Attentional Shifts in Simultaneous Interpreting

Diplôme Thèse Attentional Shifts in Simultaneous Interpreting eng 2026-01-20 2026-03-23 author Pan Dongpeng 919221 Département d'interprétation (INT) director Seeber Kilian 0000-0002-7903-6246 513613 Département d'interprétation (INT) 10.13097/archive-ouverte/unige:192539 urn:nbn:ch:unige-1925399 FTI 61 This work adopts a thesis-by-publication format, collating three individual experiments that collectively examine attentional processing in simultaneous interpreting. Within this framework, the thesis presents an empirical investigation into the complex cognitive adaptation mechanisms that enable professional simultaneous interpreters to manage multi-task demands while operating near the limits of human processing capacity. Focused on attentional shifts (or orienting of attention) as a fundamental cognitive mechanism, we employ an integrated methodology combining the Visual World Paradigm (VWP) with pupillometry to provide real-time data informing attentional dynamics and cognitive load. In our data analysis, we rely on Generalised Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) to capture the non-linear temporal dynamics and control for the autocorrelation inherent in high-resolution psycho-physiological data. The thesis addresses three fundamental questions regarding cognitive adaptation in SI: <li>Experiment 1 (Chapter 2) investigates how complex predictive mechanisms adapt under sustained cognitive load. We found that cross-agent combinatory effects were significantly diminished or deferred in the early verb window of simultaneous interpreting. This indicates that in SI, high cognitive demands force a strategic trade-off in attention, though verb-driven selectional restrictions remain resilient.</li> <li>Experiment 2 (Chapter 3) compares SI with comprehension and production tasks. We found that SI induces significantly higher and more sustained cognitive load compared to comprehension. Eye-movement data in SI revealed attenuated anticipatory gaze shifts, reflecting a pronounced verification bias and delayed processing strategies necessitated by continuous multi-task demands.</li> <li>Experiment 3 (Chapter 4) examines how multimodal cues influence attentional allocation and cognitive efficiency. Here, we saw that the integration of congruent deictic gestures (pointing actions) facilitates quicker attentional shifts (early target fixation biases) and is associated with lower cognitive load. Importantly, auditory-only or neutral conditions impose the greatest ongoing processing burden, confirming that congruent visual input acts as an active resource conservation mechanism.</li> Collectively, these findings provide an empirical account of the attentional shifts and the features of cognitive load that define simultaneous interpreting. The thesis explores the psycholinguistic theories of incrementality and resource allocation by providing evidence that adaptation under pressure involves strategic simplification of prediction and reliance on multimodal input to mitigate overload. By doing so, we offer insights for enhancing multi-task resilience in interpreting practice and for informing the development of adaptive support technologies. Dewey 418.02 113 Département d'interprétation 93 false 7146700a-01db-48b2-a324-ff825b6b75b6 Thesis Private Dongpeng_PAN_Attentional_Shifts_in_.pdf 18040454 application/pdf fbe55b49dbd7343b46fb1b13588f1f860fac9309cadd7317abede214a07b46f1 24566cef-b37d-4992-9707-1da7dfdac0aa Imprimatur Public 2026_03_23_Lettre_Imprimatur_D._Pan.pdf 150900 application/pdf ba9c8773ee425381e7bc7d4c2b7a3100f6ad398edd788975d13520e3b0b64a44 closedAccess Faculté de traduction et d'interprétation / Département d'interprétation

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Pan, Dongpeng

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