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Within the field of Audiology, a reliable measure of cognitive load while listening to speech is highly needed. A promising method is measurement of the pupil response. The reliability and validity of this application of pupillometry is discussed by combining and comparing the results of five studies assessing the influence of speech perception difficulty (speech-to-noise ratio) on cognitive load during listening. The results show consistently larger pupil responses in more difficult listening conditions. Furthermore, the data indicate that the pupil response provides information additional to speech recognition performance and subjective measures. Overall, the potential of pupillometry as a sensitive and valid cognitive load index is confirmed by the data.