2007/08/23

Liu, M., Schallert, D. & Carroll, P. (2004). Working memory and expertise in simultaneous interpreting. Interpreting, 63, 19–42.

Presentation: Ellie
Summary: Sally

The paper investigated how interpreters differ in their working memory and simultaneous interpretation performances at various skill levels. The purpose of this study was to examine two domain-specific skills—how interpreters select important information and exhibit efficiency in the allocation of working memory resources. Three groups of 11 participants took part in this study, professional interpreters and interpretation students with one or two years of training. Using a simultaneous interpretation task followed by a listening span test, the authors showed that professional interpreters outperformed interpretation students in their abilities to differentiate important vs. nonimportant ideas. However, the general working memory capacity is not different among the three groups.