{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T13:51:57Z","timestamp":1791381117755,"version":"4.3.3"},"reference-count":51,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1791331200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Psychol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Common machine translation evaluation metrics, such as the Bilingual Evaluation Understudy (BLEU) and Crosslingual Optimized Metric for Evaluation of Translation (COMET) are reliable measures of propositional fidelity and surface fluency but systematically ignore the embodied texture of reading, leaving unexplained why high-scoring AI translations still feel flat to readers despite formal accuracy. The Embodied Translation Quality Assessment (E-TQA) framework was developed based on embodied cognition theory to operationalize three key dimensions of cross-language comprehension: sensorimotor simulation, affective-cultural resonance, and processing friction. To validate this framework, a counterbalanced Latin-square design was employed with 192 English-major participants. Six literary and culturally loaded excerpts were each presented in three rigorously matched conditions. Published professional human translations, and translations from DeepSeek and ChatGPT, with all versions controlled for BLEU (\u00b11.2 points) and COMET (\u00b10.04 points) to isolate embodied variation from semantic equivalence. Participants completed the Self-Assessment Manikin and E-TQA scales after each excerpt, and data were analyzed via linear mixed-effects models, reporting partial \u03b7\n                    <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                    as effect size. Human texts were consistently rated higher than both AI conditions in sensorimotor imagery, affective resonance, valence, and arousal, whereas AI texts were rated much higher in phenomenological flatness and cognitive effort. All critical indices showed medium to large effect sizes (\u03b7\n                    <jats:sub>\n                      <jats:italic>p<\/jats:italic>\n                    <\/jats:sub>\n                    <jats:sup>2<\/jats:sup>\n                    = 0.15\u20130.35) and were consistent across educational levels and text genres. These results offer evidence for a dissociation of propositional accuracy and embodied richness, showing that the E-TQA framework accounts for unique variance in reader experience beyond that explained by standard computational metrics. The work advances translation quality assessment by centering embodied cognition, provides a psychometrically sound complement to existing tools, and motivates future multimodal investigations of cross-language processing mechanisms.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1915913","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T12:58:36Z","timestamp":1791377916000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["When AI translations fall flat: embodied simulation and effort in cross-language reading"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Zeli","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Foreign Languages, Lanzhou Jiaotong University","place":["Lanzhou, Gansu, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2508031","DOI":"10.1080\/23311983.2025.2508031","article-title":"Artificial intelligence tools and literary translation: a comparative investigation of ChatGPT and Google Translate from novice and advanced EFL student translators' perspectives","volume":"12","author":"Abdelhalim","year":"2025","journal-title":"Cogent Arts Humanit."},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"243","DOI":"10.1080\/15213269.2014.987400","article-title":"The transportation scale-short form","volume":"18","author":"Appel","year":"2015","journal-title":"Media Psychol."},{"key":"B3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"390","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jml.2007.12.005","article-title":"Mixed-effects modeling with crossed random effects for subjects and items","volume":"59","author":"Baayen","year":"2008","journal-title":"J. Mem. Lang."},{"key":"B4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"255","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jml.2012.11.001","article-title":"Random effects structure for confirmatory hypothesis testing: Keep it maximal","volume":"68","author":"Barr","year":"2013","journal-title":"J. Mem. Lang."},{"key":"B5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"617","DOI":"10.1146\/annurev.psych.59.103006.093639","article-title":"Grounded cognition","volume":"59","author":"Barsalou","year":"2008","journal-title":"Annu. Rev. Psychol."},{"key":"B6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v067.i01","article-title":"Fitting linear mixed-effects models using lme4","volume":"67","author":"Bates","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Stat. Softw."},{"key":"B7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"389","DOI":"10.1037\/met0000159","article-title":"Linear mixed-effects models and the analysis of nonindependent data: A unified framework to analyze categorical and continuous independent variables that vary within-subjects and\/or within-items","volume":"23","author":"Brauer","year":"2018","journal-title":"Psychol. Methods"},{"key":"B8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"321","DOI":"10.1080\/15213260903287259","article-title":"Measuring narrative engagement","volume":"12","author":"Busselle","year":"2009","journal-title":"Media Psychol."},{"key":"B9","first-page":"1","article-title":"On the human-machine coordination mechanism in AI-driven translation","author":"Chen","year":"2026","journal-title":"J. Hunan First Norm. Univ."