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Individual differences in speech categorization consistency in Cochlear implant users
Abstract   Peer reviewed

Individual differences in speech categorization consistency in Cochlear implant users

Sita Carraturo, Sarah E. Colby, Frankie Gillenwater and Bob McMurray
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol.159(4_Supplement), pp.A319-A319
08/01/2026
DOI: 10.1121/10.0045860

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Abstract

Speech sound categorization is a fundamental component of speech perception. Recent work on speech categorization in typical hearing populations has shown that categorization consistency (i.e., how consistently an individual arrives at the same percept across different trials for the same token) is an important predictor of broader language outcomes: individuals who are more consistent also tend to perform better overall on language and are more successful in second language learning. Here, we evaluate the relationship between categorization consistency and speech perception outcomes in a population of cochlear implant (CI) users. We further conduct individual differences analyzes to identify factors that contribute to higher categorization consistency among these CI users. CI listeners (N = 71) with different device configurations categorized speech sounds in three /p/-/b/ and three /s/-/ʃ/ continua in a Visual Analog Scaling (VAS) task. Results show that higher categorization consistency predicted better speech perception outcomes (CNC: r = 0.30, p < 0.01; Az-Bio: r = 0.34, p < 0.001). It also predicted more efficient lexical processing in the Visual World Paradigm, controlling for device configuration. Furthermore, categorization consistency itself is predicted by better temporal and spectral resolution. Additional individual differences analyzes and the implications of these results are discussed.

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