The effects of information processing on pupil diameter were investigated. Results showed that pupil diameter was significantly greater than a baseline diameter when Ss were required to process information at 75 and 100% of their maximum capacity. However, when Ss were required to process information at a rate above their maximum capacity, the pupil constricted significantly below the baseline diameter. Pupil diameter may be a parameter which would identify points in time where mental overload occurs in a worker's job, and therefore identify areas of the job which should be redesigned if one wished to reduce mental overload.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
BeattyJ., & KahnemanD.Pupillary changes in two memory tasks. Psychonomic Science, 1966, 5, 371–372.
2.
GoldwaterB.Psychological significance of pupillary movements. Psychological Bulletin, 1972, 77, 340–355.
3.
HessE., & PoltJ.Pupil size in relation to mental activity during simple problem solving. Science, 1964, 140, 1190–1192.
4.
KahnemanD., BeattyJ., & PollackI.Perceptual deficit during a mental task. Science, 1967, 157, 218–219.
5.
PaivioA., & SimpsonH.The effect of word abstractness and pleasantness on pupil size during an imagery task. Psychonomic Science, 1966, 5, 55–56.
