About

Erin Ingvalson, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Speech and Hearing Sciences at the University of Washington, having joined the department in 2020. She holds a PhD in cognitive psychology from Carnegie Mellon University, an MS from Carnegie Mellon University, and a BA from the University of Notre Dame. Her academic expertise includes language development in hearing loss, literacy development in hearing loss, speech perception, and aging effects on speech perception. Her research interests focus on speech perception, aiming to understand how listeners succeed when listening is challenging and to develop strategies to support all listeners. Recent projects include examining how older and younger adults perceive foreign-accented and dysarthric speech, implementing computerized training to improve language and literacy outcomes for children with hearing loss, and conducting longitudinal studies on literacy development in preschoolers with hearing loss. Dr. Ingvalson has also taught courses such as assessment and treatment of literacy disorders and has a background that includes postdoctoral training at Northwestern University. Her work contributes to understanding speech perception and language development, particularly in populations with hearing impairments.

Research topics

• Psychology
• Audiology
• Cognitive psychology
• Computer science
• Speech recognition

Selected publications

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

  Frontiers in Psychology · 2026-01-06

  articleOpen accessSenior author

  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.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Factors Encouraging or Discouraging Hearing Aid Use Among Young Adult Hearing Aid Users

  Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups · 2026-02-19

  articleSenior author

  Purpose: Most surveys of hearing aid (HA) usage focus on children or older adults, meaning it is not known what factors encourage or discourage HA use among young adults. Better understanding of the factors that encourage HA use in young adults could help guide clinicians in counseling this population. Method: This study used a mixed-methods design combining survey data with thematic analysis of interviews as conducted. Twenty-nine young adults aged between 18 and 30 years completed the survey portion. Of those, six survey respondents participated in follow-up semistructured interviews. Results: Survey responses indicated that most respondents reported always wearing their HAs. Investigations of answers to the free-response portion indicated respondents used their HAs primarily for communication with others. Interviewees' responses confirmed that young adults view HAs primarily as communication facilitators. Other reasons for HA use included the ability to live independently and access to environmental sounds such as nature and music. Device comfort, sound quality, and stigmas associated with HAs were given as reasons to discourage use. Conclusions: Young adults' decisions regarding when and where to use their HAs may reflect desires to balance which sounds to hear and which sounds to avoid. Individual counseling could help young adults meet their personal listening goals. Supplemental Material: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.31325425

  PublisherDOI

• Responses and Nonresponses in a Bound Morpheme Elicitation Task by Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children

  Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research · 2026-04-08

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  PURPOSE: We aimed to explore the rates of bound morpheme production at two time points (T1 and T2) by deaf and hard of hearing (DHH) preschoolers and their typically hearing (TH) peers. We further sought to describe the rates and types of unscorable responses children produced. METHOD: Sixty-four DHH preschoolers and 66 TH preschoolers participated as part of a larger, ongoing longitudinal study. Children were given the Test of Early Grammatical Impairment (TEGI) screener, which elicits productions of the third-person singular present and past tense. TEGI screeners were given twice, spaced 6 months apart. RESULTS: TH children produced significantly more singular present-tense and regular past-tense morphemes than cochlear implant (CI)-using children at both time points; hearing aid-using children were not significantly different from TH or CI users. All children were more accurate with the regular past tense at T2 than at T1. No interactions were significant. Examining the types of unscorable responses indicated that the DHH children were more likely to echo the prompt than TH children, particularly at T1. CONCLUSIONS: Assessments that elicit bound morpheme productions may not best capture DHH children's morphological sensitivity. When language samples are not feasible, receptive tasks may be a good alternative to probe children's knowledge.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Encouraging young adult HA use (Spears et al., 2026)

