Stroop? Big whoop!
PSYC 406, a 400 level psychology course offered at McGill University. You’d be lying to yourself if you claim to never have heard of the Stroop test. Unless you actually have no idea what it is, then in that case… pat yourself on the back for making it so far. As a refresher; the Stroop task is when the participant is asked to read out loud a list of colors as fast as they can. Sounds simple enough! Here’s the catch. The words are written in colors that do not correspond to what is actually written. For example: the word red is written in the font color green, however you must say out loud “green” despite the distracting name of the word “red”. Easier said than done (click the underlined “for example” to attempt the test yourself! Let me know in the comment section below how you did).
What I want to explore today is, what’s the point of this simplistic test? A lot, actually. Through observation of the interference that your brain has to deal with, we can elaborate quite a bit on the Speed of Processing Theory and the Selective Attention Theory. Thus, without a doubt, would be useful in the detection of cognitive deficits, based off of reaction time and error percentage. It’s popularity since it’s discovery in the twentieth century can also be attributed to it’s simple and very very cost effective application. First reported by John Ridley Stroop in his Ph.D. dissertation published in 1935, we now believe that the effects observed with Stroop may be associated with the anterior cingulate.
Not only is this neuropsychological test useful to appraise cognition, it has also helped in warfare! (How many other tests can you boast that about?) During the Cold War, American intelligence officials were able to determine whom amongst them were Russian spies using this simple yet effective brain teaser. For instance, красный, the Russian word for red would be flashed (as in the aforementioned example). However, only the Russians would experience an interference and thus hesitate. Must be maddening, to be betrayed by something so elementary!
Thus in conclusion, I hope I’ve changed your mind on the Stroop test or at least broadened your knowledge of it. Despite being so simplistic, it still has a high utility value and even goes as far as to show that complicated jargon isn’t always a necessity. Now, go out there and impress your friends. If this isn’t sufficient, don’t forget there’s always that inattentional blindness invisible gorilla video!
-Vivianne Yao
Bibliography
- De Young, R. (2015, February 27). Stroop Effect. Retrieved January, 2016, from http://www.snre.umich.edu/eplab/demos/st0/stroopdesc.html
- Eberle, S. G. (2012, April 25). When Red Looks Blue and Yes Means No. Retrieved January, 2016, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/play-in-mind/201204/when-red-looks-blue-and-yes-means-no
- Imgur. (2014). Stroop gif [Digital image]. Retrieved from http://imgur.com/gallery/5Fjnaid
- Osimani, A., Alon, A., Berger, A., & Abarbanel, J. M. (1997). Use of the Stroop phenomenon as a diagnostic tool for malingering. [Abstract]. Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry, 62(6), 617–621. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1074147/
- Salthouse, T. A. (1996). The processing-speed theory of adult age differences in cognition. [Abstract]. Psychological Review, 103(3), 403–428. Retrieved January, 2016, from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8759042
- Stroop Test Online. (2015). The Stroop Effect Test. Retrieved January, 2016, from http://www.onlinestrooptest.com/stroop_effect_test.php
- Team Fortress 2. (2013, March 9). [Team Fortress 2: Heavy]. Retrieved January, 2016, from http://orig02.deviantart.net/462f/f/2013/001/f/9/soviet_heavy_is_angry_by_privatedumpy-d5q4dyl.jpg
