Evaluating Pediatric Cochlear Implant Users' Encoding, Storage, and Retrieval Strategies in Verbal Working Memory

AuBuchon, Angela M.; Pisoni, David B.; Kronenberger, William G. · 2019 · Crossref

DOI: 10.1044/2018_jslhr-h-18-0201

archive: archived pipeline: cataloged verified

Get this paper ↗ (DOI — opens at the source; we link to it, we don't host it)

Summary

This study investigates the specific cognitive mechanisms underlying verbal working memory deficits in pediatric cochlear implant (CI) users. While previous research established that CI users struggle with short-term and working memory tasks, it remained unclear whether these deficits stemmed from impaired phonological storage or from difficulties in encoding and retrieval processes. The authors aimed to disentangle these components by simultaneously assessing encoding, storage, and retrieval to determine their relative contributions to memory performance variability in this population. The study included 48 long-term pediatric CI users and 56 typically hearing controls. Participants completed forward and backward span tasks using three distinct stimulus sets: visually presented digits, pictures of concrete nouns, and novel symbols. To isolate specific memory stages, the researchers collected auxiliary measures: rapid digit naming served as a proxy for phonological recoding speed (encoding), nonword repetition assessed the robustness of phonological storage, and vocabulary knowledge, measured via the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test, estimated redintegration abilities during retrieval. Linear mixed modeling was used to analyze how these individual differences predicted performance on the memory span tasks. The results indicated that both groups performed best with digits and worst with novel symbols, confirming that long-term linguistic knowledge facilitates encoding and retrieval. Crucially, the analysis revealed that nonword repetition, an index of phonological storage, explained little of the individual variability in working memory differences between CI users and typically hearing peers. In contrast, individual differences in encoding speed (digit naming) and retrieval capabilities (vocabulary knowledge) accounted for a significant amount of outcome variability in both short-term and working memory tasks. This pattern held true even when auditory input and speech motor output demands were eliminated, suggesting the deficits are cognitive rather than sensory or motoric. The findings conclude that working memory differences in pediatric CI users are primarily driven by inefficiencies in encoding and retrieval processes rather than deficits in phonological storage. This challenges the prevailing view that impaired storage within the phonological loop is the primary cause of memory disruptions in this population. The study implies that interventions targeting working memory in CI users should focus on enhancing encoding efficiency and retrieval strategies, such as improving phonological recoding and lexical access, rather than solely addressing storage capacity.

Provenance

The full processing record for this entry. Every stage of this paper's journey through the pipeline is logged — what ran, with which tool and model, how many attempts it took, and when it last completed.

Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.

Topics

Ranked by relevance to this paper. Hover a topic for its definition.

• working memory