Establishing a theoretical framework for AVT research: the importance of cognitive models

Empirical research on the cognitive processing of audiovisual translation (AVT) products has been thriving over the past decade. While the use of cutting-edge experimental tools such as eye trackers has drawn increasing scholarly attention and accelerated the progress in understanding the complex mental processes involved in the reception of multimodal AVT products, relatively less attention has been devoted to the importance of establishing a theoretical framework or cognitive model that can explain and predict the behaviours observed in empirical experiments. By reviewing numerous theories or cognitive models relevant to AVT research in explaining how different perceptual and cognitive systems operate for understanding multimodal products, this paper calls for engagement with these theoretical frameworks and models to work towards a robust model that can generate testable hypotheses for the integration and interaction of multiple sources of information involved in the processing of AVT or other multimodal products.