The Stroop Task Sex Difference: Evolved Inhibition or Color Naming?

The classic Stroop task, during which one names the ink color of color words, has long been used as a measure of selective attention (Stroop, 1935). Selective attention generally refers to our ability to attend to one stimulus (a target) while ignoring another (a distractor). Since its initial creation, many variations of the classic Stroop task have been developed. One of these variations is cross-modal Stroop, which uses visual colored targets and auditory distractor color words. However, whether the same mechanisms and processes are used while completing the two tasks has yet to be determined. The following thesis examined cross-modal Stroop and the theories that have been developed in an attempt to explain the classic Stroop findings. Two experiments were conducted. In Experiment 1, different colored visual stimuli were used (e.g. color squares and @ symbols) to determine whether this had any impact on task performance. A row of X’s induced significantly less interference, suggesting that they serve as an excellent neutral stimulus. In Experiment 2, the response times and accuracy levels for repeating auditory color words and visual colored items were examined with or without accompanying distractors. Although the classic Stroop task displays a very clear asymmetry between word reading and color naming, this asymmetry was not found for cross-modal Stroop. This finding suggests that the same processes and mechanisms may not be involved when completing cross-modal Stroop as classic Stroop, and furthermore, that some of the theories are better at explaining the cross-modal Stroop effect than others.

Background: Very less work has been done in the past to assess cognition in hypothyroid patients using classical color-word Stroop task. The Stroop color-word task is a well-recognized tool which estimates cognitive inhibition. Stroop task is based on the fact that reading words and identifying color of written words are two different information and they process with a common response channel but with different speeds. The aim of this study was to assess the cognitive inhibition process in drug-naive hypothyroid patients and their comparison with the same patients after the attainment of euthyroid status and also with euthyroid controls using classical color-word Stroop task. Materials and Methods: Thirty drug-naive newly diagnosed hypothyroid patients were study cases who underwent Stroop task once before initiating treatment and then after the attainment of euthyroid state. We performed the same test in euthyroid controls twice at an interval of 3 months for comparison purpose. Correlation analysis was also done for hypothyroidism and cognition. Results: The reaction time of Stroop task was decreased in all the three conditions of each block, i.e., neutral, incongruent, and congruent conditions after the attainment of euthyroid state, and the finding confirms posttreatment modulation of the attention processes in hypothyroid patients. Reaction time of Stroop task in hypothyroid patients was positively correlated with the serum thyroid-stimulating hormone levels. Processing of color identification was suppressed than reading words in hypothyroid patients as evidenced by increased reaction time of Stroop task. This increase in reaction time can be reversed by earlier identification of drug-naive hypothyroid cases so that they can get timely treatment to restore their cognitive status. Conclusions: Stroop task scores are reduced in overt hypothyroid patients, but improve after thyroid replacement therapy.

Interference created by incongruent stimuli in the classic Stroop task appears to be a complex phenomenon, attributed to multiple sources: task conflict (created by the possibility of engaging both word reading and color naming), semantic conflict (created by incompatibility between the concepts denoted by the word and the color), and response conflict (created when the word and the color are associated with two different possible responses). This composite view has seen little use in other conflict tasks, even though interference might reflect multiple sources of conflict in those tasks as well. The current pre-registered study attempted to decompose interference in the classic flanker task. A sample of 130 participants from two countries identified a centrally presented letter while ignoring flanking stimuli, which could be of ten different types (from least to most expected interference: no flanker, simple dots, patches of random visual noise, meaningless simple shapes, meaningless complex shapes, meaningful pictograms, digits, non-response set letters, and letters belonging to the response set; congruent trials were also included as a reference). The results clearly showed cumulative levels of interference as flankers became processable, meaningful, and identifiable as a possible response, indicating that different types of conflict do contribute to interference in the flanker task. The results broadly map onto the task, semantic, and response types of conflict identified in the Stroop task, with a few nuances. Our findings suggest that the presence of multiple sources of conflict may be a very general phenomenon in conflict tasks, extending well beyond Stroop interference.

