Stroop Effect Experiment

The study of the Stroop effect and the difference in reaction times

Name: Zhi Xuan Tan

Student No: 9445625

Subject: PY102 Foundation Psychology 1b

Unit Coordinator: Patrick Johnston

Due Date: 22/09/2015

Word Count:

Abstract

The purpose of this experiment was to examine the widely used paradigm, the Stroop effect, and the difference in reaction time between three conditions. 357 university students were involved. A repeated measures design was used for three conditions: congruent, incongruent and non-colour. Participants were required to look at coloured words and name the ink colour, whilst ignoring the actual word. The results show that in the congruent condition, reaction time was faster and fewer errors

were made. As the level of significance was P<0.001.

Discussion

The results from this experiment support the hypotheses made.

The data presented shows that participants have a faster reaction time when partaking in the congruent condition, compared to the incongruent and non colour conditions. These findings support Stroop’s widely known theory of the stroop interference. By Stroop’s experimental findings, he has described that interference occurs by the automation of reading, where the brain automatically read the semantic meaning of word (e.g reading the colour blue and thinking of the colour blue). It is not an automatic process, when the brain needs to intentionally check itself and correctly identify the colour of the word. This explains the faster reaction time in the congruent condition, compared to the other incongruent and non colour condition. Sheibe, Shaver and Carrier’s theory can also be applied to this context as it is illustrated in the results that interference does occur via automatic

processing.
An uncontrollable variable, technology, was the main limitation in this experiment. Participants were seated at computer, not knowing which mouse may be faulty. Therefore a student may have a slower reaction time and a higher number of errors as clicking the button on the mouse may be harder. There may also be a slight sample bias, as all participants were Psychology students from QUT, thus not generalising to the wide society. This may result in unreliable findings. To improve this study, a means of recruiting a larger sample size may increase the validity of the results and also generalise the findings. A larger sample size may also include a wider age range. This could increase the validity of the experiment, as age could have an affect on attention. Perhaps to further develop this investigation, interference time would also be measured, as well as reaction time. This would result in a higher accuracy and validity rate.
The results from this experiment may be important as they may contribute to learning about a child’s reading development.

Thought and effort must be applied when a child first begins to read, this is not an automatic process. However, as a student progresses onto reading fluently, reading become an automatic process. This process allows students to read topically, and perhaps not fully understand or pay attention to the content. Generally, society should be aware of this form of automaticity, thus striving for a more conscious and attentive way of reading.

Reference

Durgin, F. (2000). The reverse Stroop effect. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 7(1), 121-125. doi: 10.3758/bf03210730

Scheibe, K., Shaver, P., & Carrier, S. (1967). Color association values and response interference on variants of the Stroop test. Acta Psychologica, 26, 286-295. doi: 10.1016/0001-6918(67)90028-5

Stirling, N. (1979). Stroop interference: An input and an output phenomenon. Quarterly Journal Of Experimental Psychology, 31(1), 121-132. doi:10.1080/14640747908400712

Stroop, J. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal Of Experimental Psychology, 18(6), 643-662. doi:10.1037/h0054651

Treisman, A., & Fearnley, S. (1969). The Stroop Test: Selective Attention to Colours and Words. Nature, 222(5192), 437-439.

doi:10.1038/222437a0