The influence of early-stage interpreting training on working memory of student interpreters: evidence from ERP

Citation

Hao Y, Chen X, Li S, Wang Y & Wu J (2026) The influence of early-stage interpreting training on working memory of student interpreters: evidence from ERP. Perspectives, pp. 1-22. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0907676X.2026.2614460; https://doi.org/10.1080/0907676x.2026.2614460

Abstract
The contradictory results of previous studies investigating whether interpreting training improves working memory (WM) might be partially due to a lack of systematic task load manipulation. The present study directly addresses this gap by manipulating task load when examining the effects of early-stage interpreting training on WM. We compared the behavioral performance and event-related potentials (ERPs) of an interpreting training group with those of an interpreting control group, using a modified Sternberg task under different load conditions. In addition, we compared a translation training group and a translation control group matched for confounding factors. The results revealed that one year of translation training did not enhance WM at either the behavioral or neural levels, whereas one year of interpreting training enhanced WM at the neural level. This enhancement was evidenced by a less-negative N2, suggesting that interpreting training is associated with the automatization of memory scanning. Moreover, the interpreting training group exhibited a more-positive P3, indicating that they had greater cognitive resources available in WM during the decision-making stage. Notably, the significant interpreting training effect of N2 in the right hemisphere under high load conditions underscores the crucial role of task load in the underlying mechanisms of interpreting training.

Keywords
Interpreting training, interpreter, working memory, ERP, task load

Journal
Perspectives