Report on Color Stroop test

Bhavikaa Sagar
Department of Psychology, Christ University Bangalore
BPSYH 152- Experimental Psychology
Dr. Hemanthakumara
November 24, 2022
 EXPERIMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY - STROOP TEST

BACKGROUND–

The Stroop effect is a simple phenomenon that reveals a great deal about how the brain

processes information. The Stroop effect, first described by psychologist John Ridley Stroop

in the 1930s, is our tendency to experience difficulty naming a physical color when it is used

to spell the name of another color. This simple discovery has a significant impact on

psychological research and clinical psychology.

Stroop used three elements in his original study: names of colours printed in black ink, names

of colours printed in a different ink than the colour named, and squares of each given colour.

He then split his experiment into two parts:

1.In his first experiment, he simply instructed participants to read the colour printed in black

ink. He then instructed them to read the words printed, regardless of the colour.

2.In his second experiment, he asked participants to name the ink colour rather than the

written word. For example, instead of reading the word "red," participants could
be asked to

identify the colour green instead of reading the word "red." Participants were also
asked to

identify the colour in this segment.

Stroop discovered that in experiment two, subjects took longer to complete the task of

naming the ink colours of words than they did to identify the colour of the squares. Subjects

also took significantly longer in experiment two to identify ink colours than they did in

experiment one to simply read the printed word. This effect was identified by him as

interference, which causes a delay in identifying a colour when it is incongruent with the

word printed.

INTRODUCTION –
The Stroop Colour and Word Test (SCWT) is a neuropsychological test widely used to
evaluate the capacity to suppress cognitive interference, also known as the Stroop Effect,
which happens when processing one stimulus attribute impairs the simultaneous processing
of another stimulus attribute.

A widely utilised neuropsychological test for both experimental and therapeutic purposes is
the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT). It evaluates the capacity to prevent cognitive
interference, which happens when the simultaneous processing of two attributes of the same
stimuli is affected by the processing of one stimulus characteristic (Stroop, 1935). The most
popular form of the SCWT, which was first put forth by Stroop in 1935, asks participants to
read three different tables as quickly as they can. The "congruous condition," which requires
participants to name various colour patches after reading names of colours printed in black
ink (W), is represented by two of them (C).

In contrast, the third table, referred to as the color-word (CW) condition, displays
colourwords in(For example, the word "red" is printed in green ink.) inconsistent colour ink.
Participants are therefore asked to name the colour of the ink instead of reading the word
under this incongruous circumstance. In other words, participants are asked to complete a
work that is less automated (identifying the colour of ink, for example) while preventing
interference from a task that is more automated (i.e., reading the word; MacLeod and Dunbar,
1988; Ivnik et al., 1996).

The Stroop effect is a term used to describe the difficulties in preventing the more automated
procedure (Stroop, 1935). While the SCWT is frequently used to assess the capacity to
suppress cognitive interference, prior research has also documented its usage to assess other
cognitive abilities, including attention, processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and working
memory (Jensen and Rohwer, 1966).

THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK-

There are a few theories as to why the Stroop effect exists, but there is no widespread
agreement on the cause of the phenomenon. Some proposed explanations for the Stroop
effect include:

• Selective Attention Theory: Selective attention determines "which information will

be permitted access to further processing and awareness and which will be ignored,"
according to the second edition of the "Handbook of Psychology." Understanding the
colour of the words requires more concentration than merely reading the text, which is
related to the Stroop effect. Therefore, according to this idea, rather of the actual
colours, our brains process the written information.

• Automaticity Theory: We can think in two different ways: automatically and

consciously. Regarding the Stroop effect, reading is more of an automated process
than detecting colours, thus it's likely that the brain reads the word.
 • Speed of Processing Theory: Simply stated, this theory for the cause of the Stroop
effect proposes that we can process written words faster than colours. As a result,
once we've read the word, it's difficult to identify the colour.

• Parallel Distributed Processing: According to this theory, the brain creates different
pathways for different tasks. As a result, the strength of the pathway influences
whether the colour or the text is easier to name.

