The Effectiveness Of Imagery Mnemonics Applied In Consecutive Conference Interpreting

This study aims to test the effectiveness of using imagery mnemonics in consecutive interpreting without note-taking. An experiment was conducted with twenty participants who were divided into two groups. The test group received training in how to use a visual mnemonic peg system with the goal of aiding the interpretation over a period of two months. The results of two samples independent t-tests and paired samples t-tests show that the performance of the test group after the treatment (training), measured in interpretation accuracy, has improved significantly, both as compared to the control group’s performance and compared to the first measurement before the training.It is argued that an explanation for the positive effect can be found in cognitive psychology. Following Paivio’s theory of dual-coding, it is argued that the formation of mental images has a memory-enhancing effect. In addition, the use of the visual mnemonic peg frees extra capacity for the remaining interpretation processes, with less energy spent on memorizing. This argumentation is both in line with Gile’s effort model and Cognitive Load Theory.