Part of
Reembedding Translation Process ResearchEdited by Ricardo Muñoz Martín
[Benjamins Translation Library 128] 2016
► pp. 149–170
Edited by Ricardo Muñoz Martín
[Benjamins Translation Library 128] 2016
► pp. 149–170
Cognitive efficiency in translation
This article concerns the cognitive mechanisms that underlie the efficient allocation of cognitive resources during the translation process. Three indicators of efficient resource allocation are outlined and examined as correlates of translation expertise: flexibility, automaticity, and processing flow. Analyses of eye tracking and keylogging data from two groups of translators – professional translators and student translators – reveal that the more experienced group performs more efficiently. Professionals exhibit greater variation in attention unit duration, indicating greater cognitive flexibility and adaptability, while analysis of pupillary data suggests a lower cognitive load on professional translators’ cognitive systems. The two groups of translators exhibit different processing flow patterns. The study demonstrates that analyses of cognitive flexibility, cognitive automaticity, and processing flow are useful to determine processing efficiency in translation.
References (35)
Alves, Fabio, and José Luiz Vila Real Gonçalves. 2007. “Modelling Translator’s Competence –Relevance and Expertise under Strutiny.” In Triangulating Translation: Perspectives in Process Oriented Research, ed. by F. Alves, 3–24. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 
Anderson, John R. 2000. Cognitive Psychology and its Implications (5th edition). New York: Worth.
Baayen, Rolf Harald. 2009. Analyzing Linguistic Data: A Practical Introduction to Statistics Using R (3rd edition). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Baddeley, Alan David. 1986. Working Memory. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
. 2007. Working Memory, Thought, and Action. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Baddeley, Alan David, and Graham J. Hitch. 1974. “Working Memory.” In The Psychology of Learning and Motivation: Advances in Research and Theory, vol. 8, ed. by G. Bower, 47–89. New York: Academic Press.
Balling, Laura Winther, and Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund. 2015. “Design and Statistics in Quantitative Translation (Process) Research.” In Translation as a Cognitive Activity, (Translation Spaces 4:1), guest-ed. by F. Alves, A. Hurtado, and I. Lacruz, 170–187. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Balling, Laura Winther, Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund, and Annette Camilla Sjørup. 2014. “Evidence of Parallel Processing during Translation.” Meta 59 (2): 234–259.
Dragsted, Barbara. 2004. Segmentation in Translation and Translation Memory Systems: An Empirical Investigation of Cognitive Segmentation and Effects of Integrating a TM-System into the Translation Process. Ph.D. thesis, Copenhagen Business School. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Ehrensberger-Dow, Maureen, and Gary Massey. 2013. “Indicators of Translation Competence: Translators’ Self-Concepts and the Translation of Titles.” Journal of Writing Research 5: 103–131.
Englund Dimitrova, Birgitta. 2005. Expertise and Explicitation in the Translation Process. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Ericsson, K. Anders, and Jacqui Smith. 1991. Toward a General Theory of Expertise. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Ericsson, K. Anders, Ralf Th. Krampe, and Clemens Tesch-Romer. 1993. “The Role of Deliberate Practice in the Acquisition of Expert Performance.” American Psychological Association 100: 363–406.
Gile, Daniel. 1995. Basic Concepts and Models for Interpreter and Translator Training. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Göpferich, Susanne. 2009. “Towards a Model of Translation Competence and Its Acquisition: The Longitudinal Study TransComp.” In Behind the Mind: Methods, Models and Results in Translation Process Research , ed. by S. Göpferich, A.L. Jakobsen, and I.M. Mees, 11–38. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
Hess, Eckhard. H., and James M. Polt. 1964. “Pupil Size in Relation to Mental Activity in Simple Problem Solving.” Science 143: 1190–1192.
Hvelplund, Kristian Tangsgaard. 2011. Allocation of Cognitive Resources in Translation: An Eye-tracking and Key-logging Study. PhD thesis. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School.
. 2014. “Eye Tracking and Translation Process: Reflections on the Analysis and Interpretation of Eye Tracking Data.” In Minding Translation. Con la traducción en mente,
MonTI Special Issue 1, ed. by R. Muñoz, 221–224.
. forthcoming, a. “Eye Tracking and the Process of Dubbing Translation.” In Audiovisual Translation: Expanding borders, ed. by J. Díaz Cintas, and K. Nikolic.
. forthcoming, b. “Four Fundamental Types of Reading During Translation.” In Translation in transition, ed. by A.L. Jakobsen, and B. Mesa Lao. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Iqbal, Shamsi T., Piotr D. Adamczyk, Xianjun Sam Zheng, and Brian P. Bailey. 2005. “Towards an Index of Opportunity: Understanding Changes in Mental Workload during Task Execution.” Proceedings of
CHI 2005
, 2nd–7th April 2005, Oregon USA, 311–320.
Jääskeläinen, Riitta, and Sonja Tirkkonen-Condit. 1991. “Automated Processes in Professional vs. Non-Professional Translation: A Think-aloud Protocol Study.” In Empirical Research in Translation and Intercultural Studies, ed. by S. Tirkkonen-Condit, 89–109. Tübingen: Gunter Narr.
Jakobsen, Arnt Lykke, and Lasse Schou. 1999. “Translog Documentation Version 1.0.” In Probing the Process of Translation: Methods and Results Appendix 1 , ed. by Gyde Hansen, 1–36. Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur.
James, William. 1890. Principles of Psychology. New York: Holt.
