The evaluation of working memory capacity (WMC) in signed language interpreters represents
a noticeable research gap in both cognitive psychology and interpreting studies.
This study compared two scoring methods – total items and proportion items – for an
English listening span task and an Auslan (Australian Sign Language) working memory
(WM) span task, which were administered to 31 professional Auslan/English interpreters.
Given the small sample size, results reveal that the total items measure was marginally
better than the proportion items measure in terms of psychometric properties. When used
for statistical analyses of the interpreters’ bilingual WMC, the two scoring methods yielded
the same result pattern occasionally, but they also produced discrepant outcomes at
times. Unlike the proportion items measure, the total items measure did not reveal statistically
significant results. The total items measure was chosen as the final scoring method
for this study only. These findings indicate that researchers need to be aware of methodological
issues when they create and score WM span tasks.
