Short—term Memory in Simultaneous Interpreting

項舒涵

Introduction

This is an epoch of cross-culture communication and exchanges. We have never been so close than any period in the history. A large number of international conferences are being held every year， from World Economic Forum to the UN Climate Change Conference， from political leaders state visits to casual luncheon speeches. Furthermore， the idea of time-saving leads to peoples preference for simultaneous interpreting（SI）. The job of SI is the product of our information age， indispensable and ungently needed， arousing the public curiosity and excitement when talking about it. To better illustrate the short-term memory（STM） and its influence factors， this paper begins with the definition of STM， and then analyses several factors which can affect the duration and quality of the STM. It mainly analyse the effects on STM caused by several factors， including storage capacity， concentration， stress and emotion. The main purpose of this paper is to help readers understand how STM works， through demonstrating why STM is not ever-lasting and the internal and outer causes of the loss of information， and to give a basic but useful guideline for the interpreters to take good advantage of and improve STM for better SI performance.

Atkinson and Shiffrin（1968） concluded that human beings memory can be divided into two models， short-term memory（STM） and long-term memory（LTM）. According to Susan E. Gathercoles（1996） analysis of the four processes of interpreting task， after two steps of stimulus recoding and speeches articulatory processes， there follow the other two： short memory search and the retrieval of information. As we can clearly see， STM is the hinge， connecting input and output， in other words， listening and interpreting. The interpreter has to remember the source language immediately when heard and at the same time convert it into the target language by using his or her LTM. Psychologically， human beings memory is categorised into STM and LTM. The brain electrical impulses is transmitted from one neuron to another， connecting them together to establish the “memory” within a few milliseconds， although it is not ever-lasting and even quite transient （BCCN Newsletter， 2008）.

When it comes to the question what is STM， G. Vallar（2004） stated that， ‘short-term memory to a number of systems with limited capacity， which secure the temporary retention （in the range of seconds） of a variety of materials. It lasts for approximately 20-30 seconds（A. F. Healy， 2004） and is quickly to be forgotten， varying from individual to individual. In order to retrieve the STM， the neural system of the brain needs to do further processes to transform it into LTM， which will last for longer， for example may be a few weeks or even the whole life-time. LTM is a process requiring constant learning and reviewing. Similar to the position of STM， it is equally significant to the interpreters because it is responsible to establish a knowledge reservoir. When the conference is over， the interpreter will proceed to the next interpreting task with a quite different theme and content， so he or she barely has time or psychologically it is impossible for the brain to store the input information as LTM. Thus， to reduce the task load， and increase efficiency， how to make good use of STM is essential for SI.

A good memory is always being valued by students when they are preparing for the exams the next day. Besides， it is regarded as an equivalence of intelligence in most peoples eyes. According to the common wisdom， the duration and capacity of memory are endowed by nature and genes， shrinking by age and differentiated by genders. To uncover the mystery of STM， we want to know， at the beginning， the reasons of forgetting. John Brown（1964） proposed that， （1）decay of the trace （2）interference of the trace （3） inaccessibility of the trace （4） competition from previous or subsequent learning. Are those processes applicable to STM？ Former theorists agreed with that： （1） Displacement： the former messages displaced by the latest one when the whole storage capacity is full （Waugh， 1965） （2） Decay—old messages decay as time elapses （Baddeley， 1975）. （3） Interference—the former messages disrupted or distorted by the newly input information if the pool of storage of information is full （Keppel， 1962）. As we can see from the above， loss of STM along with the LTM happens to almost everyone. A good memory is not only associated with genes and innate gifts， but also depending on the capacity of storage. Around 7 plus or minus 2 ‘chunks of information can be stored into our brain at the same time， i.e. the low capacity of STM （Miller， 1956）. Miller defined a ‘chunk as an single piece of information independent from others. For example， ‘SUN can be seen as one chunk while ‘USN can be seen as three chunks， each letter regarded as one. “The magic 7” depicts the capacity of our STM.

Therefore， broadening the memory storage to avoid information crash and overlaps is the key to good short-term memory. Through practices and experiments， people have found that STM duration can be lengthened via designed exercises. There are several dominant memory training methods， such as shadowing exercises and retelling，etc. Scientists reveal that， neurogenesis—the process allowing the new brain cells to generate and develop—is involved in new memory formation. Whatever stage a person is being at， infant， childhood or adulthood， thousands of hippocampal neurons will be generated per day. In the animal experiments where rats were divided into two groups， group A performed designed behavioural tasks， while group B did not. The result showed that the group A generated one times more neurons in the hippocampi than group B. That also can explain why London taxi drivers have larger hippocampi than normal persons. Because they have to remember the super-complicated streets networks， the hippocampi stimulates a large amount of new neurons in the brain， helping them to have longer memory and good sense of navigation （the Franklin Institute）.

