Cited by 235Gaze Tracking and Assistive TechnologyNeural and Behavioral Psychology StudiesHuman-Automation Interaction and Safety

Methods in cognitive pupillometry: Design, preprocessing, and statistical analysis

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Mathôt, Sebastiaan, Vilotijević, Ana·2022·Behavior Research Methods

Published version of a preprint

Abstract

Cognitive pupillometry is the measurement of pupil size to investigate cognitive processes such as attention, mental effort, working memory, and many others. Currently, there is no commonly agreed-upon methodology for conducting cognitive-pupillometry experiments, and approaches vary widely between research groups and even between different experiments from the same group. This lack of consensus makes it difficult to know which factors to consider when conducting a cognitive-pupillometry experiment. Here we provide a comprehensive, hands-on guide to methods in cognitive pupillometry, with a focus on trial-based experiments in which the measure of interest is the task-evoked pupil response to a stimulus. We cover all methodological aspects of cognitive pupillometry: experimental design, preprocessing of pupil-size data, and statistical techniques to deal with multiple comparisons when testing pupil-size data. In addition, we provide code and toolboxes (in Python) for preprocessing and statistical analysis, and we illustrate all aspects of the proposed workflow through an example experiment and example scripts.

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  • Because no specific time window was preregistered for the pupil expectancy hypothesis, cross-validation was used to extract samples from the whole response time window.

    “We did not preregister a specific time window to assess our hypotheses regarding the effect of expectancy on pupil sizes; thus, we use cross-validation to extract samples from the whole response time window as recommended by Mathôt and Vilotijević [39].”

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1 of the 107 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Van de Kraats, J., Smit, E. P., & Slooter, J. H. (1977). Objective perimetric measurements by the pupil balance method. Documenta Ophthalmologica Proceedings Series, 14, 213–219.
  2. Vilotijević A Mathôt S Covert shifts of attention towards the visual periphery induce pupil dilation 2022 bioRxiv 2022.07.14.500035

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Authors
Mathôt, S., & Vilotijević, A.
Affiliations
University of Groningen (NL)
Corresponding author
Mathôt, Sebastiaan
Venue
Behavior Research Methods
Published
2022-08-26
Volume
55
Issue
6
Pages
3055-3077
ISSN
  • 1554-351X (ISSN-L)
  • 1554-3528
OpenAlex
W4293794846
Cited by
235
References
107
Citations by year
2026: 65 · 2025: 95 · 2024: 46 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
20.78
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Behavior Research Methods (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • University of Groningen research database (University of Groningen / Centre for Information Technology) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • OSF Preprints (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek (VI.Vidi.191.045)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Human-Computer Interaction › Gaze Tracking and Assistive Technology
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neural and Behavioral Psychology Studies
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Human-Automation Interaction and Safety
Keywords
pupil size, experimental design, multiple comparisons, statistical analysis, attention, cognitive effort, working memory, Python library
MeSH terms
Attention, Cognition, Humans, Memory, Short-Term, Pupil, Research Design

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