},{"key":"B10","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2631304","DOI":"10.1080\/23311983.2026.2631304","article-title":"Prompt-induced cultural mediation and its limits: a micro-level analysis of LLM translation of Chinese tourism texts","volume":"13","author":"Chen","year":"2026","journal-title":"Cogent Arts Humanit."},{"key":"B11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.17265\/1539-8072\/2023.09.005","article-title":"Context-based AI translation from a globalization perspective: a case study of ChatGPT","volume":"20","author":"Cheng","year":"2023","journal-title":"Sino-US Engl. Teach."},{"key":"B12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1122","DOI":"10.1162\/tacl_a_00689","article-title":"Do language models enjoy their own stories?","volume":"12","author":"Chhun","year":"2024","journal-title":"Prompting large language models for automatic story evaluation. Trans. Assoc. Comput. Linguist."},{"key":"B13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.4324\/9780203771587","volume-title":"Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences","author":"Cohen","year":"2013"},{"key":"B14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1951194","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1951194","article-title":"Rethinking the embodiment of language: challenges and future horizons","volume":"17","author":"Cuccio","year":"2026","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."},{"key":"B15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1080\/29984750.2026.2619748","article-title":"Deconstructing the bubble of AI translation: translation as embodied creativity","author":"Cultrera","year":"2026","journal-title":"Philo. Trans."},{"key":"B16","first-page":"20","article-title":"Survey on quality estimation for machine translation outputs","volume":"36","author":"Deng","year":"2022","journal-title":"J. Chin. Info. Process."},{"key":"B17","first-page":"61","article-title":"Machine translation literacy in the age of GenAI","volume":"46","author":"Dorst","year":"2024","journal-title":"Transl. Comp."},{"key":"B18","first-page":"9","article-title":"Quality evaluation of machine Chinese-English translation in the era of artificial intelligence","volume":"43","author":"Duan","year":"2025","journal-title":"Digit. Technol. Appl."},{"key":"B19","first-page":"1410242","article-title":"Embodied cognition in second-language reading: Evidence from eye-tracking and pupillometry","volume":"18","author":"Fang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"175","DOI":"10.3758\/BF03193146","article-title":"G Power 3: a flexible statistical power analysis program for the social, behavioral, and biomedical sciences","volume":"39","author":"Faul","year":"2007","journal-title":"Behav. Res. Methods"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1017\/CBO9780511805844","author":"Gibbs","year":"2006","journal-title":"Embodiment and Cognitive Science"},{"key":"B22","first-page":"5","article-title":"How reading comprehension is embodied and why that matters","volume":"4","author":"Glenberg","year":"2011","journal-title":"Int. Electron. J. Elem. Educ."},{"key":"B23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"573","DOI":"10.1177\/1745691613498098","article-title":"From the revolution to embodiment: 25 years of cognitive psychology","volume":"8","author":"Glenberg","year":"2013","journal-title":"Perspect. Psychol. Sci."},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"701","DOI":"10.1037\/0022-3514.79.5.701","article-title":"The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives","volume":"79","author":"Green","year":"2000","journal-title":"J. Pers. Soc. Psychol."},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"215","DOI":"10.1075\/target.22134.gue","article-title":"To be or not to be: a translation reception study of a literary text translated into Dutch and Catalan using machine translation","volume":"36","author":"Guerberof-Arenas","year":"2024","journal-title":"Target"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1681007","DOI":"10.3389\/feduc.2025.1681007","article-title":"Nostalgia-driven and AI-empowered: a tripartite efficacy evaluation framework for poetic imagery translation","volume":"10","author":"Hou","year":"2026","journal-title":"Front. Educ."},{"key":"B27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"84","DOI":"10.1017\/langcog.2026.10062","article-title":"Mental imagery effects in bilingual phrasal verb comprehension","volume":"18","author":"Hu","year":"2026","journal-title":"Lang. Cogn."},{"key":"B28","first-page":"689","article-title":"The effect of L2 proficiency on L1 and L2 embodied effects in a bilingual context","volume":"17","author":"Ito","year":"2025","journal-title":"Lang. Cogn."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","author":"Johnson","year":"1987","DOI":"10.7208\/chicago\/9780226177847.001.0001"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"89","DOI":"10.1075\/ssol.4.1.05kui","article-title":"Exploring absorbing reading experiences: seveloping and validating the Story World Absorption Scale (SWAS)","volume":"4","author":"Kuijpers","year":"2014","journal-title":"Sci. Study Lit."},{"key":"B31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v082.i13","article-title":"lmerTest package: tests in linear mixed effects models","volume":"82","author":"Kuznetsova","year":"2017","journal-title":"J. Stat. Softw."},{"key":"B32","first-page":"21","article-title":"The evolution and integration of research paradigms in cognitive translation process studies","volume":"43","author":"Lang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Chin. Transl. J."},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"145","DOI":"10.24003\/emitter.v11i2.812","article-title":"Human-machine translation model evaluation based on artificial intelligence translation","volume":"11","author":"Li","year":"2023","journal-title":"EMITTER Int. J.f Eng. Technol."