STROOP INTERFERENCE AND COLOR-WORD SIMILARITY

Abstract: Stroop interference refers to the finding that it takes longer to name the color of an incongruent color word (e g , the word blue shown to green) than a does to name the color of a neutral stimulus (e g . a series of number signs shown in green) Incongruent color-word stimuli can differ In the similarity between the color in which the word is printed and the color denoted by the word (eg. the word blue shown in green vs yellow). This research shows that the amount of interference obtained is related to color-word similarity, suggesting that word-reading and color-naming processes interact at a conceptual level prior to response emission.

The stimuli used in the typical Stroop color-word task can be classified to reflect the relation between the color in which the word is printed and the color denoted by the word. The two colors are the same for congruent stimuli (e.g , the word green in green), they are different for Incongruent tumult (e g , the word red in green), and there is no relation between the two for neutral stimuli (e g , a string of number signs in green). Subjects typically take longer to name the colors of incongruent stimuli than of neutral stimuli, that is non-congruent stimuli result in interference (Stroop, 1935). A less reliable finding is that color naming is faster for congruent stimuli than for neutral stimuli, congruent stimuli may result in facilitation (see MacLeod/ 1991).
When measuring facilitation and interference,