Behavioral Indicators and Verbal Judgments in the Perception of Translation Quality: A Cognitive Experimental Study

This study investigates the cognitive dynamics of translation-related evaluation by comparing online behavioral responses with retrospective verbal reports. Using a 2 × 2 within-subject design, 44 Chinese–English bilingual participants evaluated English translations of Chinese haiku-like texts in a judgment task. Two factors were manipulated: phrase order (congruent vs. incongruent) and local semantic expression type (literal vs. non-literal). Response times (RTs), rating scores, and post-task interview data were collected. The results showed a divergence across indicators. Phrase order significantly affected both RTs and rating scores, with congruent structures associated with faster responses and higher ratings. However, most participants did not report phrase order as a relevant factor in their verbal explanations. In contrast, semantic expression type influenced RTs but did not produce reliable differences in rating scores. Importantly, a significant interaction between phrase order and semantic expression type was observed in rating data but not in RTs. This pattern suggests that sensitivity to local semantic variation may depend on structural processing conditions during evaluative judgment. These findings indicate that behavioral indicators and verbal judgments capture different aspects of translation-related processing and evaluation. While RTs provide a sensitive index of processing effort, rating scores reflect more global evaluative outcomes, and verbal reports capture participants’ retrospective interpretations. These findings are discussed within the framework of dual-system theory, demonstrating how implicit cognitive processing (primarily indexed by response times) and explicit conscious reflections offer complementary insights into the perception of translation quality. The findings also highlight the value of combining behavioral and metacognitive methods in studying translation evaluation.