Introduction
The phenomenon of having longer time to react to the not matching words and word colors is known as the Stroop Effect. It is used by professors of psychology to demonstrate the failure of choice of the selective attention.
Discussion
A study was carried out in 1935 by J.R. Stroop, the main aim of which was to test the effects of automaticity, on reading to be specific. Reading was chosen due to being more automatic and quicker than naming colors, moreover color naming can suffer from involuntary reading, while as reading is not affected by conflicting print colors. The experiment was in presenting participants with 100 words, each of which had a specific color, but the ink of the word was different from the color spelled by word. The participants were asked to report the color of the ink the words were presented in. Another part of study was to show participants 100 sets of squares, with each presented in specific color, and ask them to recognize the color. After the study was complete reaction times were revealed, and Stroop discovered that the average time for participants to get done with the condition of words being spelled out was 47 seconds longer.
Conclusion
The Stroop effect acquired theoretical interest due to the effect’s outcome of comparing the automatic process of reading with the less automatic process of naming colors. Even after more than 77 years after the discovery, the Stroop phenomenon continues to fascinate minds of scientists, who conduct a substantial amount of research on this topic.
References
Dishon-Berkovits, M., & Algom, D. (2000, August 28). The Stroop effect: It is not the robust phenomenon that you have thought it to be. Retrieved August 18, 2013, from http://www.psychonomic.org/pubmed/mc/mc-28-1437.pdf
Stroop, J. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 643-645.
