Working memory in simultaneous interpreters.
Item
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Title
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Working memory in simultaneous interpreters.
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Identifier
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AAI3310604
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identifier
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3310604
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Creator
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Signorelli, Teresa M.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Loraine K. Obler
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Date
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2008
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Cognitive | Biology, Neuroscience | Health Sciences, Speech Pathology | Speech Communication
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Abstract
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Simultaneous interpretation is the continuous immediate oral translation from one language to another. It is cognitively taxing and takes years to master. Most professional interpreters undergo substantial graduate-level training following a rigorous entrance selection process based on a number of cognitive abilities and expertise in three or more languages. Working memory is posited to be a skill that distinguishes interpreters from non-interpreters. The literature concerning this is contradictory. Some studies indicate superior memory for interpreters relative to non-interpreters, while others do not.;This study investigated differences between interpreters and non-interpreters via four tasks that deconstructed working memory in an attempt to isolate the locus of potential differences. Articulation rate (to gauge sub-vocal articulation) and non-word repetition tasks assessed phonological working memory. A cued recall task assessed phonological recall relatively independent of semantic information and semantic information relatively independent of phonological information. A reading span task assessed complex storage-and-processing.;Since professional interpreters often work well past traditional retirement age and since working memory is among the cognitive and linguistic skills are known to decline with age, both older and younger individuals participated in the study. The participants included 13 older interpreters with a mean age of 56.3, 11 older non-interpreters with a mean age of 63.6, 12 younger interpreters with a mean age of 34.5, and 11 younger non-interpreters with a mean age of 31.8.;Performance differences depended on profession or age and the nature of the task. Interpreters outperformed non-interpreters for complex storage and processing as assessed via reading span and in phonological memory as assessed by non-word repetition. These advantages were independent of age. Professional groups did not differ on phonological and semantic storage as assessed via cued recall or on phonological processing as assessed by articulation rate. Age differences, independent of profession, were noted in cued recall, however. In phonological recall, moreover, older participants experienced both primacy and recency effects. Younger participants evidenced only primacy effects. In semantic recall, older participants demonstrated word-length effects. Younger participants did not. Results are discussed in terms professional experience and age changes.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
