Experiment Four

STROOP EFFECT

INTRODUCTION

Cognitive styles are an important variable that determine the manner of handling information.

They refer to the consistent modes of responding to, organizing and using information.

The Stroop effect is one example of cognitive inhibition and the hypothesis of parallel processing.

(Parallel processing involves interpreting a stimulus input at different levels, for example, verbal

and non-verbal). In studies of the Stroop effect words are written in different color inks and

subjects are required to name the color of the ink in which the word is written. The reaction time

to name the color is shortened if the word ‘green’ for example is written in green ink, and so on.

However, there is interference, that is a slowing down of reaction time and increase in the errors

if the color represented by the word and the ink disagree.

Once an activity becomes automatic it will be repeated simply by directing attention to the

appropriate input. Therefore, when we direct attention to printed words, we read them

automatically. The inability to read when the verbal and non-verbal information disagree is

reversed by the Stroop effect. The phenomenon has been named after J. Ridly Stroop.

PROBLEM:

To determine the Stroop effect (i.e. finding the subject have difficulty in eliminating irrelevant

information from a task).

MATERIALS:

1. Two lists of twenty words (color names) each.

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 ✓ The first list consists of names of colors written in the corresponding ink. For

example: ‘Red’ is written in red color, ‘Blue’ is written in blue color and so on.

✓ The second list consists of names of colors with the names of the colors written in

a different ink. For example: the word ‘Blue’ may be written in red color and the

word ‘Green’ may be written in blue color and so on.

2. A key giving the correct responses for each list.

3. Stop watch

4. Writing materials.

PLAN:

To conduct the experiment in two series-

Series I: Without irrelevant stimuli

Series II: With irrelevant stimuli

To compare the time taken and the accuracy of responses in the second series with that of the first

series

PROCEDURE:

Series I: The subject is seated comfortably and instructed that s/he will be given a chart on which

names of colors are written. S/he is asked to call out the color in which each word is written. Give

the instruction as thus:

“I will give you a list of names of colors. Call out the colors of the ink, in which each word is

written”.

The stop-watch is started and the subject starts calling out the colors of the ink in which the words

are written. The experimenter checks with the key at the same time. Any error made by the subject

is noted down. The time taken to complete reading the list is also noted down.

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Series II: The same procedure is repeated using the second list.

Note: In the second series, an error is responding to the word instead of the color in which it is

written. And give the same instructions as in series I.

PRECAUTIONS:

1. Clear instructions must be given to the subject to call out the color of the ink in which the

word is written.

2. The subject should not be stopped if s/he makes an error.

3. The subject’s first response has to be noted down.

4. The experimenter must copy the key and put tick mark against the correct responses.

5. The first response by the subject is taken into consideration.

ANALYSIS OF THE RESULT:

1. Find out the time taken to complete reading each list.

2. Find out the errors made by the subject in each list.

3. Calculate the mean and the range for the group data.

4. Compare the first series with the 2nd series.

Introduction:

The Stroop effect refers to a delay in reaction times between congruent and incongruent stimuli.

Stroop effect is determined using the Stroop Color and Word Test (SCWT). Several studies have

been done to study the Stroop effect. Hence, the aim of the experiment is to find whether the

subjects experience a delay in reaction time when the color represented by the word and the ink

differs.

INDIVIDUAL TABLE

Table I shows the time taken and errors made by the subject.

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 Series I Series II Difference
Name
Time Errors Time Errors Time Errors

MR 15.09 0 19.15 0 4.06 0

INDIVIDUAL RESULT

Table I shows the time taken and errors made by the subject MR. As seen from the table, subject

MR took 15.09 second with zero errors to complete the task in series I and in series II, the

subject took 19.15 second with zero errors to complete the task. The time difference between the

two series is 4.06. The results of subject MR is according to the theory which means that the

subject had a difficulty in eliminating irrelevant information thus taking more time to read the

words correctly in series II.

GROUP TABLE

Table II shows the time taken and errors made by the group

# Series I Series II Difference

Name
Time Errors Time Errors Time Errors

1 HAA 8.46 0 12.05 0 3.59 0

2 FF 13.46 0 15.38 0 1.92 0

3 MRA 10.46 0 22.62 0 12.16 0

4 AAA 11.83 0 13.81 0 1.97 0

5 MR 15.09 0 19.15 0 4.06 0

6 SM 10.08 0 20.23 0 10.15 0

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 7 MM 12.53 0 16.76 0 4.23 0

8 RW 20.85 0 19.32 0 -1.53 0

9 MRH 15.54 0 13.05 0 -2.49 0

10 MSS 17.39 0 26.66 6 9.27 6

11 ASN 16.78 0 17.32 0 0.54 0

Total 152.47 0 195.34 6 43.87 6

Mean 13.86 0 17.84 0.55 3.99 0.55

Maximum 20.85 0 26.66 6 12.16 6

Minimum 8.46 0 12.05 0 -2.49 0

Range 12.39 0 14.61 6 14.65 6

SD 3.68 0 4.37 1.81 4.75 1.81

GROUP RESULTS

As seen in table II, a total of 11 subjects participated in this experiment. The total time taken to

correctly answer the color of ink in series I is 152.47 seconds with a mean of 13.86 seconds with

zero error. In series I, the maximum time taken to answer the color of ink correctly was 20.85

seconds by subject RW. Subject HAA took the minimum time to answer the color of ink

correctly which was with in 8.46 seconds. In addition, subjects FF, MRA, AAA, MR, SM, MM,

MRH, MSS, and ASN took a total of 13.36, 10.46, 11.83, 15.09, 10.08, 12.53, 15.54, 17.39 and

16.78 seconds to correctly answer the color of ink each respectively. In series I, the range of time

taken to correctly answer the color of ink is 12.39 with a standard deviation of 3.68 seconds.

