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Interference: The Stroop EffectDon't read the words on the right--just say the colors they're printed in, and do this aloud as fast as you can. You're in for a surprise! If you're like most people, your first inclination was to read the words, 'red, yellow, green...,' rather than the colors they're printed in, 'blue, green, red...' You've just experienced interference. When you look at one of the words, you see both its color and its meaning. If those two pieces of evidence are in conflict, you have to make a choice. Because experience has taught you that word meaning is more important than ink color, interference occurs when you try to pay attention only to the ink color. The interference effect suggests you're not always in complete control of what you pay attention to. What do you think would happen:
This demonstration is called the Stroop Effect. It is based on the work of Dr. John Ridley Stroop, Journal of Experiemental Psychology, 1935, and it is part of the museum exhibitions, PSYCHOLOGY: Understanding Ourselves, Understanding Each Other, and PSYCHOLOGY: It's More Than You Think!, which were developed and produced by the American Psychological Association and the Ontario Science Centre. For more information about the Stroop Effect, please refer to the following: Bower, B. (1992, May 9). Brother Stroop's enduring effect: A mental task devised nearly 60 years ago still intrigues psychologists. Science News, 141, 312-314. Stroop, J. R. (1935). Studies of interference in serial verbal reactions. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 12, 643-662. MacLeod, Colin M. (1991). Half a century of research on the Stroop effect: An Integrative approach. Psychological Bulletin, 109:2, 163-203.
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