Effects of Core Executive Function Training on Student Interpreters’ Consecutive Interpreting

TL;DR

Training inhibition, a core executive function, significantly improves student interpreters' consecutive interpreting performance both immediately and long-term.

Contribution

This study demonstrates inhibition training's unique and lasting impact on interpreting performance, unlike updating or task switching training.

Findings

Inhibition training significantly improved interpreting performance immediately after training.

The positive effects of inhibition training on interpreting lasted for three months.

Updating and task switching training did not significantly improve interpreting performance.

Abstract

While updating, inhibition, and task switching (TS)—the acknowledged core executive function (EF) components—are implicated in interpreting processing, their distinct roles, particularly for inhibition and TS, are rarely explored within training contexts. This study examined the effects of training different EF components and the durability of such effects on student interpreters’ consecutive interpreting performance. Sixty-four Chinese students were randomly assigned to either an EF training condition (updating, inhibition, or TS) or a control condition. Following five-week training (15 sessions), improvements in the trained EF component and English-to-Chinese interpreting were evaluated, with long-term gains measured after three months. Results showed that while each training condition improved its targeted EF component, only inhibition training produced statistically significant immediate and durable effects in improving interpreting performance. These results are discussed in light of interpreting as an intense and unique bilingual task that substantially relies on domain-general EF components.

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