Psychologists are still analysing the Stroop effect to determine the underlying cause of the
phenomenon, despite the fact that many factors have been identified that influence results.
For example, there are some variations in the severity of the Stroop effect between men and
women. Stroop was the first to acknowledge that women have shorter interruptions than men.
According to studies, older people have longer delays than younger people.

APPLICATIONS OF THE TEST-

1. Stroop Emotional Test (Larsen et al., 2006)

The Stroop effect serves as the foundation for the emotional Stroop test. This test is
used to assess people's emotions by analysing how they approach information. The
subjects' response time in reporting the colour name of the words shown to them is
measured in this test.

This test's words are either neutral (table, chair, pen, watch, box) or related to any
disorders or emotional states (headache, pain, love, cancer, death). When this test was
administered to depressed participants, it was discovered that they took significantly
longer to report the colours of the depressing words than they did to report the colours
of the non-depressing words. Even when the test was performed on non-clinical
participants, the time required to report the colour of emotional words was longer than
the time required to repost the colour of neutral words. This could be due to the
emotional significance of the subject with that word.The negative or emotional words
in the emotional Stroop test are carefully selected by the researchers for better
emotional analysis of the people.

2. The Stroop test is one of the most widely used neurological tests. It is used to
measure various factors like processing speed, cognitive flexibility, and selective
attention. Stroop test shows increased interference in various psychological
 disorders such as dementia, schizophrenia, ADHD and depression. Different types
of Stroop tests are available these days depending upon the number of stimuli,
duration of the task, number of tasks and subtasks in the test, and scoring
procedure. A study conducted in 1976 showed that the Stroop test was around 88.9
per cent precise in distinguishing between the participants who suffered from brain
damage and those without any brain damage.
3. Marketing

The Stroop effect is commonly used in marketing. The font style and colour of the
printed material are carefully considered when creating presentations or
advertisements. According to the Stroop effect, people are generally more mentally
attracted to specific words and colours, which is why manufacturers carefully select
the colours of their products.

4. Real-life applications for the Stroop effect include advertisements and

presentations-people who make billboard or magazine ads have to be very careful
about the colour and font their text is printed in, for example, due to effects like the
Stroop effect.The effect changes with age. This might affect how advertisers
targeted ads to a certain age group.
5. Additional Variations (Mac Leod, 2015)
The Stroop effect is not just limited to the interference of the colour and the words
processing, it is also responsible for various other interference like the interference
between word processing and the picture, the interference between the word
processing and the direction, the interference between the digit and the numerosity
processing and the interference between the identification of central vs. peripheral
letter.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE-

Shinji Takahashi and Philip M. Grove used the linear mixed model to analyse the intraclass
correlation coefficients of the Stroop neutral and incongruent tests, interference (neutral test
—incongruent test), and reverse Stroop task. The trial included forty-eight young individuals
in a crossover design experiment with two factors: activity style (walking, resistance exercise,
badminton, and sat rest as controls) and time (pre- and post-tests). Participants took the
Stroop neutral and incongruent, as well as the reverse-Stroop neutral and incongruent
assessments, before and after each intervention. A linear mixed model was used to calculate
the ICC after analysing the test results.For both the Stroop and reverse-Stroop tasks, there
was a substantial interaction between exercise method and time. It was proposed that the
manner of exercise altered the effect of acute exercise on inhibitory function. Using the
Stroop Effect to Investigate the Impact of Sensitive Words on Cognitive Conflict. We
hypothesised that participants who received glucose and non-food stimuli would score best
on the cognitive tasks, while those who received aspartame and food stimuli would perform
worst.
Stacia Fritz's study tried to investigate the effects of drinks (glucose, artificial sweetener, or
water) and stimuli (food or non-food) on cognitive conflict. This study included 81
participants. 52% of those who took part were men, 48% were women, 53% were White, and
47% were Black. The average age was 19.73 (standard deviation = 2.82). The participants'
average weight was 163.05 lb (SD= 35.51). Participants were given an 8-ounce drink, shown
six minutes of stimuli, did a "X-word" Stroop test, then shown six more minutes of stimuli
before performing a "Food-word" Stroop test. There was a significant effect of stimulus
shown on reaction time. It was found that drink consumed did not affect cognitive
performance on a “Food-word” test, or that drink consumed combined with stimuli shown did
not affect cognitive performance on a “Food-word” test. It was also found that reaction time
means regarding the stimuli seen were consistent with the hypothesis that those who saw food
stimuli should have a greater preoccupation with the food words than those who saw the
nonfood stimuli, and thus a greater reaction time on the “Food-word” test.

