title: Vowel identification by cochlear implant users: Contributions of duration cues and dynamic spectral cues.
abstract: A recent study from our laboratory assessed vowel identification in cochlear implant (CI) users, using full /dVd/ syllables and partial (center- and edges-only) syllables with duration cues neutralized [Donaldson, Rogers, Cardenas, Russell, and Hanna (2013). J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 134, 3021-3028]. CI users' poorer performance for partial syllables as compared to full syllables, and for edges-only syllables as compared to center-only syllables, led to the hypotheses (1) that CI users may rely strongly on vowel duration cues; and (2) that CI users have more limited access to dynamic spectral cues than steady-state spectral cues. The present study tested those hypotheses. Ten CI users and ten young normal hearing (YNH) listeners heard full /dVd/ syllables and modified (center- and edges-only) syllables in which vowel duration cues were either preserved or eliminated. The presence of duration cues significantly improved vowel identification scores in four CI users, suggesting a strong reliance on duration cues. Duration effects were absent for the other CI users and the YNH listeners. On average, CI users and YNH listeners demonstrated similar performance for center-only stimuli and edges-only stimuli having the same total duration of vowel information. However, three CI users demonstrated significantly poorer performance for the edges-only stimuli, indicating apparent deficits of dynamic spectral processing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Florida, PCD 1017, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA.
authors.forename: Gail S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Donaldson
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Florida, PCD 1017, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA.
authors.forename: Catherine L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Florida, PCD 1017, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA.
authors.forename: Lindsay B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, University of South Florida, PCD 1017, 4202 East Fowler Avenue, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA.
authors.forename: Soo Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Oh
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D003463:Cues; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010700:Phonetics; D013061:Speech Acoustics; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult