Effects of illumination and meter on spontaneous eyeblinks

Abstract

The hypothesis that blinking acts as a mask on visual information processing was tested. Twenty-four undergraduates listened to verbal presentations of poetry and random digits under illuminated or darkness conditions. Results indicated that the subjects' blink rates were significantly depressed during presentation of material relative to dead space paused. Results were contrary to the masking hypothesis.It has been suggested by Tarlow (1972, 1975) and Wegmann and Weber (1973) that changes in illumination caused by spontaneous eyeblinks may constitute a disruptive influence during the processing of visual information. The reason for this might be a masking process associated with blink-induced illumination change. There is some evidence bearing on this hypothesis. Yarbus (1967) states that the entire blink response, which begins with a slight upward rotation of the eyeballs, continues with the closing of the lid, the blackout period, and the opening of the eyelids to the full open position, will occupy up to .2 sec. (The blackout period is defmed as the period in which the upper and lower eyelids touch.) Lawson (1948) reported that the blackout period itself occupies between .03 and .10 sec. Thus, these figures taken together indicate that the blackout period of the eyeblink constitutes from 15% to 50% of the entire eyeblink process. Additional literature also has a bearing on the hy-. pothesis. Telford and Thompson (1933) determined that spontaneous blink rates vary with the type of mental task. This fmding was extended to include the difficulty of the task (Gregory, 1952;Holland & Tarlow, 1972, 1975Luckiesh, 1944). Typical results show a U-shaped curve across the time course of a single trial which indicates an intermediate-level blink rate during times of no concentration, followed by a depression of blink rates during both the presentation and processing of information, followed by a flurry of eye blinks at the completion of the mental task. Quite often the recovery interval blink rates appear to exceed the base blink rates, suggesting that there is an effort to "catch up" on one's blinking after release from a mental processing task. Ponder and Kennedy (1927) 163 blindness or in darkness. They present evidence that blinking is an internally generated activity which is only minimally influenced by peripheral external conditions, such as dryness of the cornea or illumination levels. But it remains to be determined whether the subjects' blink function in different illumination conditions can be related to information processing requirements during a trial.In this paper we propose several hypotheses relating blink rate and information processing. The masking hypothesis is concerned with why the blink rate during a trial decreases when information is presented and processed. It would state that blinking diminishes during information processing because blinking-induced illumination changes will serve to mask ongoing information processing. Blinking avoidance would then have the adaptive function of not inte...

A Mixed-Methods Approach Using Self-Report, Observational Time Series Data, and Content Analysis for Process Analysis of a Media Reception Phenomenon

“…However, research suggests that blinks are not purely following physiological necessities, but are subject to other internal and external influences, as well. Researchers have described blinking behavior as an indicator for cognitive activity (Malmstrom et al, 1977), and have found that blink timing depends on complexity and attentional demands of a task (Stern et al, 1984). Blinking has been described as an indicator for, or possibly even a component of processes around shifts in cognitive state (Oh et al, 2012).…”