanning of phonological information in working memory.