摘要:The present study investigates the perceptual consequences of the presence of categorical productions and phonic gradients and also tries to provide an understanding of the relationship between speech production and perception. Thirty five subjects, divided in three groups (adults, children with and without phonological disorders), participated in an identification experiment, which used typical stimuli (categorical productions of /s/ and / ”/) and intermediate stimuli (gradient productions of /s/ and / ”/). Typical stimuli and intermediate stimuli were perceived by all the subjects. Interestingly, children with phonological disorders identified the stimulus, behaving just as the other groups, contrary to what has been reported in the literature. The results suggest that there is an intrinsic relationship between speech production and perception. We propose, then, that the dynamical nature of speech production must be taken into account and, by implication, a dynamical model of development in the studies related to the production and perception of phonic contrast must be adopted.