Does Audio-Visual Interactions affect Working Memory Performance? Evidence using Non-Semantic Stimuli
Poster Presentation

Serena Mastroberardino
Department of Psychology University of Rome "La Sapienza"

Valerio Santangelo
Department of Psychology University of Rome "La Sapienza"

Fabiano Botta

Francesco Saverio Marucci

Marta Olivetti Belardinelli
Department of Psychology University of Rome "La Sapienza"

     Abstract ID Number: 114
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: March 17, 2006
     Presentation date: 06/19/2006 4:00 PM in Hamilton Building, Foyer
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
The impact of bimodal stimulation on working memory has been examined in several studies. Typically, bimodal presentation (picture plus sound) leads to an enhancement of participants performance compared to unimodal presentation (either a picture or a sound). This enhancement can be attributed either to early stage of processing (e.g., automatic alerting effect) or a late stages of processing, as postulated by the dual coding theory. Previous studies exclusively used semantic stimuli to investigate this phenomenon, making the nature of this effect still unclear. In this study we used a n-back procedure, in which participants were asked to detect an item seen n-position before in a stream of stimuli, using unimodal (either visual or auditory) or bimodal (both visual and auditory) non-semantic stimuli presentation. We found a significant enhancement in participants performance for bimodal stimuli presentation, indicating that there might be an involvement of very early pre-semantic stages of memory processes.