Simultaneous interpreting and working memory executive control

Interpreting ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Šárka Timarová ◽  
Ivana Čeňková ◽  
Reine Meylaerts ◽  
Erik Hertog ◽  
Arnaud Szmalec ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Function ◽  
Central Executive ◽  
Attention Switching ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Cognitive Component ◽  
Automatic Response ◽  
The Relationship

Working memory is a complex cognitive component responsible for maintenance of information during processing. Interpreting research has so far focused on working memory capacity rather than on the central executive functions. In the study described here, 28 professional interpreters completed a battery of four central executive tasks and three simultaneous interpretations (from English into Czech or Dutch ‘A’). The results show that: (a) certain measurable features of simultaneous interpreting are related to the central executive functions of working memory; (b) one working memory function (inhibition of distractors) seems to be related to interpreting experience, while the others (automatic response inhibition, updating, attention switching) do not; (c) the relationship between working memory and simultaneous interpreting is such that different working memory functions predict different sub-processes in simultaneous interpreting, in complex patterns. The conclusions of this study are data-driven, but in line with the current literature. More specifically, the findings support those accounts of simultaneous interpreting which emphasize attentional control as an important component of the simultaneous interpreting process.

The relationship between working memory capacity and simultaneous interpreting performance

Interpreting ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jihong Wang
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Span Task ◽  
Complex Span ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Signed Language ◽  
Native Signers ◽  
The Relationship

This experimental study investigated the relationship between signed language interpreters’ working memory capacity (WMC) and their simultaneous interpreting performance. Thirty-one professional Auslan (Australian Sign Language)/English interpreters participated: 14 native signers and 17 non-native signers. They completed simultaneous interpreting tasks from English into Auslan and vice versa, an English listening span task and an Auslan working memory span task; each interpreting task was followed by a short semi-structured interview. Quantitative results for the sample as a whole showed no significant correlations between bilingual WMC and overall simultaneous interpreting performance in either direction. The same trend was established for both the native signers and the non-native signers, considered as two separate groups. The findings thus suggest that professional signed language interpreters’ WMC as measured by complex span tasks is not closely associated with the overall quality of their simultaneous interpreting performance. Data regarding educational and professional background showed mixed patterns in relation to participants’ interpreting performance in each language direction. In the interviews, participants reported various triggers of cognitive overload in the simultaneous interpreting tasks (e.g. numbers, lists of items, a long time lag, dense information, fatigue) and mentioned their coping strategies (e.g. strategic omissions, summarization, generalization, adjusting time lag).

Meta-analyses of simultaneous interpreting and working memory

Interpreting ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Mellinger ◽  
Thomas A. Hanson
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Moderating Variables ◽  
Simultaneous Interpreting ◽  
Comparison Groups ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Meta Analyses ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This article adopts a meta-analytic research framework to examine the strength of the relationship between working memory and simultaneous interpreting. This quantitative analysis utilizes a random effects model to combine multiple studies in an examination of differences between professional interpreters and various comparison groups as well as the relationship between working memory capacity and interpreter performance. Moderating and control variables are discussed, and a classification scheme for work on these topics is proposed. Two moderating variables are examined by testing the difference between working memory tests relying on auditory and visual stimuli as well as storage tasks (short-term memory) and processing tasks (working memory). Published studies were collected from several field-specific databases by querying working memory and simultaneous interpreting as key terms, and then supplemented by reviewing references, searching Google Scholar, and reviewing the work of scholars known to work in the area. Results are indicative of differences between professional and comparison groups, with professional interpreters exhibiting greater working memory capacity. Additionally, an overall positive correlation was observed between working memory capacity and measures of the quality of simultaneous interpreting.

