What Conflicting Mental Tasks Reveal about Thinking: The Stroop Effect

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective is to determine if your brain will delay to read the correct word if the colored word is different than the ink color. Methods/Materials We tested 24 people by having them read 4 separate lines. The first line contained lower case words in regular color format (ex. the word blue in blue ink). The second line contained lower case words in a different color format (ex. the word blue in red ink). The third and fouth lines were the same as the first and second except in capitalized letters. We recorded the times it took to read each line. Material used were computer, timer, typed colored test paper, paper to cover the words that were not being read, pencil, list of people tested and two hard-working girls (us!!!). Results The times were recorded in seconds and milliseconds. Our graphs showed that most people took longer to read the different colored words. Conclusions/Discussion The lower case in regular color format is easier to read than the different color format. Capital letters are easier to read than lower case letters. Our conclusion overall is that regular color formats are easier to read regardless of upper or lower case words.

Competition history

• CSEF 2009 Cognitive Science (Junior Division Only) · Entry J0614

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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