Abstract

In this thesis, three studies (10 experiments) were reported in which five previously overlooked influences on visual working memory were identified. 1. Influence of achievement emotions: Achievement emotions induced by visual working memory tasks are linked to task performance. Positive emotions are positively linked and negative emotions are negatively linked to task performance. 2. Influence of relative salience: In a dense (complex) display, the relative salience of each target is a major predicting factor of task performance. The more salient targets are recalled more precisely than the less salient ones (Chapter 2.2). In a sense, the more salient targets are winning the competition against less salient targets. 3. Influence of absolute salience: To remove the bias in the aforementioned competition, we equated the targets’ saliencies and the effects of (absolute) salience remained. Performance for displays with more salient targets was better than for displays with less salient targets (Chapter 2.2). Thus, on top of winning the competition (relative salience), how much an object stands out from its surroundings (absolute salience) also has a strong influence on performance. 4. Interaction between salience and encoding time: Varying the presentation time of the memory display revealed that the effect of salience appears almost instantaneously and remains (though weaker) even with long encoding times (Chapter 2.3). 5. Interaction between salience, presentation time and conflicting task-goals: Conflicting task-goals (i.e., decreasing the more salient targets’ relevance) were not enough to counteract the effects of salience at relatively short presentation time. The goal-driven manipulation remained inefficient even at long presentation times (Chapter 2.3), while the combined goal- and experience-driven manipulation successfully erased the effect of salience with long presentation times (Chapter 2.3). However, this merely compensated the effect of salience rather than fully dominating it.