Muñoz Martín, Ricardo. 2009. “Expertise and Environment in Translation.” Mutatis Mutandis: Revista Latinoamericana de Traducción 2 (1): 24–37.
PACTE. 2003. “Building a Translation Competence Model.” In Triangulating Translation: Perspectives in Process Oriented Research, ed. by F. Alves, 43–66. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. 2008. “First Results of a Translation Competence Experiment: Knowledge of Translation and Efficacy of the Translation Process.” In Translator and Interpreter Training. Issues, Methods and Debates, ed. by J. Kearns, 104–126. London: Continuum.
Ruiz Navarro, Carmen, Natalia Paredes Jiménez, Pedro Macizo Soria, and María Teresa Bajo Molina. 2008. “Activation of Lexical and Syntactic Target Language Properties in Translation.” Acta Psychologica 128: 490–500.
Salthouse, Timothy A. 1986. “Perceptual, Cognitive, and Motoric Aspects of Transcription Typing.” Psychological Bulletin 99 (3): 303–319.
Schaeffer, Moritz, Barbara Dragsted, Kristian Tangsgaard Hvelplund, Laura Winther Balling, and Michael Carl. 2016. “Word Translation Entropy in Translation: Evidence of Early Target Language Activation during Reading for Translation.” In New Directions in Empirical Translation Process Research: Exploring the CRITT TPR-DB, ed. by M. Carl, S. Bangalore, and M. Schaeffer, 183–210. Cham: Springer.
Scott, William A. 1962. “Cognitive Complexity and Cognitive Flexibility.” Sociometry 35: 405–414.
Shreve, Gregory M. 2002. “Knowing Translation: Cognitive and Experiential Aspects of Translation Expertise from the Perspective of Expertise Studies.” In Translation Studies: Perspectives on an Emerging Discipline, ed. by A. Riccardi, 150–171. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
. 2006. “The Deliberate Practice: Translation and Expertise.” Journal of Translation Studies 9 (1): 27–42.
Spelke, Elizabeth, William Hirst, and Ulric Neisser. 1976. “Skills of Divided Attention.” Cognition 4: 215–230.
Sternberg, Robert J., and Talia Ben-Zeev. 2001. Complex Cognition: The Psychology of Human Thought. New York: Oxford University Press.
Cited by (14)
Cited by 14 other publications
Sakamoto, Akiko & Sarah Bawa Mason
2024. In search of a fair MTPE pricing model: LSPs’ reflections and the implications for translators. Perspectives 32:3 ► pp. 460 ff. 
Carl, Michael
2023. Chapter 12. The Monitor Model and its misconceptions. In Translation in Transition [American Translators Association Scholarly Monograph Series, XX], ► pp. 257 ff.
Jamoussi, Rafik, Aladdin Al Zahran & Kais A. Kadhim
2023. Beliefs on translation speed among students. A case study. Open Linguistics 9:1
Mah, Pascal Muam, Iwona Skalna, Tomasz Pełech-Pilichowski, Tomasz Derlecki, Mahmoud Nasr, Eric Munyeshuri, Gilly Njoh Amuzang, Micheal Blake Somaah Itoe & Ning Frida Tah
2023. Analysis of Virtual Reality Based on the Internet of Things on Human Psychology ‘Internet of Thoughts’ (IoThs) for Rich Content Extraction Applied Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning. In Digital Health Transformation, Smart Ageing, and Managing Disability [Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 14237], ► pp. 249 ff.
Jiayi, Wang & Xiao Chenyixuan
2022. Measuring Cognitive Effort with Translation Process Database. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and Translation 8:4 ► pp. 148 ff.
Gieshoff, Anne Catherine, Caroline Lehr & Andrea Hunziker Heeb
2021. Stress, cognitive, emotional and ergonomic demands in interpreting and translation. Cognitive Linguistic Studies 8:2 ► pp. 404 ff.
He, Yan & Jiayi Wang
2021. Eye Tracking Uncertainty Management in Sight Translation: Differences Between Professional and Novice Interpreters. In Advances in Cognitive Translation Studies [New Frontiers in Translation Studies, ], ► pp. 181 ff.
Tardel, Anke
2021. Measuring Effort in Subprocesses of Subtitling. In Explorations in Empirical Translation Process Research [Machine Translation: Technologies and Applications, 3], ► pp. 81 ff.
Deckert, Mikołaj
2020. Decision-Making: Putting AVT and MA into Perspective. In The Palgrave Handbook of Audiovisual Translation and Media Accessibility [Palgrave Studies in Translating and Interpreting, ], ► pp. 483 ff.
Hatzidaki, Anna
2019. Using experimental approaches to study translation. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 2:1 ► pp. 35 ff.
Hvelplund, Kristian Tangsgaard
2019. Digital resources in the translation process – attention, cognitive effort and processing flow. Perspectives 27:4 ► pp. 510 ff.
Olalla-Soler, Christian
2019. Using translation strategies to solve cultural translation problems. Differences between students and professional translators. Perspectives 27:3 ► pp. 367 ff.
Carl, Michael & Moritz Schaeffer
2018. The development of the TPR-DB as Grounded Theory Method. Translation, Cognition & Behavior 1:1 ► pp. 168 ff.
Hvelplund, Kristian Tangsgaard & Barbara Dragsted
2018. Chapter 4. Genre familiarity and translation processing. In Innovation and Expansion in Translation Process Research [American Translators Association Scholarly Monograph Series, XVIII], ► pp. 55 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 3 december 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.