Erken Yaşta Koklear Implant Uygulanan Çocuklarda Sözel Çalışma Belleği ve Dil ile Ilişkisinin İncelenmesi

Abstract

Vocabulary and working memory are related skills in children with typical development. The aim of this study is to evaluate working memory, vocabulary and speech intelligibility skills of children who were implemented cochlear implant and to compare with normal hearing children and also to determine correlation between parameters related to language such as vocabulary and speech intelligibility among verbal working memory. The other aim of the study is to investigate the correlation between working memory and language scores and demographic, cognitive, educational variables for normal hearing and cochlear implanted (CI) children, additionally audiological variables for CI children. Verbal working memory was assessed with Short Nonword Repetition (S-NWR) and Backwards Digit Span (BDS); speech intelligibility was assessed with Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR), Ankara Articulation Test (AAT) was used to evaluate the speech sound production skills and vocabulary performances were assessed with TIFALDI (Turkish Expressive and Receptive Language Test). Between 7 and 10;4 years old, 27 CI children who have 90% and above speech perception scores and normal nonverbal IQ were participated in study group and 27 children with normal hearing and also normal nonverbal IQ were participated in control group. Although there was no significant difference between groups in BDS; normal hearing group was performed better in S-NWR and language scores than study group. Among all verbal working memory tasks, TIFALDI and S-NWR scores significant correlation was found in both groups. In CI group correlation was found between AAT scores and S-NWR, SIR, and TIFALDI scores. In normal hearing group there are significant correlations age of attending preschool and expressive vocabulary scores; also between duration of preschool education and S-NWR; and duration of verbal interaction with mother and expressive vocabulary scores.