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In series II, the total time taken to correctly answer the color of ink is 195.34 seconds with a

mean of 17.84 seconds with 6 errors. In the second series the maximum time to correctly answer

the color of ink was 26.66 seconds by subject MSS. Subject HAA took the minimum time to

answer the color of ink correctly which was with 12.05 seconds. Moreover, subjects, FF, MRA,

AAA, MR, SM, MM, RW, MRH, and ASN took a total of 15.38, 22.62, 13.81, 19.15, 20.23,

16.76, 19.32, 13.05 and 17.32 seconds to correctly answer the color of ink each respectively. The

range of time taken to correctly answer the color of ink in series II is 14.61 with a standard

deviation of 4.37.

The difference in time taken between the two series was calculated by subtracting series II from

series I. The highest time difference was seen in subject MRA which was a difference of 12.16

seconds and the lowest time difference was seen in subject ASN with a difference of 0.54

seconds. Total time difference was calculated and found to be 43.87 seconds with a mean of 3.99

seconds. The range of difference in time take taken is 14.65 seconds with a standard deviation of

4.75 seconds. As seen from the results of the table, majority of the subjects are according to the

theory except for subjects RW and MRH whose results are against the theory. Further, even

when the color represented by the word and the ink differed, none of the subject made any error

during the experiment except subject MSS who made six errors in the second series.

DISCUSSION

According to the theory of this experiment, when the color represented by the word and the ink

differed, reaction time will slow down making more errors during the experiment is conducted.

The results obtained from the experiment shows that even though none of the subjects made any

error except subject MSS, majority of the subjects were consistent with the theory showing that

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reaction time does slow down when the color represented by the word and ink differs. However,

there were two subjects who were against the theory which was subjects RW and MRH.

The results of the experiment shows that subjects RW and MRH took more time in series I than in

series II. This may be due to many reasons including the occurrence of interference, being tired

and stress or being distracted. According to subject MRH, the subject was aware of the presence

of interference and tried to eliminate it herself which might be the reason she took less time in

series II than that in series I. Another reason why both the subjects RW and MRH took less time

in series II may be because of stress. However, in research done by Gur and Daniel (2016), a

decrement of Stroop effect was seen under stress. This was further supported in an experiment

done by Booth (2018) in which it was shown that stress produced a reduction in Stroop

interference.

In the experiment, it was also seen that all the subjects except MSS had no error in both the series.

This may be due to prior knowledge about the experiment and prior experience of the experiment.

Further, errors by subject MSS may be due to her being unable to eliminate the interference which

was present in series II. In addition, in both series I and II, subject HAA took the least time to

correctly read the words without any error. This shows that subject HAA has good processing

abilities which limits the slowing of reaction time.

To analyze the accuracy of the experiment, standard deviation (SD) can be used. Higher SD

indicates that the values are generally away from the mean making the experiment faulty and a

lower SD indicates that the values clustered close to the mean making the experiment more

accurate. In this experiment, the SD of series I, II and difference in time taken is 3.68, 4.37, and

4.75 respectively. Since the SDs of all the three groups are greater than that of one which shows

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that the values are further away from the mean. This indicates the inaccuracy of the results in this

experiment and hence the reliability of the experiment is questionable.

One limitation of the experiment is that gender differences and age differences were not

considered in the experiment which may have influenced the results. Further, the lighting of the

location experiment was held on may have distracted the subjects affecting the results.

Moreover, since the subjects had prior knowledge and experience of the experiment, it may also

have affected the results of the study.

CONCLUSION

This experiment was conducted to study the Stroop effect. According to the theory, when the color

represented by the word and the ink disagree, the reaction time will decrease increasing the errors

made. The results of the experiment shows that majority of the subjects were in consistent with

the theory showing that Stroop effect does slow down the reaction time except for subjects RW

and MRH whose results were against the theory. Interference was one of the main factors which

affected the results of the study. In addition, individual differences, distractions and stress may be

some of the factors which affected the results of the experiment. Further, there were few limitations

which can be taken into consideration when doing further researches.

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References

Booth, R. (2018). Reduced Stroop interference under stress: Decreased cue utilisation, not

increased executive control. Quarterly Journal Of Experimental Psychology, 72(6), 1522-

1529. https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021818809368

Gur, T., & Daniel, A. (2016). Selective attention under stress: Evidence from the stroop effect..

ResearchGate. Retrieved 31 March 2022, from

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309040643_Selective_attention_under_stress_E

vidence_from_the_stroop_effect.

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