Notwithstanding， after we have learnt that STM is determined by storage capacity to a large extent， it is still hard to predict how much an interpreter can remember after listening to a series of phonetic signals. （Here， the author is mainly discussing auditory verbal memory in the process of doing simultaneous interpreting.） If the amount of information can remain as long as possible， and can be retrieved depends on several factors as follows： how much he or she has acquainted the first time when the materials were presented. This is determined by， firstly， the comprehension ability of the person and secondly， concentration. Generally speaking， a good comprehension derives from LTM， i.e. the interpreters language level and mastery of knowledge， predicting a successful interpreting result. In addition， quite different from written translation and consecutive interpreting， the mode of SI requires interpreters to listen and speak at the same time， so the task is very demanding and concentration is needed. Good attention represents longer and more effective STM. That is why interpreters have to work in pairs and alternate after every 20 minutes to 30 minutes. Due to the structure and mode of process of the brain， human beings concentration cannot maintain a stable level， Statistics shows that， the duration of total focus of mind averages at 15 minutes. Concentration can also be affected by the environment， which is could not always being clear without distractions.

Besides， it could also be influenced by the listening material itself. As most of us know， generally speaking， the more interesting and hilarious the words sound and the more stunning effect the meaning they exerts， the faster we can store them into our memory， and the less possible we will forget them. Verbal and visual stimuli are sometimes very instrumental， contributing to the enhancement of the short term memory. For example， we are more likely to remember the jokes and stories than tedious statements. In other words， the human brain hates bored-some while loves vividness. In the same way， our brain can easily attracted by fast moving objects. In an experiment， a class of students were asked not to look at the closed circuit TV in the front of the classroom while one of their teachers， the strictest one， giving a lecture. The results showed that， no matter what times the teacher stated not to be distracted， the students could not help squinting at the moving pictures on the TV. Emotionally Competent Stimulus （ECS） is one of the most subtle and effective external stimuli to the brain. Antonio Damasio（2003） states that an episode of emoting is triggered by an emotionally competent stimulus. Those emotions include anger， happiness， scare and other extreme feelings. After absorbing and processing that kind of information， a physiological response is created， which is sophisticated and delicate， accompanied by fastening pulse， for instance， and strengthened muscles. That is because a series of response is recorded and processed by thousands of neurons. Taking the above researches and other neuropsychological studies， we can see that， emotions are significant to STM when doing simultaneous interpreting.

Not only does the emotive input affect the listener， but also the listeners mind status influence their own behaviours and interpreting results. It is worthwhile to point out that interpreters need to cope with stress， distinctive from the chronic stress people are suffering from， which has adverse effects on out organs and blood， making us become depressed， anxious and leading to heart disease， diabetes and other chronic diseases. Short-term stressfulness is one of the major features of interpreting job and at the same time it is inevitable. Obviously， stress affects the STM. Most importantly， stress is not all bad. Some kinds of acute stress are beneficial. According to recent scientific researches（Caroline Latham， 2006）， prolonged exposure to stress can kill the neurons in the hippocampus， stifle the new cells growth， and injure human beings memory. However short-term stress may improve attention and STM. This ‘Brain Yoga can speed up peoples slow response， sharpen their mind. Dr Robert Sapolsky put it this way in his book Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers， that humans uniquely ‘can get stressed simply with thought， turning on the same stress response as does the zebra. but zebra releases the stress hormones when it is confronted with life-threatened dangers and through life-preserving action.

Furthermore， according to my own experiments when doing SI， and based on my colleagues personal experiences， it is quite true that noisy environment， bad mood and hunger can all shorten or cast adverse effects on STM. As Angle， an experienced interpreter with KL Communications Ltd.， put it， when working in the booth， starvation or over-eating can both cause absence of mind. Furthermore， those who are relatively elder， about over 50， prefer to close their eyes when doing interpreting. Thus， the redundant information， such as inferences from outside， depression， stress， and hunger take up a significant space of the storage of memory， disrupting or replacing language input， making people less able to do perform well.

Conclusion

Nowadays， as the globalisation continues to grow and the political and commercial ties among different language speakers are becoming intense， the demand for interpreters are rising to a new level. Studies STM in SI is therefore quite vital. All in all， broadening the storage capacity is essential and necessary， asking people to pay more attention on memory training. Meanwhile， there are such factors as stress， emotions， outer interference should be dealt with carefully. If we take good advantage of them or intentionally evade harmful situation， they are certain to help interpreters to have satisfactory performance and increase their efficiency.

References：

[1]A.F.Healy（2004）Short-term Memory，Cognitive Psychology of International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences.

[2]Antonio Damasio（2003）Looking for Spinoza：Joy，Sorrow，and the Feeling Brain，Mariner Books.