Translation, Cognition & Behavior - Volume 6, Issue 2, 2023

Aging is associated with a high prevalence of neural and cognitive changes, which may impair life quality while placing a significant burden on the healthcare system and the economy. Nevertheless, diverse daily activities as well as deliberate practice in several domains have been proposed to benefit brain plasticity and cognition as well as to have the potential to counteract age-related decline through neuroprotective and/or compensatory mechanisms. In this review article, we will provide a summary of the gray matter alterations that have commonly been documented in simultaneous interpreters over the past twenty years. Furthermore, we will review the main literature that examined associations between simultaneous interpreting training and cognitive functions for assessing possible practice-related cognitive benefits in older age. We will also outline future directions for research in this area and highlight interventions aimed at mitigating the effects of aging on neurocognition.

This paper discusses predictive processes in simultaneous interpreting. A review of experimental findings in the interpreting process literature is carried out on prediction and anticipation – both instances of predictive processes – addressing two questions: (i) what causes prediction and anticipation?, and (ii) is there an experience-related advantage for prediction and anticipation in interpreters? A few gaps are identified in the literature, namely, the need for investigating language-specific cues to prediction and the need for investigating predictive behaviour in both source language processing and target language production. The review is followed by a discussion of future directions in addressing the identified gaps by interpreting process studies, as well as a discussion of how current and future experimental findings can inform our understanding of the processes underlying prediction during simultaneous interpreting.

Sight interpreting/translation (SiT) refers to the mode of communication in which source language information is received via reading and target language output is produced either in oral form or sign language. The cognitive aspect of SiT has been examined empirically with participant-, product-, and process-oriented methods, as well as multi-method approaches. Previous SiT research has benefitted from eye tracking technology due to the dominance of visual input during SiT. However, previous studies have used screen-based eye trackers, where stimuli are confined to the screen, and the potential impact of elements beyond the screen cannot be captured, leading to an oversight of the interactional aspect of SiT. Thus, we suggest wearable eye trackers in future SiT studies to thoroughly explore the underlying cognitive mechanisms of this modality. Moreover, we argue that future SiT studies can benefit from triangulating eye tracking data with subjective data, such as interviews, to better understand SiT.

In recent years, there has been a growing interest in translation studies within museum settings, enabling museums to enhance visitor engagement and create a more meaningful visiting experience. Within cognitive translation studies, the use of eye tracking technology has emerged as a widely adopted method for investigating translators’ allocation of visual attention and cognitive resources. However, the application of eye tracking in museum translation studies has received limited attention. This study provides a critical review of the utilisation of eye tracking to examine visitors’ perception and reception in museum settings from both behavioural and cognitive perspectives. The article begins by selecting and categorising the reviewed papers. It then describes the methods employed for collecting and analysing eye movement data, followed by summaries and critical comments on the findings from the existing literature. This article further evaluates the reliability, validity, and practicality of existing eye tracking research in museum translation, and finally proposes the potential directions for future cognitive translation studies in museums.

After years in the shadows of translation, research on audio description (AD) is now gaining momentum thanks to its contribution to a more accessible and inclusive world. This paper claims that experimental AD studies have a rightful place in cognitive translation and interpreting studies (CTIS) and discusses some of its limitations and prospects. The first section introduces the relevance and interest of choosing accessibility as a general field of study and AD as a modality of accessible translation. The second section takes a snapshot of existing experimental AD studies and summarizes their main results. Then, useful tips are provided to help confront relevant challenges. The final section discusses the potential of AD research for advancing our knowledge of sensory, multimodal, and cognitive processing and for transferring research results to society.

Translation expertise has been discussed intensely in (cognitive) translation studies. Most research has been conducted in laboratory settings, attempting to discern the differences between experienced translators (‘experts’) and lesser experienced translators. This has resulted in valuable, yet limited insights. We argue for the need to complement the picture with a broader perspective on translation expertise and to further investigate it in its authentic dynamic contexts, be they workplaces or other fields of practice. This implies seeing expertise as situated and performative, emerging from the interaction of social actors with their social and material environments. Emphasis is placed on the social, discursive construction of expertise and on the emic perspectives of the community being studied.

Over the last four decades, considerable efforts have been devoted to the modeling and evaluation of human translation processes. This article takes a closer look at the evolution of empirical Translation Process Research (TPR) within the CRITT TPR-DB tradition. It contends that human translation unfolds on various processing levels and puts forth the Free Energy Principle (FEP) and Active Inference (AIF) as a promising framework for modeling these intricately embedded processes in a mathematically rigorous framework.

The article introduces innovative methods for quantifying fundamental concepts of Relevance Theory (relevance, s-mode, and i-mode translation) and establishes their connection with the Monitor Model, framing relevance maximization as a special case of free energy minimization. The framework presents exciting prospects for future research in predictive TPR, promising to enhance our understanding of human translation processes and contributing significantly to the broader field of translation studies and cognitive sciences in general.