Exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye-tracking and EEG technology
Abstract Metaphor translation is a complex cognitive process. Previous studies have generally relied on traditional testing methods that primarily focus on completed translation works. The use of dynamic and procedural experimental methods for detection is still lacking. Going beyond previous studie...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2025-05-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-03248-5 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1849731028323663872 |
|---|---|
| author | Ting Liu Yan Wang Zhisheng Wang Hao Yu |
| author_facet | Ting Liu Yan Wang Zhisheng Wang Hao Yu |
| author_sort | Ting Liu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Metaphor translation is a complex cognitive process. Previous studies have generally relied on traditional testing methods that primarily focus on completed translation works. The use of dynamic and procedural experimental methods for detection is still lacking. Going beyond previous studies, the current research utilizes eye-tracking and EEG technology to simultaneously record and analyze eye movement indicators and alpha band activity during the metaphor translation process. Eye movement indicators reflect cognitive effort in the context of source text (ST) comprehension, while the alpha band reflects divergent thinking during the translation output stage of the target text (TT). The participants were professional and student translators. The results indicate that the translators exert more cognitive effort in the metaphor translation process compared to the non-metaphor translation process. Additionally, they demonstrate more effective divergent thinking during metaphor translation tasks than during non-metaphor translation tasks. Furthermore, professional translators require less cognitive effort and maintaining a more stable level of divergent thinking. These empirical results suggest that metaphor translation requires not only linguistic abilities for cognitive processing but also divergent thinking skills to find the most appropriate translation solutions. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-84dc24516ad34f598e240d74a4d4df93 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj-art-84dc24516ad34f598e240d74a4d4df932025-08-20T03:08:40ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-05-0115111210.1038/s41598-025-03248-5Exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye-tracking and EEG technologyTing Liu0Yan Wang1Zhisheng Wang2Hao Yu3School of International Business Communication, Dongbei University of Finance and EconomicsSchool of International Business Communication, Dongbei University of Finance and EconomicsResearch Institute of Photonics, Dalian Polytechnic UniversitySchool of Information and Communication Engineering, Dalian University of TechnologyAbstract Metaphor translation is a complex cognitive process. Previous studies have generally relied on traditional testing methods that primarily focus on completed translation works. The use of dynamic and procedural experimental methods for detection is still lacking. Going beyond previous studies, the current research utilizes eye-tracking and EEG technology to simultaneously record and analyze eye movement indicators and alpha band activity during the metaphor translation process. Eye movement indicators reflect cognitive effort in the context of source text (ST) comprehension, while the alpha band reflects divergent thinking during the translation output stage of the target text (TT). The participants were professional and student translators. The results indicate that the translators exert more cognitive effort in the metaphor translation process compared to the non-metaphor translation process. Additionally, they demonstrate more effective divergent thinking during metaphor translation tasks than during non-metaphor translation tasks. Furthermore, professional translators require less cognitive effort and maintaining a more stable level of divergent thinking. These empirical results suggest that metaphor translation requires not only linguistic abilities for cognitive processing but also divergent thinking skills to find the most appropriate translation solutions.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-03248-5Metaphor translationCognitive effortDivergent thinkingEye movementAlpha band |
| spellingShingle | Ting Liu Yan Wang Zhisheng Wang Hao Yu Exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye-tracking and EEG technology Scientific Reports Metaphor translation Cognitive effort Divergent thinking Eye movement Alpha band |
| title | Exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye-tracking and EEG technology |
| title_full | Exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye-tracking and EEG technology |
| title_fullStr | Exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye-tracking and EEG technology |
| title_full_unstemmed | Exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye-tracking and EEG technology |
| title_short | Exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye-tracking and EEG technology |
| title_sort | exploring cognitive effort and divergent thinking in metaphor translation using eye tracking and eeg technology |
| topic | Metaphor translation Cognitive effort Divergent thinking Eye movement Alpha band |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-03248-5 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT tingliu exploringcognitiveeffortanddivergentthinkinginmetaphortranslationusingeyetrackingandeegtechnology AT yanwang exploringcognitiveeffortanddivergentthinkinginmetaphortranslationusingeyetrackingandeegtechnology AT zhishengwang exploringcognitiveeffortanddivergentthinkinginmetaphortranslationusingeyetrackingandeegtechnology AT haoyu exploringcognitiveeffortanddivergentthinkinginmetaphortranslationusingeyetrackingandeegtechnology |