Exploring the perceptual characteristics of voice-hallucinations in deaf people

Introduction. Previous research has not taken account of the possibility that deaf people will show greater heterogeneity in how they experience voice-hallucinations due to individual differences in experience with language and residual hearing. This study aims to explore how deaf participants perceive voice-hallucinations and whether the perceptual characteristics reported reflect individual experience with language and sensory input.

Method. A statement-sorting task generated data about perceptual characteristics of voice-hallucinations for exploratory factor analysis. The sample included 27 deaf participants with experience of voice-hallucinations, and a range of hearing loss and language backgrounds.

Results. Perceptual characteristics of voice-hallucinations map closely onto individual auditory experience. People born profoundly deaf loaded onto nonauditory factors. Deaf people with experience of hearing speech, through residual hearing, hearing aids, or predeafness experience, reported auditory features or uncertainty about mode of perception.

Conclusions. This is the first study to systematically explore voice-hallucinations in deaf people and to advance a model of subvocal articulation to account for such counterintuitive phenomena.