A computerised Stroop test was developed to assess selective attention in children with
ADHD. E. C. D. S. Assef, A. G. S. Capovilla, and F. C. Capovilla (2007) The study
compared the reaction times (RTs) of 62 Brazilian children between the ages of 8 and 12
using a computerised version of this test (Capovilla, Montiel, Macedo, & Charin, 2005), 31 of
whom were diagnosed with ADHD and sent to psychiatric clinics, and 31 who did not have
ADHD and were attending regular schools. ADHD is described as a brain malfunction
disorder, which affects frontal encephalic activities such as information selection, planning,
attention monitoring, organisation of memorising strategies, memory discrimination,
interference inhibition during a memory, and cognitive flexibility.This experiment focuses on
the executive capacity of selective attention: orientation and concentration directed toward a
stimulus while disregarding or minimising the importance of other concurrent inputs
(Sternberg, 1996). The original Stroop Test (Stroop, 1935) was divided into four parts. The
subjects had to read the names of colours written in black ink in the first segment. They read
the names of colours written in coloured ink in the second half, with no association between
the name printed and the colour of the ink. They had to say the name of the colour of squares
in the third part. Finally, in the fourth section, the identical stimuli as in the second section
were shown, but the subjects had to say the colour of the ink used to write the words, rather
than the actual words. When ANCOVA was used to compare children with and without
ADHD, it was discovered that the children with ADHD had a larger interference effect on RT
in the emission of a response to the stimulus than the children without ADHD. Theoretical
structure A focused and acute awareness of the present moment is referred to as attention. For
early psychologists such as Edward Bradford Titchener, attention influenced the content of
consciousness and altered the quality of conscious experience

Attention Types: Divided attention occurs when one's attention is directed to multiple ideas or
tasks at the same time. This talent, often known as multitasking, is something that many
people perform without ever realising it. Sustained attention: A person's capacity to pay
attention for an extended period of time is referred to as their "attention span." It happens
when we can keep our focus on a single event rather than losing it and having to refocus.
People can increase their ability to focus for extended periods of time through practising.
Executive attention excels in filtering out distracting parts of the environment and focusing
on what is most important. We concentrate on the focus we focus while we're working toward
a goal. Selective attention: When we filter out certain aspects of our environment and focus
on a single characteristic, such as the discussion you're having with your friend, we're using
selective attention.
METHODOLOGY

Objective:

To test whether irrelevant stimuli interfere with the colour naming task.

Plan:

To conduct the computerised Stroop task through PEBL to the subject.

Participant:

Name: B.S.

Age: 18

Gender: Female

Occupation: Student.

Hypotheses:

H1. There is no difference in the errors made between three conditions of the colour naming
task

H2. There is no difference in the time taken between three conditions of the colour naming
task

Materials: Stroop Effect experiment on PEBL

Stroop Task. The Stroop effect is named after John Ridley Stroop. This is one of the

frequently used tests to measure selective attention capacity of the subject. Psychology

Experiment Building Language (PEBL) version of the test is used in the current experiment.
The

task consists of three conditions where subjects are expected to identify the colour of the
words

presented on the screen.

Condition 1 Consistent. In this condition, the meaning of the words and colour of the words

are the same.

Condition 2 Inconsistent. In this condition, the meaning of the words and colour of the words

are different.

