Is accommodation a confounder in pupillometry research?

Title

Is accommodation a confounder in pupillometry research?

 Author

Kooijman, L. (TU Delft Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology) ORCID 0000-0002-0902-5752
Dodou, D. (TU Delft Medical Instruments & Bio-Inspired Technology) ORCID 0000-0002-9428-3261
Jansen, S. T. (Student TU Delft)
Themans, T. S. (Student TU Delft)
Russell, J. N.M. (Student TU Delft)
Petermeijer, S.M. (TU Delft Human-Robot Interaction) ORCID 0000-0002-8961-2884
Doorman, J. R.C. (Student TU Delft)
Hablé, J. H. (Student TU Delft)
Neubert, D. S. (Student TU Delft)
Vos, M. J.C. (Student TU Delft)
de Winter, J.C.F. (TU Delft Human-Robot Interaction) ORCID 0000-0002-1281-8200

 Date

2021

 Abstract

Much psychological research uses pupil diameter measurements to investigate the cognitive and emotional effects of visual stimuli. A potential problem is that accommodating at a nearby point causes the pupil to constrict. This study examined to what extent accommodation is a confounder in pupillometry research. Participants solved multiplication problems at different distances (Experiment 1) and looked at line drawings with different monocular depth cues (Experiment 2) while their pupil diameter, refraction, and vergence angle were recorded using a photorefractor. Experiment 1 showed that the pupils dilated while performing the multiplications, for all presentation distances. Pupillary constriction due to accommodation was not strong enough to override pupil dilation due to cognitive load. Experiment 2 showed that monocular depth cues caused a small shift in refraction in the expected direction. We conclude that, for the young student sample we used, pupil diameter measurements are not substantially affected by accommodation.


 Subject

Apparent depth
Cognitive load
Mental demands
Near triad
Pupil dilation
Pupillary near reflex

 To reference this document use:

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:56e71ab0-c07b-472c-a1eb-639ca5dc75fc

 DOI

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108046

 ISSN

0301-0511

 Source

Biological Psychology, 160

 Part of collection

Institutional Repository

 Document type

journal article

 Rights

© 2021 L. Kooijman, D. Dodou, S. T. Jansen, T. S. Themans, J. N.M. Russell, S.M. Petermeijer, J. R.C. Doorman, J. H. Hablé, D. S. Neubert, M. J.C. Vos, J.C.F. de Winter
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