Pupil responses signal less inhibition for own relative to other names

Abstract

Previous research suggests that self-relevant stimuli, such as one's own name, attract more attention than stimuli that are not self-relevant. In two experiments, we examined to which extent the own name is also less prone to inhibition than other names using a Go/NoGo approach. The pupil diameter was employed as psychophysiological indicator of attention. A total of 36 subjects performed various categorization tasks, with their own name and other names. Whereas in Go-trials, pupil dilation for own and other names did not differ, in NoGo-trials, significant larger pupil dilations were obtained for subjects' own names compared to other names. This difference was especially pronounced at larger intervals after stimulus onset, suggesting that inhibitory processing was less effective with one's own name.