The Stroop Effect
Attention : The effects of automatic and controlled processing
Abstract
The theory of attention was focused on within the experiment, using a modified version of the Stroop effect. The stroop effect suggests that automatic and controlled processing can conflict with each other making it difficult to focus on a particular task. Participants were asked to look at two sets of stimuli which contained words written in coloured ink, colour related words and neutral words. Participants were asked to say the colour of ink that the word was written in. The results of the experiment showed a significant effect on response times between both stimuli, providing further support to the Stroop effect.
Introduction
The environment around us contains …show more content…
Controlled processing requires a large amount processing power and therefore requires a conscious effort (Attention) to focus on a task. The process of attention enables us to filter out unnecessary information required and focus on the information needed at that given time.
The benefit of automatic processing is that due to the limited resources it requires, it enables us to complete more than one task at a time.
Kahneman (as cited in Gross, 2005) suggests that some tasks (those that have been practised regularly) become automatic, requiring less processing capacity, therefore allowing other tasks to be completed. However as this process is automatic, it makes it difficult to switch off.
The Stroop experiment (as cited in Gross, 2005) required participants to look at a list of colour words such as ‘red’ . These words were not written in the corresponding colour for example ‘red’ was written in black ink. The task was to say the colour of ink for each word as quickly as possible. The results of Stroop’s study showed that participants found it difficult ‘switching off’ the automatic process of reading in order to identify the colour the word was written …show more content…
This is a two tailed hypothesis The null hypothesis was that there would be no difference in the response times of the two conditions.
Method
Design
The experiment used a within participants design. The independent variable was the manipulation of colours and words. Two conditions were used. These were colour related stimuli where participants were shown a list of coloured words, the coloured ink did not match the associated word and the neutral word stimuli, where the same colours were presented however no association with the word was present. The dependant variable was the time taken in seconds to complete each condition.
Control conditions were put in place to reduce possible confounding variables. All of the participants received the same set of instructions. All participants completed both condition 1 and 2. The order of the conditions were alternated between participants to reduce any practice effect, and the same equipment was used for all participants.
Abstract
The theory of attention was focused on within the experiment, using a modified version of the Stroop effect. The stroop effect suggests that automatic and controlled processing can conflict with each other making it difficult to focus on a particular task. Participants were asked to look at two sets of stimuli which contained words written in coloured ink, colour related words and neutral words. Participants were asked to say the colour of ink that the word was written in. The results of the experiment showed a significant effect on response times between both stimuli, providing further support to the Stroop effect.
Introduction
The environment around us contains …show more content…
Controlled processing requires a large amount processing power and therefore requires a conscious effort (Attention) to focus on a task. The process of attention enables us to filter out unnecessary information required and focus on the information needed at that given time.
The benefit of automatic processing is that due to the limited resources it requires, it enables us to complete more than one task at a time.
Kahneman (as cited in Gross, 2005) suggests that some tasks (those that have been practised regularly) become automatic, requiring less processing capacity, therefore allowing other tasks to be completed. However as this process is automatic, it makes it difficult to switch off.
The Stroop experiment (as cited in Gross, 2005) required participants to look at a list of colour words such as ‘red’ . These words were not written in the corresponding colour for example ‘red’ was written in black ink. The task was to say the colour of ink for each word as quickly as possible. The results of Stroop’s study showed that participants found it difficult ‘switching off’ the automatic process of reading in order to identify the colour the word was written …show more content…
This is a two tailed hypothesis The null hypothesis was that there would be no difference in the response times of the two conditions.
Method
Design
The experiment used a within participants design. The independent variable was the manipulation of colours and words. Two conditions were used. These were colour related stimuli where participants were shown a list of coloured words, the coloured ink did not match the associated word and the neutral word stimuli, where the same colours were presented however no association with the word was present. The dependant variable was the time taken in seconds to complete each condition.
Control conditions were put in place to reduce possible confounding variables. All of the participants received the same set of instructions. All participants completed both condition 1 and 2. The order of the conditions were alternated between participants to reduce any practice effect, and the same equipment was used for all participants.