Working Memory Performance Of Simultaneous Interpreters

Working memory involves temporary storage and manipulation of information that is assumed to be necessary for a wide range of complex cognitive activities.Simultaneous interpreting is particularly demanding with respect to cognitive resources such as working memory,which is thought to gradually increase with professional practice.But experiment data to confirm this assumption are far from enough.Setting out from the Baddeley's multiple-component working memory model,this research focuses whether overall working memory develops with professional simultaneous interpretation practice,and whether any of the components of working memory,such as storage in the phonological loop and central executive,is improved accordingly.Comparison was made between the performance of expert interpreters and no vices on working memory tests.4 interpreting teachers(experts)and 10 second-year interpreting students(novices)were recruited.Three tests were carried out,including a digit span task(a traditional working memory test,testing short-term storage in the phonological loop only);a listening span task(a comprehensive working memory test,testing both short-term storage &processing based on the central executive);a Stroop task(a central executive task,testing central executive only).SPSS 17.0 was utilized to conduct an analysis of covariance with “group” as the between-subjects factor and “age” controlled as a covariance.According to data analysis,novice interpreters significantly outperformed experts on the digit span task.No between-group differences were in found in the listening span task and the Stroop test.Therefore,the overall working memory is not correlated with simultaneous interpretation practice,while the storage in the phonological loop increases a lot at the beginning of simultaneous interpretation training.Besides,there may be a potentially improved central executive associated with experience in simultaneous interpreting,despite there is no significant between-group difference observed in the Stroop test.