“…Verbal working memory is significantly associated with speech perception (Cleary, Pisoni, & Kirk, 2000; Nittrouer, Caldwell-Tarr, & Lowenstein, 2013), grammar (Willstedt-Svensson, Löfqvist, Almqvist, & Sahlén, 2004), vocabulary (Cleary et al, 2000; Geers, Pisoni, & Brenner, 2013; Nittrouer et al, 2013; Wass et al, 2008), reading (Geers et al, 2013), word learning (Willstedt-Svensson et al, 2004), and conversational communication (Ibertsson, Hansson, Asker-Arnason, Sahlén, & Mäki-Torkko, 2009; Lyxell et al, 2008) in CI users. Because of the foundational role that covert verbal rehearsal plays in verbal working memory, verbal rehearsal speed is therefore a likely contributor to long-term outcomes in speech and language skills in CI users and may explain the relation between verbal working memory and long-term spoken language outcomes.…”