Pupillary response as a general measure of activation

Abstract

Pupil size was measured while 30 male college students undertook five tasks respectively concerning, (a) muscle tension induced by the lifting of weights, (b) fear induced by threat of a gunshot, (c) intense stimulation induced by loud pure tones, (d) heightened attention from viewing novel pictures, and (e) pleasantness and unpleasantness in reaction to pictures that differed in terms of their affect-inducing characteristics. Highly regular relationships were found between pupil size and degree of muscle strain and between pupil size and the temporal ordering of events during threat of a gunshot. Significant effects on pupil size also were found for the other three types of stimulation. © 1967 Psychonomic Press.