Stroop Effect Tests

Stroop Effect Overview
The Stroop Effect is a classic psychological phenomenon demonstrating how our brains process conflicting information. In its simplest form, participants are shown color words (e.g., “RED,” “BLUE,” “GREEN”) printed in ink that may or may not match the word’s meaning. Reading the word and naming the ink hue are two competing tasks, and when they don’t align (e.g., the word “RED” printed in blue ink), most people take longer and make more mistakes than when they do align (e.g., “RED” printed in red). This interference reveals that word recognition tends to be automatic, while color naming requires more controlled attention.

Our Stroop Test Suite exposes users to five different variations of this interference paradigm, each tapping into a slightly different cognitive conflict:

1. Standard Stroop (Color–Word Conflict)
   
   

   • What it does: Presents a series of color words (e.g., “GREEN,” “ORANGE,” “BLACK”) in an ink color that may or may not match the word itself.
     
     

   • User Task: Type the ink color (not the word).
     
     

   • Why it matters: This is the classic “Stroop”—it measures how quickly people can override the automatic tendency to read a word rather than name its font color. Faster responses on congruent trials (word and color match) versus slower responses on incongruent trials reveal each person’s interference cost.
     
     

2. Affective Stroop (Emotion–Color Conflict)
   
   

   • What it does: Uses emotionally charged words (positive, negative, or neutral) instead of color words, each displayed in a random font color.
     
     

   • User Task: Name the ink color, ignoring the emotional content of the word.
     
     

   • Why it matters: Emotional words can draw extra attention or trigger subtle mood changes. By comparing response times and accuracy for positive, negative, and neutral words, this version reveals how emotion-laden stimuli can interfere with a simple color-naming task.
     
     

3. Hierarchical Affective Stroop (Box Layout)
   
   

   • What it does: Shows one large, central word (in black outline) surrounded—above, below, and to each side—by multiple small “tile” words. All surrounding words match the small-word set, either positive, negative, or neutral.
     
     

   • User Task: Focus on the single large word (e.g., “HAPPY”) and type that target word, ignoring the surrounding tiles.
     
     

   • Why it matters: The hierarchical layout forces users to suppress a field of distracting, smaller words. By varying whether those small words share the same emotional category as the large target (e.g., large “HAPPY” with small “CHEER,” “JOY,” “SMILE”) or conflict with it (e.g., large “HAPPY” with small “PAIN,” “ANGER,” “SAD”), you measure how group-level emotional context modulates the interference effect.
     
     

4. Odd‑Man‑Out Affective Stroop
   
   

   • What it does: Presents a 10×10 grid of words in a single font; within that grid, one “odd” word (the target) differs from all others. Words are drawn from either a “relaxation” set (e.g., “CALM,” “PEACE”) or a “tension” set (e.g., “STRESS,” “PANIC”), or occasionally a neutral set.
     
     

   • User Task: Identify and type the one “odd” word that doesn’t match the background category (for example, a tense word hidden among relaxation words, or vice versa).
     
     

   • Why it matters: Locating a single outlier in a homogeneous field taps into selective attention and visual search processes. Emotionally congruent or incongruent backgrounds can slow or speed detection. Comparing “relaxation‑in‑tension” versus “tension‑in‑relaxation” trials reveals how emotional context influences one’s ability to scan and select a target under conflicting cues.
     
     

5. Hierarchical Affective Stroop (Overlay Layout)
   
   

   • What it does: Renders a large, outlined target word as a “window” or mask. Through that window, a continuous tiling of smaller emotional words appears behind it. The small words scroll diagonally through the outline of the big word, blending into its shape.
     
     

   • User Task: Type the large target word (e.g., “ANGER”) while ignoring the stream of smaller behind‑the‑scenes words (e.g., “JOY,” “SAD,” “FUN”).
     
     

   • Why it matters: By overlaying moving or static emotional words directly onto the big word’s silhouette, this design heightens interference. The smaller words effectively “fill” the target and force users to suppress a highly salient, overlapping emotional field. Comparing reaction times for congruent‑category versus incongruent‑category overlay trials reveals how much covert reading of background text slows conscious identification of the large word.