# Spectral Resolution and Language in Children with Hearing LossILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS

> **NIH NIH P20** · FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME · 2022 · $82,910

## Abstract

Even with early identification and intervention, 30-40% of children with hearing loss (HL) do not acquire 
language and academic skills that meet their developmental potential. Understanding this variability in 
outcomes may help us predict who is at risk for persistent language delays even after being fit with hearing 
aids. Current audiologic assessment of children lacks auditory measures that predict outcomes. Identifying 
an auditory-based task that is predictive of a child’s language skills is of great value to stakeholders to 
guide expectations and intervention of children with HL. Tasks measuring spectral resolution, such as 
spectral ripple detection (SRD) tasks, may be predictive of language outcomes. Spectral resolution allows 
listeners to differentiate variations in the speech spectrum that distinguish speech sounds. SRD tasks may 
have clinical utility in measuring psychoacoustic skills in children with HL because some children show 
reduced spectral resolution even after audibility is improved via hearing aids, such that some audible 
sounds are unintelligible and loud sounds are distorted; however, there is limited research examining the 
relationship between spectral ripple detection and individual differences in language outcomes in children 
with normal hearing (CNH) or children with hearing aids (CHA). The current proposal will examine spectral 
ripple detection as a predictor of language outcomes in school-age CNH and CHA. This proposal seeks to 
test the central hypothesis that children with poorer SRD will have greater difficulty using the acoustic cues 
that encode speech, resulting in reduced language abilities. In Aim 1, we will investigate SRD as a 
predictor of language in CNH. We will assess CNH of a variety of ages on measures of SRD and spoken 
language (i.e., morphosyntax, vocabulary). We hypothesize a child’s maturing SRD abilities will partially 
account their improved language abilities as they age. In Aim 2, we will investigate SRD as a predictor of 
language in CHA. In addition to the tasks in Aim 1, we will consider the impact of hearing loss (i.e., 
audibility via hearing aids) on these relationships. We hypothesize that audibility and SRD performance will 
predict language outcomes. Results of the proposed study will elucidate the link between hearing and 
language in typical development and in children with reduced audibility who use hearing aids. These 
results will improve tools used to distinguish children who benefit from hearing aids from those who may 
need changes to their devices (e.g., candidacy for cochlear implantation).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10786261
- **Project number:** 5P20GM109023-09
- **Recipient organization:** FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME
- **Principal Investigator:** Kathryn Beverly Wiseman
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $82,910
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-02-09 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10786261

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10786261, Spectral Resolution and Language in Children with Hearing LossILDREN WITH HEARING LOSS (5P20GM109023-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-12 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10786261. Licensed CC0.

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