The influence of experience on cognitive load during simultaneous interpretation

Abstract

Simultaneous interpretation is a complex task that is assumed to be associated with a high workload. To corroborate this association, we measured workload during three tasks of increasing complexity: listening, shadowing, and interpreting, using electroencephalography and self-assessments in four groups of participants with varying experience in simultaneous interpretation. The self-assessment data showed that professional interpreters perceived the most workload-inducing condition, namely the interpreting task, as less demanding compared to the less experienced participants. This higher subjectively perceived workload in non-interpreters was paralleled by increasing frontal theta power values from listening to interpreting, whereas such a modulation was less pronounced in professional interpreters. Furthermore, regarding both workload measures, trainee interpreters were situated between professional interpreters and non-interpreters. Since the non-interpreters demonstrated high proficiencies and exposure in their second language, too, our findings provide evidence for an influence of interpretation training on experienced workload during simultaneous interpretation.