The Relationship Between Grade Level and the Stroop Effect
School Name
Heathwood Hall
Grade Level
9th Grade
Presentation Topic
Psychology and Sociology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Oral Presentation Award
2nd Place
Written Paper Award
3rd Place
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to test the relationship between grade level and the Stroop effect. The goal was to find out whether or not the Stroop effect is caused by a cognitive interference between the second nature of reading and the color identifying processes. (Besner et. al. 1997) The Stroop effect is the automatic brain process of humans’ tendency to name the word as it reads, rather than the color ink of the word. For example, if the word “orange” is printed in green ink, it is much more difficult to identify the color of the ink, green, than the color the word reads, orange. This is an example of an incongruent word. When the word and ink color are the same color, it is known as a congruent word. The test subjects were in ninth grade, second grade, first grade, kindergarten, and 4 year-old preschoolers. By testing younger students, the second nature of reading was eliminated, so it was hypothesized that younger students would take longer identifying congruent words, but be quicker than older students in identifying incongruent words. However, the results are a stark contrast to the hypothesis because in this study ninth graders had shorter times in all categories. This result questions the commonly believed theory that the Stroop effect is caused by a cognitive interference.
Recommended Citation
Robertson, Faith, "The Relationship Between Grade Level and the Stroop Effect" (2017). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 245.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2017/all/245
Location
Wall 308
Start Date
3-25-2017 11:30 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
The Relationship Between Grade Level and the Stroop Effect
Wall 308
The purpose of this experiment was to test the relationship between grade level and the Stroop effect. The goal was to find out whether or not the Stroop effect is caused by a cognitive interference between the second nature of reading and the color identifying processes. (Besner et. al. 1997) The Stroop effect is the automatic brain process of humans’ tendency to name the word as it reads, rather than the color ink of the word. For example, if the word “orange” is printed in green ink, it is much more difficult to identify the color of the ink, green, than the color the word reads, orange. This is an example of an incongruent word. When the word and ink color are the same color, it is known as a congruent word. The test subjects were in ninth grade, second grade, first grade, kindergarten, and 4 year-old preschoolers. By testing younger students, the second nature of reading was eliminated, so it was hypothesized that younger students would take longer identifying congruent words, but be quicker than older students in identifying incongruent words. However, the results are a stark contrast to the hypothesis because in this study ninth graders had shorter times in all categories. This result questions the commonly believed theory that the Stroop effect is caused by a cognitive interference.
