Vigilance Mechanisms Research Articles

The relationship between pupil size and recognition threshold

Words representing a broad range of emotional connotation (taboo, pleasant, and unpleasant) were presented both pupilometricatly and tachistoseopically to college students. As predicted, a statistically significant negative correlation was obtained between pupil diameter and recognition thresholds of the words. The results were interpreted as offering tentative support of the notion that the pupil response to emotional stimuli is the mechanism of perceptual defense and vigilance.