Condition 3 Neutral. In this condition, the meaning of the words is not related to any colours.
 Procedure: The subject is seated comfortably. Rapport has to be established. The following
subject details are recorded: name (initials), age, sex and education. After the basic
orientation to the test, the subject will be asked to start the test. Numbers 1 to 4 will be
assigned to colours such as Red, Blue, Yellow and green. The subject will be instructed to
identify the colour of the word, presented on the screen for a few milliseconds, by pressing
the assigned number on the keypad. A few practice trials have to be given to the subject to
reduce the interference of response delay. After the trial, the subject will be asked to continue
the experiment in the three conditions with trials in each condition.

Instructions: The following instructions are to be given to the subject: “You are about to
take part in a task in which you will be asked to determine the colour that written words
appear in. Sometimes, the words will be actual colour names. When this happens, try not to
respond with the written colour name, but only with the colour of the word with the 1-2-3-4
keys on the top of the keyboard. Colours assigned to each number are: 1 = red, 2 = blue, 3 =
green, 4 = yellow. Kindly respond as fast as possible.”

Controls/Precautions:

1. Extraneous variables are to be controlled during the test.

2. Subject should be given some practice sessions to learn the number associated with colour.

Ethical considerations

● Informed consent was taken from the participant.

● The participation of the participant was voluntary.

● It was made sure that the participant was made comfortable before they began.

● All information responses of the participant are meant to be confidential and are to be used

for research purposes only

● Analysis of results: The data is captured on PEBL in terms of average response time

accuracy (number of errors made). Effect of the irrelevant variable is calculated based on

average response time and accuracy.

Results and Discussion

Aim – To test whether irrelevant stimuli interfere with the colour naming task.
Definition - The Stroop effect refers to a delay in reaction times between congruent and
incongruent stimuli (MacLeod, 1991).

Name – B.S. Response Time Mean Accuracy Total errors

Congruent 743.521 1

Incongruent 824.562 0.916667 6

Neutral 797.312 0.958333

Result table:

Explanation- The participant performed the test online on the app PEBL. The result data was
provided by the app after the completion of the test. The participant was presented with
congruent stimuli (word with same meaning and colour), incongruent stimuli (meaning of the
word and colour do not align) and neutral stimuli, and was assigned a colour naming task and
was asked to press the key attributed to indicate the colour asked, [1} for Green, [2] for Blue,
[3] for Red, [4] for Yellow. The total number of responses by the participants were 168
which include 48 trials, 48 for each consistent, inconsistent and neutral conditions. The above
table shows the response time and mean accuracy score of the individual for the congruent,
incongruent and neutral stimuli and the total errors made by the participant.

Interpretation- As shown in the above result table, the response time taken by the
participant for congruent stimuli is 743.521 and for Incongruent stimuli is 824.562 and for
neutral it is 797.312. This indicates that time taken to response for incongruent stimuli is
more than the time taken to response to congruent stimuli. There is a little difference between
the mean accuracy. The total errors made by participant are 6, which include 3 incongruency
error and 3 random errors.

As the time taken by the participant to response to the incongruent stimuli is greater than the
congruent stimuli, this indicates that incongruent stimuli interfered with the task of naming
the colour and caused delay. The participant was not able to filter out irrelevant stimuli in the
environment and made certain errors. Thus, there was a Stroop effect on the participant.

Conclusion – The colour Stroop test was successfully employed to test whether irrelevant
stimuli interfere with the colour naming task.

References

1. MacLeod, C.M., MacDonald, P.A.: Inter-dimensional interference in the Stroop

effect: uncovering the cognitive and neural anatomy of attention. Trends Cogn. Sci. 4,
383–391 (2000)
2.Kaur, G. (2022). 5 Stroop Examples in Real Life. https://studiousguy.com/stroop-
examples-in-real-life/

3.What the Stroop Effect Reveals About Our Minds | Lesley University. (n.d.).
https://lesley.edu/article/what-the-stroop-effect-reveals-about-our-minds

4.Ruhl, C. (2020). Stroop Effect - Simply Psychology from

https://www.simplypsychology.org/stroop-effect