Phonological processing

Abstract

Processing is a very general term. Preceded by phonological its domain of reference can be located by presumption in the realm of language (if only because the phonological processing of food, or of passport applications, seems rather improbable). But it remains an unsatisfyingly ambiguous expression, allowing either an interpretation in which information of a phonological nature is processed (cf. mathematical instruction), or one in which unspecified information is processed via the application of phonology (cf. mathematical reasoning). Perhaps for this reason psycholinguists, though they are excessively fond of the general term processing, do not standardly use phonological processing to refer to any aspect of their models.