Abstract
The present dissertation adopts the format of a collection of articles. It brings together a series of original studies on working memory that have been designed and conducted during the course of my PhD. All the articles presented are at different stages of the publication process. Each study is preceded by a brief clarification about the state of the research at the time of the submission of this thesis. Although the text has been adapted to present a coherent format throughout the chapters, the content remains identical to the standalone version of the papers.
In Chapter 1, a theoretical introduction to memory is presented. Memory is introduced as a nonunitary object, but a complex system of cognitive processes articulated in distinct but
interconnected components. The main components of memory, long-term memory and working memory, are presented in detail. Particular attention is paid to the description of Working memory, since it plays a central role throughout the dissertation. Two different models of working memory are illustrated: a classic and well-known one, and another relatively new model that tries to find a solution to the limits of the former.
In Chapter 2, a study on the relationship between cognitive load and information storage is reported. The study attempts to test and extend the theoretical model of working memory called Time-Based Resource Sharing, introduced in the previous chapter. The results found in the study are extended through an additional experiment. An unexpected outcome of these experiments led to the design of the study presented in Chapter 3.
Chapter 3 presents a study that aimed at investigating the cognitive mechanisms underlying the processing of serial order information. More specifically, the objective of the study is to determine whether maintaining information about the items of a series and about their order are two separate operations or they are a unique process.
In Chapter 4, two related studies are reported. The studies aim at exploring the processing of social/emotive information in working memory. The first study is a validation of the stimuli used in the second study. An interesting difference between men and women emerged in how they reported perceiving emotion intensity. The second study aims to explore how different emotions are encoded and updated in working memory. In addition, the difference in processing emotive information between men and women is investigated.
Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes the main results of the studies collected in the previous chapters and points to possible future directions for the research topics.