Linguistic research has paid little attention to "fillers." These so-called "hesitation forms" can be classified as being either "buffers" or "back channel elicitors," the former being self-primers, and the latter being other-directed. These forms are difficult to distinguish without access to kinesic and paralinguistic information. A pilot study was conducted to observe the type of adjustment the hearer makes to different types of fillers. Thirty-six subjects from 3 to 18 years of age, all Black Americans, were videotaped and observed in various conversational actions. Observation indicated that buffers and back channel elicitors were clearly distinguished by the hearers. In addition, it was demonstrated that the identical verbalization might appear as buffer or elicitor and that this distinction on the part of the hearer was made possible by a combined interpretation of verbal and nonverbal signs. A transcript of one videotaped interaction is appended. (AM)