Poorer Sentence Reading Comprehension With Increased Reliance on Working Memory in Adults With Hearing Loss.

Purpose: Hearing loss (HL) has been associated with cognitive challenges, but its relationship with reading comprehension remains less explored. This study examined sentence reading comprehension in individuals with HL, focusing on two key questions: (a) Does HL lead to a shift in the cognitive mech...

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Publicado en:Journal of Speech, Language & Hearing Research Vol. 69; no. 2; pp. 807 - 825
Autores principales: Ning, Ruijing, Marsja, Erik, Holmer, Emil
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Feb2026
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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      dt: Feb2026
      vid: 69
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      pub: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association
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        191547616
        10.1044/2025_JSLHR-25-00187
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        atl: Poorer Sentence Reading Comprehension With Increased Reliance on Working Memory in Adults With Hearing Loss.
      aug:
        au:
          Ning, Ruijing
          Marsja, Erik
          Holmer, Emil
        affil: Department of Behavioural Sciences and Learning, Linköping University, Sweden
      su:
        Reading
        Intellect
        Cross-sectional method
        Task performance
        Semantics
        People with disabilities
        Cognition
        Secondary analysis
        Academic medical centers
        Research funding
        Structural equation modeling
        Descriptive statistics
        Neuropsychological tests
        Short-term memory
        Hearing disorders
        Reaction time
        Phonology
      sug:
        subj:
          Reading
          Intellect
          Cross-sectional method
          Task performance
          Semantics
          People with disabilities
          Cognition
          Secondary analysis
          Academic medical centers
          Research funding
          Structural equation modeling
          Descriptive statistics
          Neuropsychological tests
          Short-term memory
          Hearing disorders
          Reaction time
          Phonology
      ab: Purpose: Hearing loss (HL) has been associated with cognitive challenges, but its relationship with reading comprehension remains less explored. This study examined sentence reading comprehension in individuals with HL, focusing on two key questions: (a) Does HL lead to a shift in the cognitive mechanisms supporting sentence reading comprehension--specifically, increased reliance on working memory capacity (WMC) to compensate for reduced efficiency in accessing semantic long-term memory (sLTM)? (b) Is HL associated with reduced performance on sentence reading comprehension tasks? We investigated whether individuals with HL demonstrate lower sLTM access efficiency, poorer WMC, greater reliance on WMC for comprehension, and overall reduced comprehension performance compared to those with normal hearing (NH). Method: A total of 432 adults (215 with mild-to-severe HL, 217 NH) completed tasks assessing sentence reading comprehension, sLTM access, and WMC. Fluid intelligence and education were included as control variables. Multigroup structural equation modeling was used to compare latent constructs between groups and examine their relationships. Results: The HL group demonstrated lower sentence reading comprehension scores and less efficient sLTM access. No significant group difference was observed in WMC, but WMC had a stronger association with comprehension in the HL group than in the NH group. In both groups, sLTM access was important for comprehension performance. Conclusions: These findings suggest that sentence reading comprehension difficulties in individuals with HL may stem from reduced sLTM access efficiency and increased reliance on WMC, reflecting a shift in the balance between automatic retrieval processes and compensatory cognitive strategies. Interventions aimed at improving lexical retrieval may therefore support reading comprehension. Given the increasing reliance on reading as an alternative to auditory communication among this population, supporting reading skills may contribute to improved quality of life and independence among older adults.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
      doctype: Article
      src: R
    language: English
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