Human Cognitive Fun Word Experiment -Read Entirely FIRST!!

Exploring the Stroop Effect

Overview

Mental operations can come into conflict with each other. For example, it is exceedingly difficult to both remember a list of 15 words and count backwards from 500 in multiples of 7. This is because distinct mental processes (remembering, computing a number) can share mental resources. This lesson explores a similar kind of mental conflict directly, by replicating a famous psychological effect discovered by John Ridley Stroop.

Focus Question

Are all colors processed in the same way by the human eye and visual system?

Materials

· Choose 3 people (including yourself to participate in this exercise)

· 1 timing devices (phone, watch, stopwatch, etc.)

· 3 lists of words per group (congruent, incongruent, control)

· 1 Data sheet per group

Preparation

In this experiment, every group member will be tested on all of the word lists twice (right side up and upside down). Make sure that the current group member being tested doesn’t know which list will be shown to him/her (and whether the list will be presented right-side up or upside down).

Procedure

1. Have one group member be in charge of timing the current group member being tested while the other member presents the current word list to the current subject.

2. Notify the member being tested that his/her task is to name the color that the words are written in as quickly as possible without making any mistakes.

3. Present the subject with one of the lists and immediately begin timing.

4. Record their time and note whether any mistakes in naming were made.

5. Continue in the same way with all other word lists and across other subjects. Make sure that word lists have been presented in the correct orientation (right side up) and upside down to all group members.

6. Students should then first calculate mean color naming times from all the raw data for each of the three lists. These means can then be combined in different ways to investigate whether facilitation and interference occurred.

7. To calculate Stroop Interference:

Stroop Interference(right side up) = RTincongruent(right side up) – RTControl(right side up)

8. To calculate Stroop Facilitation:

Stroop Facilitation(right side up) = RTCongruent(right side up) – RTControl(right side up)

9. You can also determine whether the Stroop effect is made smaller by making the words difficult to read:

Stroop Interference(upside down) = RTIncongruent(upside down) – Rtcontrol(upside down) Stroop Facilitation(upside down)= RTCongruent(upside down) – RTControl(upside down)

10. Now you can determine whether the effect decreases when you interfere with the automatic reading of words (Is the second group of numbers smaller than the first?)

CONGRUENT

YELLOW BLUE RED GREEN RED GREEN YELLOW BLUE RED YELLOW GREEN BLUE

INCONGRUENT

BLUE YELLOW BLUE RED YELLOW GREEN RED YELLOW GREEN RED BLUE GREEN

CONTROL

DOG BOAT CHAIR WINDOW FAN FART KIDS TRAY BOTTLE FENCE TOY SPORT

Exploring the Stroop Effect

Data Sheet

Experimental Data: Right-Side-Up

	Control	Congruent	Incongruent
	Time(s)	# Errs	Time(s)	# Errs	Time (s)	# Errs
S 1
S 2
S 3
MEA N

Stroop Interference = RTincongruent – RTControl =

Did Stroop Interference occur (>0 = yes; <0=no)?

Stroop Facilitation = RTCongruent – RTControl =

Did Stroop Facilitation occur (<0 = yes; >0=no)?

Experimental Data: Upside-Down

	Control	Congruent	Incongruent
	Time(s)	# Errs	Time(s)	# Errs	Time (s)	# Errs
S 1
S 2
S 3
MEA N

Stroop Interference = RTincongruent – RTControl =

Did Stroop Interference occur?

Stroop Facilitation = RTCongruent – RTControl =

Did Stroop Facilitation occur?

Interference Right Side Up–Interference Upside Down:

Facilitation Right Side Up–Facilitation Upside Down:

QUESTIONS:

Did making the words more difficult to read (by putting them upside down) affect Facilitation and Interference equally? Please describe.

Given these results, describe what you think interference is.

Given these results, describe what you think facilitation is.

Describe what happened during the experiment to you and to your other group members; did any of the lists seem harder to recite than the others? Speculate why.

EXTENDING YOUR RESULTS:

· How much variation was there among subjects within your group?

· What relationship seems to exist between word meaning and word color?

· Can this kind of effect be replicated with other stimuli? Can an auditory Stroop effect be created?

· What are the differences between facilitation and interference? What may be causing them in your mind?