Category learning with(out) language: congenital deafness as a critical test for the role of language input in early category learning

When born into hearing families, profoundly deaf infants have little access to the language used in their homes. Cochlear implantation is now the most frequent intervention route, yet, despite surgery being offered as early as 9 months of age and improvements in the acoustics of implants, delays in language persist into childhood. Importantly,…