},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"10","DOI":"10.22363\/2521-442X-2025-9-1-10-27","article-title":"Mind vs. machine: comparative analysis of metaphor-related word translation by human and AI systems","volume":"9","author":"Li","year":"2025","journal-title":"Train. Lang. Cult."},{"key":"B35","first-page":"269","article-title":"A study of rhetoric recognition and translation quality of generative artificial intelligence","author":"Liu","year":"2025","journal-title":"Stud.Educ. Linguist"},{"key":"B36","first-page":"1","article-title":"Survey on automatic evaluation of neural machine translation outputs: a review","volume":"37","author":"Liu","year":"2023","journal-title":"J. Chin. Info. Process."},{"key":"B37","first-page":"606","article-title":"A new paradigm for translation studies: a review of cognitive translatology","volume":"45","author":"Lu","year":"2013","journal-title":"Foreign Lang. Teach. Res."},{"key":"B38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.1093\/oxfordhb\/9780198735410.001.0001","author":"Newen","year":"2018","journal-title":"The Oxford Handbook of 4E Cognition"},{"key":"B39","volume-title":"Psychometric Theory","author":"Nunnally","year":"1994"},{"key":"B40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pneurobio.2017.07.001","article-title":"Neural reuse of action perception circuits for language, concepts and communication","volume":"160","author":"Pulverm\u00fcller","year":"2018","journal-title":"Prog. Neurobiol."},{"key":"B41","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"2472916","DOI":"10.1080\/23311886.2025.2472916","article-title":"ChatGPT translation vs. human translation: an examination of a literary text","volume":"11","author":"Rousan","year":"2025","journal-title":"Cogent Soc. Sci."},{"key":"B42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1410242","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2024.1410242","article-title":"Embodied cognition and L2 sentence comprehension: an eye-tracking study of motor representations","volume":"18","author":"Shiang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"B43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"389","DOI":"10.1007\/s44163-025-00487-3","article-title":"Artificial intelligence contribution to translation industry: looking back and forward","volume":"5","author":"Shormani","year":"2025","journal-title":"Discov. Artif. Intell"},{"key":"B44","first-page":"1","article-title":"Automatic evaluation of machine translation output incorporating translation difficulty","author":"Tang","year":"2026","journal-title":"Acta Scientiarum Naturalium Universitatis Pekinensis"},{"key":"B45","article-title":"Human readers' subjective experience of neural machine translation: a systematic review","author":"Van Brussel","year":"2025","journal-title":"J. Pragmat."},{"key":"B46","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1425576","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2024.1425576","article-title":"Perceptual representations in L1 and L2 spatial and abstract language processing: applying an innovative sentence-diagram verification paradigm","volume":"18","author":"Wang","year":"2024","journal-title":"Front. Hum. Neurosci."},{"key":"B47","first-page":"25","article-title":"A survey on the application of AI-assisted machine translation tools in China's language service industry","volume":"2","author":"Wang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Technol. Enhan. Foreign Lang. Educ."},{"key":"B48","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1018","DOI":"10.1017\/S1366728925100588","article-title":"The abstract concept of perceived power is embodied to a lesser extent in the second language","volume":"29","author":"Wei","year":"2026","journal-title":"Biling. Lang. Cogn."},{"key":"B49","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"226","DOI":"10.1080\/23306343.2026.2673630","article-title":"Book review: Micha\u0142 Kornacki and Paulina Pietrzak. Hybrid workflows in translation: integrating GenAI into translator training","volume":"13","author":"Xu","year":"2026","journal-title":"Asia Pac. Transl. Intercult. Stud."},{"key":"B50","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"234","DOI":"10.1080\/1750399X.2025.2541478","article-title":"Investigating novice translation students' AI literacy in translation education","volume":"19","author":"Zhang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Interpre. Transl. Train."},{"key":"B51","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1618531","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2025.1618531","article-title":"Embodied empathy in translation studies: enhancing global readers' cognitive and emotional engagement with translations of traditional Chinese medicine terminology","volume":"16","author":"Zhou","year":"2025","journal-title":"Front. Psychol."}],"container-title":["Frontiers in Psychology"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1915913\/full","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]],"date-time":"2026-10-07T12:58:40Z","timestamp":1791377920000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.frontiersin.org\/articles\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1915913\/full"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"references-count":51,"alternative-id":["10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1915913"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/fpsyg.2026.1915913","relation":{},"ISSN":["1664-1078"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1664-1078","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,7]]},"article-number":"1915913"}}