Phonological Representations Acoustic Input Spoken Output Articulatory System Output Phonological Representations Auditory System Perceptual

The paradigm of immediate serial recall (Baddeley, 1986) has been used extensively in investigation of working memory, but its relation to and implications for the nature of phonological processing have seldom been examined. We show that findings from thisdomain can be interpreted in two ways, and relate these two interpretations to a simple model of phonological processing. One interpretation emphasizes the availability of information from “output” phonological processing to “input” phonological processing, while the alternative account stipulates no such connections. On the basis of an experimental study designed to choose between the two accounts, we tentatively conclude that the interpretation suggesting output-input connectivity is supported. Establishment of this result would be of considerable interest, since it indicates that processes in language production can impact directly on processes in language perception.