Università di Torino Centro di Scienza Cognitiva Via Po

Acknowledgments I would like to thank my supervisor: my tough and fruitful PhD years have been characterized by collaborating with Vincenzo Lombardo. I thank the of Turin, and the head of the Center, Bruno Bara: in these years, I took advantage of their support, as well. For what pertains the thesis, I'm truly indebted with Monica Buccia-relli, for her precious advices about the experimentation, and many other aspects. Thanks to Roberto Esposito, who kindly helped me by discussing various technical aspects; thanks to Luca Anselma, who has been involved in the earlier steps of my work, and provided me with many suggestions ever since then. Finally, I thank the reviewers: Rens Bod, Richard Parncutt and Andrea Valle. Their keen comments were helpful both for correcting spot errors, and for suggesting substantial future improvements.