  figshare ASHA Publications · 2026-02-19

  otherOpen accessSenior author

  <b>Purpose: </b>Most surveys of hearing aid (HA) usage focus on children or older adults, meaning it is not known what factors encourage or discourage HA use among young adults. Better understanding of the factors that encourage HA use in young adults could help guide clinicians in counseling this population.<b>Method: </b>This study used a mixed-methods design combining survey data with thematic analysis of interviews as conducted. Twenty-nine young adults aged between 18 and 30 years completed the survey portion. Of those, six survey respondents participated in follow-up semistructured interviews.<b>Results: </b>Survey responses indicated that most respondents reported always wearing their HAs. Investigations of answers to the free-response portion indicated respondents used their HAs primarily for communication with others. Interviewees’ responses confirmed that young adults view HAs primarily as communication facilitators. Other reasons for HA use included the ability to live independently and access to environmental sounds such as nature and music. Device comfort, sound quality, and stigmas associated with HAs were given as reasons to discourage use.<b>Conclusions: </b>Young adults’ decisions regarding when and where to use their HAs may reflect desires to balance which sounds to hear and which sounds to avoid. Individual counseling could help young adults meet their personal listening goals.<b>Supplemental Material S1. </b>Interview guide.Spears, D., Constantino, C. D., &amp; Ingvalson, E. M. (2026). Factors encouraging or discouraging hearing aid use among young adult hearing aid users. <i>Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups</i>, <i>11</i>(2), 391–401. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_PERSP-25-00068

  PublisherDOI

• Encouraging young adult HA use (Spears et al., 2026)

  Open MIND · 2026-02-19

  otherSenior author

  <b>Purpose: </b>Most surveys of hearing aid (HA) usage focus on children or older adults, meaning it is not known what factors encourage or discourage HA use among young adults. Better understanding of the factors that encourage HA use in young adults could help guide clinicians in counseling this population.<b>Method: </b>This study used a mixed-methods design combining survey data with thematic analysis of interviews as conducted. Twenty-nine young adults aged between 18 and 30 years completed the survey portion. Of those, six survey respondents participated in follow-up semistructured interviews.<b>Results: </b>Survey responses indicated that most respondents reported always wearing their HAs. Investigations of answers to the free-response portion indicated respondents used their HAs primarily for communication with others. Interviewees’ responses confirmed that young adults view HAs primarily as communication facilitators. Other reasons for HA use included the ability to live independently and access to environmental sounds such as nature and music. Device comfort, sound quality, and stigmas associated with HAs were given as reasons to discourage use.<b>Conclusions: </b>Young adults’ decisions regarding when and where to use their HAs may reflect desires to balance which sounds to hear and which sounds to avoid. Individual counseling could help young adults meet their personal listening goals.<b>Supplemental Material S1. </b>Interview guide.Spears, D., Constantino, C. D., &amp; Ingvalson, E. M. (2026). Factors encouraging or discouraging hearing aid use among young adult hearing aid users. <i>Perspectives of the ASHA Special Interest Groups</i>, <i>11</i>(2), 391–401. https://doi.org/10.1044/2025_PERSP-25-00068

  DOI

• Auditory Training: Predictors of Success and Optimal Training Paradigms

  2024-01-01 · 1 citations

  book-chapter1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• Comparing Scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test and Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test in Preschoolers With and Without Hearing Loss

  American Journal of Speech-Language Pathology · 2023-06-05 · 6 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  PURPOSE: We sought to compare raw scores, standard scores, and age equivalences on two commonly used vocabulary tests, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and the Receptive One-Word Picture Vocabulary Test (ROWPVT). METHOD: Sixty-two children, 31 with hearing loss (HL) and 31 with normal hearing (NH), were given both the PPVT and ROWPVT as part of an ongoing longitudinal study of emergent literacy development in preschoolers with and without HL. All children were between 3 and 4 years old at administration, and the two tests were administered within 3 weeks of each other. Both tests were given again 6 months later. Standard scores and age equivalencies were calculated for both tests using published guidelines. RESULTS: There was no significant effect of test for any of our analyses. However, there was a main effect of time, with both standard scores and age equivalencies being significantly higher at the second test. Children with NH had significantly higher standard scores and age equivalencies than children with NH, but there was no interaction between hearing status and time, suggesting that the two groups were growing at the same rate. CONCLUSIONS: Clinicians can be comfortable administering both the PPVT and ROWPVT to estimate children's vocabulary levels, but there may be practice effects when administering the tests twice within a calendar year. These data also indicate that children with HL continue to lag behind their peers with NH on vocabulary development. SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL: https://doi.org/10.23641/asha.23232848.

