The contributors to this workshop considered skill components to be part of a model of the interpreting process that should not be confused with the actual process itself. Drawing on research results and methodologies from neighbouring disciplines obviously has significant potential for further analysing the skill components involved in simultaneous interpreting. Perception, comprehension, retrieval, production, and memory can all be studied within a variety of frameworks: as part of general information processing, as part of performance, as part of quality control. A number of cognitive issues must also be considered in IR, such as access to representations, time lag between speaker’s input and interpreter’s output, simultaneity and precision and comprehensibility of the interpretation for the listener. In this paper, an information processing approach is considered as an excellent paradigm within which to study these cognitive issues and within which to position studies on skill components.