Individual variation in suprasegmental perception: insights from adults with typical hearing and cochlear implants

Individuals vary in their ability to perceive suprasegmental cues, such as pitch, intensity, and duration, to make linguistic and nonlinguistic judgments, such as lexical stress, intonation, talker identity, and vocal emotion perception. For adult cochlear implant (CI) users, limitations in pitch perception significantly impair linguistic and nonlinguistic suprasegmental perception, creating barriers to effective real-world communication. While device-related factors are often emphasized in explaining variability in CI outcomes, growing evidence suggests that cognitive-linguistic factors play a critical role in shaping pitch-based suprasegmental perception. In this Perspective, we examine how cognitive-linguistic and experiential factors influence suprasegmental perception in both typically hearing listeners and adult CI users. We argue that these listener-level differences are essential to understanding variability in CI outcomes, offering insight beyond the effects of device limitations. We propose shifting from group-level generalizations to tailored rehabilitation strategies that target individual needs. Potential approaches include segmental speech training, auditory-cognitive training, and targeted pitch perception training. By identifying malleable sources of individual variation, we aim to support more personalized strategies to improve suprasegmental perception for both typically-hearing and hearing-impaired adults.