Listening to different talkers and its effect on word identification for children using hearing devices

Abstract Whether listening to different talkers improves or impedes word identification has important implications for theory and practice. Yet, past research on children with hearing devices shows discrepant findings. This study tested 22 children with typical hearing (mean 5;0) and 20 with hearing devices (mean 4;11) on a remote, online 4-alternative forced-choice task (with a 4-picture display) delivered on iPads, with blocks containing 1 vs. 6 different talkers. All words were familiar to young children and were minimal pairs contrasting in voicing and place of articulation in the word-initial and word-final positions. Word identification was worse for place contrasts occurring word finally when listening to different talkers, but no effect was found for voicing contrasts. A consistent position effect was also found, where word identification was poorer across all word-final contrasts. However, no group differences were detected. These results suggest that even when listening to familiar words in good listening environments, the word-final position remains vulnerable to word misidentification, which can be further impeded by listening to different talkers. These effects impact children with and without hearing devices to a similar degree.