Raveh, D;
(2015)
Establishing pupillary response as a measure of perceptual load and detection.
Doctoral thesis , UCL (University College London).
Abstract
In support of load theory are abundant demonstrations that higher perceptual load results in performance costs and increased activity in frontoparietal attention network in response to the primary task; and reduced detection ability and cortical response to visual stimuli, outside the focus of attention. Recent research has also established a contrast between the effects of visual short-term memory (VSTM) load and working memory (WM) cognitive control load on visual detection. However, the effects on auditory detection remain less clear. Moreover, to date, there is no physiological marker of the effects of the different types of load on either visual or auditory detection. In this thesis I clarify the cross-modal effects of the different load types and establish pupillometry as a physiological measure of the effects of load on detection both within-vision and across vision and hearing. In a series of experiments, participants performed a primary task of either low or high load (in perception, cognitive control, or VSTM), while also detecting a visual or auditory stimulus. High perceptual and VSTM load increased pupillary dilations and reduced detection sensitivity and the associated pupillary response to both visual and auditory detection stimuli. In contrast, high WM cognitive control load (that increased task difficulty similarly to VSTM load), was just associated with a pupillary response to the memory task, but had no effect on either visual or auditory detection and the associated pupil response. This ruled out alternative accounts for the effects on detection and the related pupil response in terms of general task difficulty or in terms of general ‘cognitive load’. Together, the results in this thesis establish pupillometry as a measure of the impact of perceptual and VSTM load on visual and auditory detection, demonstrating effects of attention on perception that can be measured in daily-life functioning in our multisensory world.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Title: | Establishing pupillary response as a measure of perceptual load and detection |
| Event: | UCL (University College London) |
| Language: | English |
| UCL classification: | UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Div of Psychology and Lang Sciences |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1470006 |
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