Pupil dilation in response preparation

Abstract

This study examined changes in pupil size during response preparation in a finger-cuing task. Based on the Grouping Model of finger preparation [Adam, J.J., Hommel, B. and Umiltà, C., 2003b. Preparing for perception and action (I): the role of grouping in the response-cuing paradigm. Cognitive Psychology. 46, (3), 302–358.; Adam, J.J., Hommel, B. and Umiltà, C., 2005. Preparing for perception and action (II) Automatic and effortfull Processes in Response cuing. Visual Cognition. 12, (8), 1444–1473.], it was hypothesized that the selection and preparation of more difficult response sets would be accompanied by larger pupillary dilations. The results supported this prediction, thereby extending the validity of pupil size as a measure of cognitive load to the domain of response preparation.