title: The contribution of short-term memory capacity to reading ability in adolescents with cochlear implants.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to establish the relationship between short-term memory capacity and reading skills in adolescents with cochlear implants.
  
  
  METHODS
  A between-groups design compared a group of young people with cochlear implants with a group of hearing peers on measures of reading, and auditory and visual short-term memory capacity. The groups were matched for non-verbal IQ and age. The adolescents with cochlear implants were recruited from the Cochlear Implant Programme at a specialist children's hospital. The hearing participants were recruited from the same schools as those attended by the implanted adolescents. Participants were 18 cochlear implant users and 14 hearing controls, aged between 12 and 18 years. All used English as their main language and had no significant learning disability or neuro-developmental disorder. Short-term memory capacity was assessed in the auditory modality using Forward and Reverse Digit Span from the WISC IV UK, and visually using Forward and Reverse Memory from the Leiter-R. Individual word reading, reading comprehension and pseudoword decoding were assessed using the WIAT II UK.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A series of ANOVAs revealed that the adolescents with cochlear implants had significantly poorer auditory short-term memory capacity and reading skills (on all measures) compared with their hearing peers. However, when Forward Digit Span was entered into the analyses as a covariate, none of the differences remained statistically significant.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Deficits in immediate auditory memory persist into adolescence in deaf children with cochlear implants. Short-term auditory memory capacity is an important neurocognitive process in the development of reading skills after cochlear implantation in childhood that remains evident in later adolescence.
authors.affiliation: Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Great Ormond Street, London, WC1N 3JH, UK. Electronic address: Lindsey.Edwards@gosh.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: Lindsey
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK.
authors.forename: Lynne
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Aitkenhead
authors.affiliation: Royal Holloway, University of London, Egham Hill, Egham, Surrey, TW20 0EX, UK.
authors.forename: Dawn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Langdon
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D019929:Cochlear Implantation; D003054:Cochlear Implants; D032882:Comprehension; D003638:Deafness / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests; D008297:Male; D008570:Memory, Short-Term; D011932:Reading
keywords: Adolescents; Cochlear implant; Memory; Outcome; Reading