ArticlePerception2022
The influence of pupil responses on subjective brightness perception.
Article in Perception, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Effects of Spatial Ambient Illumination on Pupil Diameter and Visual Acuity.Ophthalmic & physiological optics : the journal of the British College of Ophthalmic Opticians (Optometrists) · 2026Article
- Pupil Constriction Causes Activity in the Human Retina and Visual System.Psychophysiology · 2026Article
- A confound-free method to manipulate pupil size in psychological experiments.Psychonomic bulletin & review · 2026Article
- How Can We Size Your Core Issue? Assessing Salience Validity Using Psychophysiology.Public opinion quarterly · 2025Article
- Illusory light drives pupil responses in primates.Journal of vision · 2024Article
- Functional locus coeruleus imaging to investigate an ageing noradrenergic system.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Non-image-forming vision as measured through ipRGC-mediated pupil constriction is not modulated by covert visual attention.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2024Article
- Article
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Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
When the pupil dilates, the amount of light that falls onto the retina increases. However, in daily life, this does not make the world look brighter. Here we asked whether pupil size (resulting from active pupil movement) influences subjective brightness in the absence of indirect cues that, in daily life, support brightness constancy. We measured the subjective brightness of a tester stimulus relative to a referent as a function of pupil size during tester presentation. In Experiment 1, we manipulated pupil size through a secondary working-memory task (larger pupils with higher load and after errors). We found some evidence that the tester was perceived as darker, rather than brighter, when pupils were larger. In Experiment 2, we presented a red or blue display (larger pupils following red displays). We again found that the tester was perceived as darker when pupils were larger. We speculate that the visual system takes pupil size into account when making brightness judgments. Finally, we highlight the challenges associated with manipulating pupil size. In summary, the current study (as well as a recent pharmacological study on the same topic by another team) is intriguing first steps towards understanding the role of pupil size in brightness perception.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.