Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3943-7845

Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Thesis (Ph.D.)

Department or Program

Psychological & Brain Sciences

First Advisor

Viola Störmer

Abstract

Visual working memory is thought to be strictly limited. Yet we remember meaningful, real-world objects better than abstract stimuli. Here I show that this advantage arises from the semantic structure of meaningful objects, not their perceptual features alone, and that it extends even to memory for associated features such as color. In the brain, meaningful objects elicit greater and more distributed delay activity, consistent with the recruitment of higher-level neural processes during maintenance. I propose that semantic knowledge adds representational dimensions that make items more distinctive, and that these dimensions are organized hierarchically with lower-level visual features. These findings recast the limits of visual working memory not as a fixed capacity, but as an ability that emerges from the interactions among the contents held in memory.

Original Citation

Chapter 1: Chung, Y. H., Brady, T. F.*, & Störmer, V. S.* (2024). Current Directions in Psychological Science, 33(5), 275-282. DOI: 10.1177/09637214241262334

Chapter 2: Chung, Y. H., Jung, S. S., Brady, T. F., & Störmer, V. S. (2026). PsyArXiv. DOI: 10.31234/osf.io/45qjn_v1

Chapter 3A: Chung, Y. H., Brady, T. F., & Störmer, V. S. (2023). Psychological Science, 34(7), 784-793. DOI: 10.1177/09567976231171339

Chapter 3B: Chung, Y. H., Brady, T. F., & Störmer, V. S. (2026). Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1162/JOCN.a.2427

Chapter 4: Chung, Y. H.*, Tam, J.*, Wyble, B., & Störmer, V. S. (2025). Journal of Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory, and Cognition, 51(1), 82-96. DOI: 10.1037/xlm0001339

Download

Share

COinS