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Pupillary responses and processing resources on the visual backward masking task

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 January 2001

STEVEN P. VERNEY ,
ERIC GRANHOLM  and
DAPHNE P. DIONISIO
STEVEN P. VERNEY
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, USA
ERIC GRANHOLM
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, USA Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System, California, USA
DAPHNE P. DIONISIO
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Diego, USA
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Abstract

Task-evoked pupillary responses were recorded during a visual backward masking task as an index of resource allocation. Increased pupillary dilation indicates increased allocation of processing resources to the task. Consistent with numerous studies, detection accuracy increased with longer interstimulus intervals and approximated no-mask accuracy in the 300-ms condition. Pupillary dilation responses were significantly greater during task performance (cognitive load) than during a passive stimulus viewing condition (no-load) and were significantly greater in the 300-ms condition than the no-mask condition. Consistent with models of early visual information processing, the results suggest that the mask demanded extra processing resources when it followed the target by more than 100 ms. Pupillography methods may be useful in evaluating the contribution and timing of resource-demanding processes during early visual information processing.

Keywords

Information processingPerceptionAttentionPupillary responseCognitionProcessing resources
Type
Research Article
Information
Psychophysiology , Volume 38 , Issue 1 , January 2001 , pp. 76 - 83
Copyright
2001 Society for Psychophysiological Research

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