[Phonological loop and minimal pair discrimination in preschool children]

Phoneme discrimination tests based on presenting minimal pairs (MP) are frequently used to assess auditory processing. However test results may be influenced by other factors beside proper acoustic representation. Here we aim at determining whether working memory capacity (WMC) correlates with reproducing sets of MP.

WMC was evaluated by memory span for digits in 161 preschool children. MP were either real words or non-words (logatoms). Both real word-MP and logatom-MP were presented in duplets or triplets. Children were asked to repeat what they had heard. Spearman rank correlation was used to analyse the data.

All four test item blocks showed a significant positive correlation with WMC (group values). Some children with poor WMC performed sufficiently on MP discrimination and vice versa.

Besides confirming the phonological similarity effect, our data indicates a significant interdependence between different processes and phonological representations. This must be taken into account when using MP tests for evaluating "auditory processing" in the clinical routine. However, poor WMC is neither necessary nor obligatory for poor phoneme discrimination.