The visual arrays task…visual storage capacity or attention control?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Martin ◽  
Jason S. Tsukahara ◽  
Christopher Draheim ◽  
Zach Shipstead ◽  
Cody Mashburn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Storage Capacity ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Independent Data ◽  
Visual Storage ◽  
Design Selection ◽  
The Relationship

**The uploaded manuscript is still in preparation** In this study, we tested the relationship between visual arrays tasks and working memory capacity and attention control. Specifically, we tested whether task design (selection or non-selection demands) impacted the relationship between visual arrays measures and constructs of working memory capacity and attention control. Using analyses from 4 independent data sets we showed that the degree to which visual arrays measures rely on selection influences the degree to which they reflect domain-general attention control.

scholarly journals Task Monitoring and Working Memory as Executive Components Predictive of General and Specific Academic Achievements in 6–9-Year-Old Children

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 6681
Author(s):  
Alberto Quílez-Robres ◽  
Nieves Moyano ◽  
Alejandra Cortés-Pascual
Keyword(s):  
Academic Achievement ◽  
Working Memory ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Language Arts ◽  
Memory Task ◽  
Academic Achievements ◽  
Predictive Role ◽  
And Mathematics ◽  
The Relationship

Academic achievement has been linked to executive functions. However, it is necessary to clarify the different predictive role that executive functions have on general and specific academic achievement and to determine the most predictive executive factor of this academic achievement. The relationship and predictive role between executive functions and their components (initiative, working memory, task monitoring, organization of materials, flexibility, emotional control, inhibition, self-monitoring) with academic achievement are analyzed in this study, both globally and specifically in the areas of Language Arts and Mathematics, in 133 students from 6 to 9 years of age. The relationship obtained in Pearson’s correlation analysis does not differ substantially between overall achievement (r = 0.392) and specific achievement (r = 0.361, r = 0.361), but task monitoring (r = 0.531, r = 0.455, r = 0.446) and working memory (r = 0.512, r = 0.475, r = 0.505) had a greater relationship with general and specific achievement. Finally, regression analyses based on correlation results indicate that executive functions predict general academic performance (14.7%) and specific performance (12.3%, 12.2%) for Language Arts and Mathematics, respectively. Furthermore, working memory and task supervision represent 32.5% of general academic performance, 25.5% of performance in Language Arts, and 27.1% of performance in Mathematics. In conclusion, this study yielded exploratory data on the possible executive functions (task supervision and working memory) responsible for good general academic achievements and specific academic achievements in Mathematics and Language Arts.

scholarly journals Individual differences in working memory capacity are unrelated to the magnitudes of retrocue benefits

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chaoxiong Ye ◽  
Qianru Xu ◽  
Xinyang Liu ◽  
Piia Astikainen ◽  
Yongjie Zhu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Individual Differences ◽  
Significant Positive Correlation ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Capacity Measurement ◽  
Object Based ◽  
Feature Dimension ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Internal Attention

AbstractPrevious studies have associated visual working memory (VWM) capacity with the use of internal attention. Retrocues, which direct internal attention to a particular object or feature dimension, can improve VWM performance (i.e., retrocue benefit, RCB). However, so far, no study has investigated the relationship between VWM capacity and the magnitudes of RCBs obtained from object-based and dimension-based retrocues. The present study explored individual differences in the magnitudes of object- and dimension-based RCBs and their relationships with VWM capacity. Participants completed a VWM capacity measurement, an object-based cue task, and a dimension-based cue task. We confirmed that both object- and dimension-based retrocues could improve VWM performance. We also found a significant positive correlation between the magnitudes of object- and dimension-based RCB indexes, suggesting a partly overlapping mechanism between the use of object- and dimension-based retrocues. However, our results provided no evidence for a correlation between VWM capacity and the magnitudes of the object- or dimension-based RCBs. Although inadequate attention control is usually assumed to be associated with VWM capacity, the results suggest that the internal attention mechanism for using retrocues in VWM retention is independent of VWM capacity.

scholarly journals Working memory as a factor mediating explicit and implicit knowledge of English grammar

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Mirosław Pawlak ◽  
Adriana Biedroń
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Short Term Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Target Language ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Passive Voice ◽  
English Grammar ◽  
Explicit And Implicit Knowledge ◽  
The Relationship

