Decoding the Digits: How Number Notation Influences Cognitive Effort and Performance in Chinese-to-English Sight...

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Psychology
• Interpreting Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction

Background:

• Interpreting numbers poses cognitive challenges, with limited research on notation-specific processing.
• Existing eye-tracking studies often overlook number notation diversity in computer-assisted interpreting.

Purpose of the Study:

• Investigate the impact of number notation (Arabic vs. Chinese characters) on cognitive effort and performance in Chinese-to-English sight translation.
• Examine how different number formats influence trainee interpreters' processing and output quality.

Main Methods:

• Mixed-methods design combining eye-tracking (global and local eye movements) with expert assessments, output analysis, and subjective workload ratings.
• Comparison of cognitive effort and performance between Arabic digits and Chinese character numbers during sight translation tasks.

Main Results:

• Chinese character numbers significantly increased cognitive effort, indicated by more/longer fixations, extensive saccades, and larger eye-voice span.
• Sight translation quality decreased with Chinese character numbers, showing lower accuracy and fluency.
• Subjective ratings revealed higher mental, physical, and temporal demands when processing Chinese character numbers.

Conclusions:

• An effort-quality paradox exists: greater cognitive investment in complex notations yields poorer outcomes.
• Urgent need for notation-specific training strategies and adaptive technologies in multilingual communication.
• Findings inform the development of more effective interpreting tools and pedagogical approaches.