This study aims to examine the relationship between working memory (WM) capacity and the performance of student
interpreters defined as the quality of their interpreting output. To measure WM capacity, we administered Korean and English
reading span tasks, and an operation span task. The WM scores were analysed for correlation with simultaneous interpreting (SI)
and consecutive interpreting (CI) scores. The results were mixed: (1) the CI score showed no correlation with any of the WM span
tasks and (2) the SI score correlated with only one WM span task, the operation span task. Given that the participants received
shorter training in SI than in CI, we can tentatively conclude that interpreting performance is influenced more by WM capacity
when the interpreter performs a less familiar type of interpreting. Further research is needed to find out why the reading span
tasks and the operation span task showed different relationships with SI.
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2023. Into-A or Into-B, That is a Question: A Systematic Literature Review of Directionality and Performance in Consecutive Interpreting. SAGE Open 13:4
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2023. Effects of executive functions on consecutive interpreting for Chinese-Japanese unbalanced bilinguals. Frontiers in Psychology 14
Xu, Yi
2023. Exploring individual differences in the prediction of awareness and improvement in trainee interpreters: an aptitude-treatment interaction approach. The Interpreter and Translator Trainer 17:1 ► pp. 133 ff.
Zhu, Xuelian & Vahid Aryadoust
2022. A Synthetic Review of Cognitive Load in Distance Interpreting: Toward an Explanatory Model. Frontiers in Psychology 13
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