[Preliminary experiments on the correlation of speech errors and working memory]

This article is based on the conjecture that a relation exists between the phonological loop, part of the working memory (Baddeley, 1997), and speech production. The influence of verbal material stored in the phonological loop on the frequency of slips during articulation was studied experimentally. The SLIP technique of inducing speech errors was used (Baars, 1992). Pairs of words are presented successively to the subjects for one second each. Some of the word pairs are to be spoken aloud. The articulation of these words can be influenced by preceding phonologically interfering words in such a way that the probability of exchanging the first phonemes of both words is increased (spoonerisms). In both exploratory experiments we performed, the time interval between the phonologically interfering information and the pairs of words which had to be spoken aloud was systematically manipulated. According to Baddeley's theory of working memory (1997) it was expected that phonological interference should be restricted to a time interval of about two seconds. This expectation was supported empirically.