Shape and color naming are inherently asymmetrical: Evidence from practice-based interference

A long-standing debate in the Stroop literature concerns whether the way we respond to the color dimension determines how we process the irrelevant dimension, or whether word processing is purely stimulus driven. Models and findings in the Stroop literature differ in their predictions about how response modes (e.g., responding manually vs. vocally) affect how the irrelevant word is processed (i.e., phonologically, semantically) and the interference and facilitation that results, with some predicting qualitatively different Stroop effects. Here, we investigated whether response mode modifies phonological facilitation produced by the irrelevant word. In a fully within-subject design, we sought evidence for the use of a serial print-to-speech prelexical phonological processing route when using manual and vocal responses by testing for facilitating effects of phonological overlap between the irrelevant word and the color name at the initial and final phoneme positions. The results showed phoneme overlap leads to facilitation with both response modes, a result that is inconsistent with qualitative differences between the two response modes.

Automaticity of lexical access in deaf and hearing bilinguals: Cross-linguistic evidence from the color Stroop task across five languages

The working memory Stroop task is to name the color of a rectangular patch with keypress while holding a color word in working memory. Previous studies using this variant of the Stroop task have shown that congruency between the color patch and the color word significantly affects both color naming and working memory, with the worsening of task performance when the color patch is semantically incongruent rather than congruent with the color word. However, it remains unclear with regard to cognitive mechanisms underlying such congruency effects in the working memory Stroop task. By including a control condition among the congruent and incongruent conditions in a working memory Stroop task, the present study showed that nearly all of the working memory Stroop effect can be facilitation, and that interference, if present, is markedly smaller than facilitation in this form of the Stroop effect. There was also a critical contrast between the working memory and classic Stroop effects in terms of facilitation and interference, with larger facilitation and smaller interference in the working memory Stroop effect than in the classic Stroop effect. Moreover, working memory for a color word can be either facilitated or interfered with by the perceptual judgment (color naming) of an interposed color patch during the retention interval, depending on whether the color patch is semantically congruent or incongruent with the color word. Together, these results suggest that both facilitation and interference mechanisms can contribute to the overall congruency effects in the working memory Stroop task.

Stroop/reverse-Stroop interference in typical development and its relation to symptoms of ADHD

Objective To investigate the effect of drug dependence severity on the relationship between impulsivity and craving. Methods 36 abstinent drug-dependent individuals were recruited in the study. The participants were divided into the heavy dependence group (HDG) or the low dependence group (LDG) according to the scores of Addiction Severity Index (ASI). The Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11) and classical Stroop task were used to measure the trait impulsivity and state impulsivity.Block designed cue-induced craving paradigm was presented to measure cue-elicited craving. Results For the HDG, a significant positive correlation was found between trait impulsivity (the mean value of BIS-11-CI scale was (39.03±16.50)) or state impulsivity (the difference of reaction time between congruent and incongruent situation was (87.77±36.95)ms)and cue-elicited craving(0.83±1.91)(r=0.487, 0.500, P 0.05). Conclusion The addiction severity influences the relationship between impulsivity and craving, and impulsivity can only be used as a predictor of relapse in HDG. The findings suggest that the drug may influence the shared brain mechanism between impulsivity and craving. Key words: Drug craving; Trait impulsivity; State impulsivity; Drug dependence severity

Abstract. Aim Repeated drug use can lead to attentional bias and approach tendencies, which are thought to play an important role in problematic substance use and dependence. The aims of the current study were to 1) test an attentional retraining procedure in a sample of moderate and heavy cannabis using students and 2) compare baseline attentional and approach bias between the two groups with different implicit measures. Design and participants Attentional bias scores toward cannabis-related or neutral stimuli were determined with modified versions of the Visual Probe Task and the cannabis Stroop task. Approach and avoidance action tendencies toward cannabis-related and neutral stimuli were assessed with the cannabis Approach-Avoidance Task (AAT) and the Stimulus Response Compatibility task (SRC). Seventeen participants were assigned randomly to five sessions of an attentional retraining procedure or control training. Results Attentional retraining did not decrease the speeded detection of cannabis stimuli and the difficulty to disengage from those stimuli, no trainingseffects were revealed. Moderate cannabis users did not show an attentional bias for cannabis-related cues (measured with the cannabis Stroop task), whereas heavy cannabis users did show an attentional bias for cannabis-related stimuli that cannot be attributed to cognitive control deficits on the classical Stroop task. Moreover, heavy cannabis users, but not moderate users, were significant faster to approach cannabis images compared to neutral images, using the SRC task. Conclusion Seen the observed difference in cognitive biases towards cannabis stimuli between moderate and heavy cannabis users, this study supports the allegation that cognitive biases towards cannabis stimuli may be an important marker of problematic cannabis use.