Abstract This paper reports the findings of a study that investigated the relationship between phonological short-term memory (PSTM), working memory capacity (WMC), and the level of mastery of L2 grammar. Grammatical mastery was operationalized as the ability to produce and comprehend English passive voice with reference to explicit and implicit (or highly automatized) knowledge. Correlational analysis showed that PSTM was related to implicit productive knowledge while WMC was linked to explicit productive knowledge. However, regression analysis showed that those relationships were weak and mediated by overall mastery of target language grammar, operationalized as final grades in a grammar course.

scholarly journals The relationship between working memory capacity and broad measures of cognitive ability in healthy adults and people with schizophrenia.

2013 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 220-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa K. Johnson ◽  
Robert P. McMahon ◽  
Benjamin M. Robinson ◽  
Alexander N. Harvey ◽  
Britta Hahn ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Cognitive Ability ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Healthy Adults ◽  
The Relationship

scholarly journals Mathematics Skills and Executive Functions Following Preterm Birth: A Longitudinal Study of 5-to 7- Year Old Children

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Anna Adrian ◽  
Frank Haist ◽  
Natacha Akshoomoff
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Executive Functions ◽  
Processing Speed ◽  
Spatial Working Memory ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Full Term ◽  
Healthy Children ◽  
Time Points ◽  
Mathematics Skills ◽  
Increased Risk

Early mathematics skills are an important predictor of later academic, economic and personal success. Children born preterm, about 10% of the US population, have an increased risk of deficits in mathematics. These deficits may be related to lower levels of executive functions and processing speed. We investigated the development of mathematics skills, working memory, inhibitory control and processing speed of healthy children born very preterm (between 25 and 32 weeks gestational age, n=51) and full-term (n=29). Children were tested annually from ages 5 to 7 years. We found persistent lower overall mathematics skills in the preterm group, driven by differences in more informal skills (e.g. counting) at earlier time points, and by differences in more formal skills (e.g. calculation) at later time points. We did not find significant differences between preterm and full-term born children in spatial working memory capacity or processing speed. However, these cognitive measures were significant predictors of mathematics skills in the preterm but not the full-term group, hinting towards the use of different strategies when solving problems.

Understanding the Relationship Between Rationality and Intelligence: A Latent-Variable Approach

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander P. Burgoyne ◽  
Cody Mashburn ◽  
Jason S. Tsukahara ◽  
Zach Hambrick ◽  
Randall W Engle
Keyword(s):  
Working Memory ◽  
Latent Variable ◽  
Fluid Intelligence ◽  
Working Memory Capacity ◽  
Memory Capacity ◽  
Attention Control ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
General Intelligence ◽  
Variable Approach ◽  
The Relationship

A hallmark of intelligent behavior is rationality—the disposition and ability to think analytically to make decisions that maximize expected utility or follow the laws of probability, and therefore align with normative principles of decision making. However, the question remains as to whether rationality and intelligence are empirically distinct, as does the question of what cognitive mechanisms underlie individual differences in rationality. In a large sample of participants (N = 331), we used latent variable analyses to assess the relationship between rationality and intelligence. The results indicated that there was a common ability underpinning performance on some, but not all, rationality tests. Latent factors representing rationality and general intelligence were strongly correlated (r = .54), but their correlation fell well short of unity. Indeed, after accounting for variance in performance attributable to general intelligence, rationality measures still cohered on a latent factor. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated that rationality correlated significantly with fluid intelligence (r = .56), working memory capacity (r = .44), and attention control (r = .49). Structural equation modeling revealed that attention control fully accounted for the relationship between working memory capacity and rationality, and partially accounted for the relationship between fluid intelligence and rationality. Results are interpreted in light of the executive attention framework, which holds that attention control supports information maintenance and disengagement in service of complex cognition. We conclude by speculating about factors rationality tests may tap that other cognitive ability tests miss, and outline directions for further research.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document