Journal Paper Published

Abstract

This study examines how time pressure and resource constraint (limited access to external aids and reference materials) function as potential stressors affecting cognitive processing and performance in translation. Employing a multimethod approach that combines psychophysiological measures (heart rate, skin conductance, pupil size, and self-reported anxiety) with behavioural data from eye-tracking and keylogging, the study investigates translators’ adaptation to these stressors. Findings reveal that both stressors significantly elevate pupil size, heart rate and skin conductance, while resource constraint alone does not elicit anxiety. Both stressors increase cognitive load during comprehension but not during production, indicating that comprehension is more susceptible to stress. Resource availability alleviates cognitive load yet extends engagement during comprehension. Behaviourally, both stressors tend to decrease the proportion of long pauses and increase short pauses, though time pressure does not significantly reduce long-pause proportions, suggesting that translators adapt to stress primarily by condensing cognitive activities, while certain complex subtasks remain resistant to time constraints. Resource availability tends to shift source-text processing to shorter pauses and target-text processing to longer pauses. Importantly, time pressure emerges as the primary driver of translation quality degradation. These findings deepen our understanding of translation’s cognitive mechanisms and translators’ adaptive strategies under stressful conditions.

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