Abstract
Pupillometry is a promising method for assessing mental workload and could be helpful in the optimization of systems that involve human-computer interaction. The present study focuses on replicating the pupil diameter study by Ahern (1978) for mental multiplications of varying difficulty, using an automatic remote eye tracker. Our results showed that the findings of Ahern were replicated and that the mean pupil diameter and mean pupil diameter change (MPDC) discriminated just as well between the three difficulty levels as did a self-report questionnaire of mental workload (NASA-TLX). A higher mean blink rate was observed during the multiplication period for the highest level of difficulty in comparison with the other two levels. Moderate to strong correlations were found between the MPDC and the proportion of incorrect responses, indicating that the MPDC was higher for participants with a lower performance. For practical applications, validity could be improved by combining pupillometry with other physiological techniques.
Highlights
Mental workload is an important psychological construct that is challenging to assess on a continuous basis
It can be seen that at all points in time, the mean pupil diameter (MPD) was higher for the higher levels of difficulty
Pupil diameter results The results showed that the MPD was higher for the higher levels of difficulty at all eight points of the calculation period, with Points 7 and 8 exhibiting the largest differences
Summary
Mental workload is an important psychological construct that is challenging to assess on a continuous basis. A commonly used definition of mental workload is the one proposed by Hart & Staveland (1988). These authors defined workload as “the cost incurred by a human operator to achieve a particular level of performance.” A valid and reliable assessment method of workload could be helpful in the optimization of systems that involve human–computer interaction, such as vehicles, computers, and simulators. How to cite this article Marquart and de Winter (2015), Workload assessment for mental arithmetic tasks using the task-evoked pupillary response.
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