Silvestrin, Francesco, Penny, Will D. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9064-1191 and FitzGerald, Thomas H.B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3855-1591 (2021) Pupil dilation indexes automatic and dynamic inference about the precision of stimulus distributions. Journal of Mathematical Psychology, 101. ISSN 0022-2496
Preview |
PDF (Accepted_Manuscript)
- Accepted Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial No Derivatives. Download (1MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Learning about the statistics of one's environment is a fundamental requirement of adaptive behaviour. In this experiment we probe whether pupil dilation in response to brief auditory stimuli reflects automatic statistical learning about the underlying stimulus distributions. Specifically, we consider whether pupil dilation reflects automatic (task-irrelevant) learning about the precision of Gaussian distributions of pitch in a sequence of tones. We provide clear evidence, both by comparing responses to perceptually identical probe tones in low and high precision blocks, and using a novel model-based analysis, that subjects did indeed track the precision of the stimulus distribution. This extends previous work looking at electrophysiological effects of precision (or, equivalently, variance) learning, and provides new evidence that the putatively noradrenergic processes underlying pupil dilation reflect rapidly updated information about distributions of sensory stimuli. In addition, our study represents a validation of our model-based approach to analysing pupillometry data, which we believe has considerable promise for future studies.
Item Type: | Article |
---|---|
Uncontrolled Keywords: | auditory oddball,precision,predictive coding,pupillometry,statistical learning,surprise,psychology(all),applied mathematics,3*,uoa4 ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3200 |
Faculty \ School: | Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Psychology |
Related URLs: | |
Depositing User: | LivePure Connector |
Date Deposited: | 18 Mar 2021 00:42 |
Last Modified: | 29 Oct 2024 13:30 |
URI: | https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/79498 |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.jmp.2021.102503 |
Downloads
Downloads per month over past year
Actions (login required)
View Item |