The Stroop effect: Incorporating noncolor words into the response set

Semantic Conflict and Response Conflict in the Stroop Task

The Russian Journal of Cognitive Science ◽

10.47010/19.4.3 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (4) ◽

pp. 24-38

Author(s):

Alexey Starodubtsev ◽

◽

Mikhail Allakhverdov

Keyword(s):

Stroop Effect ◽

Word Meaning ◽

Incorrect Response ◽

Response Conflict ◽

Response Level ◽

Semantic Level ◽

Semantic Conflict ◽

Response Set ◽

Different Color ◽

Printed Word

The most common ways researchers explain the Stroop effect are either through semantic or through response conflict. According to the literature, there are several methods capable of disentangling these conflicts: to use words outside of the response set, to use associatively related colors and words, or to use a “2:1” paradigm (requiring the same response for two types of stimuli). However, we believe that these methods cannot entirely differentiate semantic and response conflicts. We propose the following alternative method: when naming the color of a printed word (e.g., red, yellow, etc.) in the Stroop test, participants were asked to use different color names for some colors. For example, the red-colored stimuli had to be named by the word “yellow”. This approach allowed us to create semantically congruent stimuli, but with the conflict at the response level (the word red appears in red, but the participants have to say “yellow” because of the rule). Some stimuli remain congruent at the response level, but with the conflict at the semantic level (the word yellow appears in red, and the participants have to say “yellow” because of the rule). The results showed that semantically congruent stimuli do not produce the Stroop effect even if the meaning of the word corresponds to an incorrect response. In turn, congruence at the response level reduces the interference effect, but interference remains significant. Thus, the response conflict affects the magnitude of the Stroop effect only when there is a semantic conflict. Our data do not correspond to models that assume direct activation of responses corresponding to word meaning

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A Unique Asymmetrical Stroop Effect in Absolute Pitch Possessors

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000153 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 59 (5) ◽

pp. 272-278 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Lilach Akiva-Kabiri ◽

Avishai Henik

Keyword(s):

Selective Attention ◽

Stroop Task ◽

Stroop Effect ◽

Congruency Effect ◽

Absolute Pitch ◽

Naming Task ◽

Color Naming ◽

Reading Task ◽

Pitch Processing ◽

Reverse Pattern

The Stroop task has been employed to study automaticity or failures of selective attention for many years. The effect is known to be asymmetrical, with words affecting color naming but not vice versa. In the current work two auditory-visual Stroop-like tasks were devised in order to study the automaticity of pitch processing in both absolute pitch (AP) possessors and musically trained controls without AP (nAP). In the tone naming task, participants were asked to name the auditory tone while ignoring a visual note name. In the note naming task, participants were asked to read a note name while ignoring the auditory tone. The nAP group showed a significant congruency effect only in the tone naming task, whereas AP possessors showed the reverse pattern, with a significant congruency effect only in the note reading task. Thus, AP possessors were unable to ignore the auditory tone when asked to read the note, but were unaffected by the verbal note name when asked to label the auditory tone. The results suggest that pitch identification in participants endowed with AP ability is automatic and impossible to suppress.

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The Two Sides of Temporal Orienting

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000018 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 57 (2) ◽

pp. 142-148 ◽

Cited By ~ 26

Author(s):

Ángel Correa ◽

Paola Cappucci ◽

Anna C. Nobre ◽

Juan Lupiáñez

Keyword(s):

Executive Control ◽

Stroop Effect ◽

Traffic Situation ◽

Target Onset ◽

Stimulus Features ◽

Two Sides ◽

Spatial Stroop Effect ◽

Probable Interval ◽

Spatial Stroop ◽

Temporal Orienting

Would it be helpful to inform a driver about when a conflicting traffic situation is going to occur? We tested whether temporal orienting of attention could enhance executive control to select among conflicting stimuli and responses. Temporal orienting was induced by presenting explicit cues predicting the most probable interval for target onset, which could be short (400 ms) or long (1,300 ms). Executive control was measured both by flanker and Simon tasks involving conflict between incompatible responses and by the spatial Stroop task involving conflict between perceptual stimulus features. The results showed that temporal orienting facilitated the resolution of perceptual conflict by reducing the spatial Stroop effect, whereas it interfered with the resolution of response conflict by increasing flanker and Simon effects. Such opposite effects suggest that temporal orienting of attention modulates executive control through dissociable mechanisms, depending on whether the competition between conflicting representations is located at perceptual or response levels.

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Is the Musical Stroop Effect Able to Keep Its Promises?

Experimental Psychology (formerly Zeitschrift für Experimentelle Psychologie) ◽

10.1027/1618-3169/a000222 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 61 (1) ◽

pp. 80-83 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Laurent Grégoire ◽

Pierre Perruchet ◽

Bénédicte Poulin-Charronnat

Keyword(s):

Stroop Task ◽

Stroop Effect ◽

Extensive Training ◽

Natural Settings ◽

Current Procedure

Grégoire, Perruchet, and Poulin-Charronnat (2013) claimed that the Musical Stroop task, which reveals the automaticity of note naming in musician experts, provides a new tool for studying the development of automatisms through extensive training in natural settings. Many of the criticisms presented in the four commentaries published in this issue appear to be based on a misunderstanding of our procedure, or questionable postulates. We maintain that the Musical Stroop Effect offers promising possibilities for further research on automaticity, with the main proviso that the current procedure makes it difficult to tease apart facilitation and interference.

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