Functional neuroimaging studies have shown increased Stroop interference coupled with altered anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and insula activation in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These brain areas are associated with error detection and emotional arousal. There is some evidence that treatment can normalize these activation patterns. At baseline, we compared classic and emotional Stroop performance and blood oxygenation level-dependent responses (functional magnetic resonance imaging) of 29 child abuse-related complex PTSD patients with 22 non-trauma-exposed healthy controls. In 16 of these patients, we studied treatment effects of psycho-educational and cognitive behavioural stabilizing group treatment (experimental treatment; EXP) added to treatment as usual (TAU) versus TAU only, and correlations with clinical improvement. At baseline, complex PTSD patients showed a trend for increased left anterior insula and dorsal ACC activation in the classic Stroop task. Only EXP patients showed decreased dorsal ACC and left anterior insula activation after treatment. In the emotional Stroop contrasts, clinical improvement was associated with decreased dorsal ACC activation and decreased left anterior insula activation. We found further evidence that successful treatment in child abuse-related complex PTSD is associated with functional changes in the ACC and insula, which may be due to improved selective attention and lower emotional arousal, indicating greater cognitive control over PTSD symptoms.

Social priming of dyslexia and reduction of the Stroop effect: What component of the Stroop effect is actually reduced?

Cognitive impairment is a common feature of multiple sclerosis (MS), and its severity may be influenced by several factors, such as biological sex and levels of cognitive reserve (CR). The relationship between sex, CR, and cognition has not yet been fully investigated. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore sex differences in CR building and the effect of sex and CR on cognitive performance in MS. 233 participants underwent the Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests (BRB-N), the Stroop test, and the Cognitive Reserve Scale. The t-test was performed to compare sociodemographic variables, Italian adaptation of the Cognitive Reserve Scale, and cognitive test scores between sexes. To evaluate the effect of CR and sex and their interaction on cognitive performance several models of multivariate analyses of covariance were performed (dependent variables: all subtests of Brief Repeatable Battery of Neuropsychological Tests and Stroop scores; independent variables: sex and CR). Covariates included age, Expanded Disability Status Scale, and BDI-II scores. Women showed higher levels of CR, particularly in daily activities (t = -5.848, p<.001), hobbies (t = -2.591, p = .010), and social life (t = -2.362, p = .011). Sex differences were noted in verbal memory and fluency (with women outperforming men) and processing speed (with men performing better than women). Multivariate analyses revealed a nonsignificant interaction between CR and sex on cognition (Λ=.950, F(10,260)=.813, p = .617, ηp2 = .050). CR and sex seemed to affect cognitive performance independently in pwMS. This highlights the importance of considering both factors in cognitive assessment, and that both sexes may benefit from specific psychoeducational training aimed at increasing CR levels.

BackgroundThere is a growing interest in the cognitive impairment shown by patients with Huntington’s disease (HD). Alteration in visuospatial functions and saccadic eye movements had been demonstrated. Therefore, these factors...

Three visual selective attention tasks were used to measure potential differences in susceptibility to interference and inhibitory cognitive control processes in 16 adolescents diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and 45 similar-aged controls. Susceptibility to interference was assessed using the Stroop color and word naming test. Efficiency of distractor inhibition was assessed in two conceptual negative priming tasks. The majority of studies in this area indicate that people with ADHD demonstrate higher levels of interference and lower negative priming effects in comparison with age-matched peers. However, we found that although the ADHD group was consistently slower to name target stimuli than the control group, there were no differences in interference or negative priming between the two groups.