  PublisherDOI

• Hearing type influences preschoolers’ phoneme-level phonological awareness

  The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2023-03-01

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Children who are deaf/hard of hearing (D/HH) have lower performance on test of phonological awareness, particularly phoneme-level tasks, than children with normal hearing. These performance deficits have been seen both in children who use cochlear implants (CIs) and children who use hearing aids (HAs), but few studies have explicitly compared the effect of hearing type on phonological awareness. Forty-one preschoolers who were D/HH and 36 preschoolers with normal hearing participated. Participating children were between 3- and 4-years-old. Of the D/HH children, 14 CI were users and 27 were HA users. All children completed the phonological awareness test of the Test of Preschool Early Literacy, which assesses sound blending and elision, and the sound blending test of the Tests of Early Cognitive and Academic Development. Data are raw scores. There was a clear effect of hearing type. Children who used CIs had the lowest performance (TOPEL M = 8.62, ECAD M = 2.62), followed by children who use HAs (TOPEL M = 10.76, ECAD M = 4.92), with children with normal having the best performance (TOPEL M = 15.56, ECAD M = 8.03). Children who use CIs have more difficulty with phoneme-level tasks than children who use HAs, which likely has implications for their future language and literacy development.

  PublisherDOI

• Comparing Scores on the PPVT and ROWPVT in Preschoolers with and without Hearing Loss

  2022-11-07

  preprintOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  Purpose: We sought to compare raw scores, standard scores, and age equivalences on two commonly used vocabulary tests, the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test (PPVT) and the Receptive One Word Picture Vocabulary Test (ROWPVT).Method: Seventy-one children, 36 with hearing loss and 35 with normal hearing, were given both the PPVT and ROWPVT as part of an ongoing longitudinal study of emergent literacy development in preschoolers with and without hearing loss. All children were between 3- and 4-years-old at administration and the two tests were administered within three weeks of each other. Sixty-one children, 31 with hearing loss and 30 with normal hearing, were given both tests again six months later. Raw scores, standard scores, and age equivalencies were calculated for both tests using published guidelines.Results: PPVT raw scores were higher than ROWPVT scores for all children at both timepoints. However, there was no significant difference on standard scores or age equivalencies when comparing the two tests. Children with normal hearing had significantly higher raw scores and standard scores than children with normal hearing, but the two groups appeared to be growing at the same rate.Conclusions: Clinicians can be comfortable administering both the PPVT and ROWPVT to estimate children’s vocabulary levels. These data also indicate that children with hearing loss continue to lag behind their peers with normal hearing on vocabulary development.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Manipulating listener attitudes toward accented talkers influences speech perception

  The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2021-10-01 · 1 citations

  articleSenior authorCorresponding

  We previously demonstrated that listeners' attitudes toward talkers with foreign accents is related to listeners' ability to perceive foreign-accented speech. In this study, we sought to determine if listeners' attitudes toward talkers with foreign accents are malleable and, if so, whether changing listeners' attitudes toward talkers with foreign accents would change the strength of the relationship between listeners' attitudes and listeners' speech perception accuracy. Specifically, we hypothesized that supporting listeners’ biases regarding non-native speech would lead to better speech perception performance. To test this hypothesis, we created short vignettes that either conformed to or violated listeners’ biases regarding non-native talkers. Native English-speaking listeners rated and transcribed speech produced by native and non-native English speakers. Half of the listeners read the vignette prior to rating the speech, half received no information about the talkers; vignettes were randomly paired with talkers. Contrary to our hypothesis, there was no effect of vignette type. Listeners rated non-native listeners as more accented and less likeable when vignettes were present. Interestingly, listeners were also more accurate transcribing speech by both native and non-native talkers when the vignettes were present.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Patrick C. M. Wong

  Chinese University of Hong Kong

  29 shared

• Tina M. Grieco‐Calub

  Rush University

  11 shared

• Nancy M. Young

  9 shared

• Lynn K. Perry

  University of Miami

  7 shared

• Mark VanDam

  Washington State University Spokane

  7 shared

• Kaitlin L. Lansford

  Florida State University

  7 shared

• Lori L. Holt

  The University of Texas at Austin

  6 shared

• James L. McClelland

  Stanford University

  6 shared

Education

• Postdoc, Roxelyn and Richard Pepper Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders

  Northwestern University

  2013

• PhD, Department of Psychology

  Carnegie Mellon University

  2008

• BA, Department of Psychology

  University of Notre Dame

  2002