EEC-1132648

1. Problem:
TEPR observed in many single-participant settings. Our lab does not have a demonstration of TEPR in two-person settings.

2. Goal:
Demonstrate changes pupil diameter (due to changes in cognitive load) during a structured, rapid verbal exchange (task) between two participants. Constraint: last-letter game

3. Hypothesis:
Pupil size will increase during a participants turn, decrease during other participants turn

4. Method:
Equipment:

Task:
Last letter game:

5. Results
The Mean Pupil Diameter Change was positive when each of the participants were thinking and negative when participants were at rest

- Two remote eye trackers

- Eye trackers on driving simulator dashboard - Example Sequence: Letter - R, Participant 1 RailroaD, Participant 2 DovE, Participant 1 EvolvE, Participant 2 Elephant - Each subjects says 3 words before the next letter is given - Letter sequence used: R, V, Q, Y

Measurements:

Mean Pupil Diameter Change (with standard error)

- Left pupil diameter

- Corrections for blinking and not tracking

- Mean Pupil Diameter Change (MPDC): mean pupil diameter during task (thinking/resting) minus overall mean pupil diameter for a participant

Pupil size change over seconds. Blue vertical lines represent a letter, green vertical lines represent participant 1 speaking, and orange vertical lines represent participant 2 speaking

Participants:
-8 participants (3 male, 5 female) all over the age of 18 - 6 teachers participating in the RETE program this summer - Time recorded when word was spoken

- It is difficult to see a clean increase and decrease in pupil size over a matter of seconds between the spoken words

6. Conclusion:
Mean pupil diameter shows major changes in pupil diameter when a participant is thinking and when a participant is at rest during a structured verbal exchange

Acknowledgments:

Dr. Andrew Kun, UNH Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Dr. Steve Hale and Dr. Brad Kinsey, UNH RETE coordinators National Science Foundation - Research Experience For Teachers (RET)

7. Future Work
- Investigation of changes in pupil diameter during less structured verbal exchange between two participants.