Abstract
An experiment was conducted to test the effect of lateralization and congruency on reaction time to name colors. This was done using a computer program provided by The University of Mississippi. This effect is called the stroop effect. Results showed that it was neither lateralization nor congruency had a significant effect on reaction time, but the interaction of these two variables that created a significant change in the time needed to recognize colors. It is believed that this is due to the different hemispheric functions of the brain. Studies that are similar to this in nature help to better understand how the brain functions and it capabilities.
The Effect of Visual Field Position and Type of Stimuli on the Stroop Effect
Psychologists have been interested in how the human brain works and how stimuli are processed and interpreted. The brain is a highly complex organ that is the center for all our human functions. The more we know about how it works and how efficient the brain is, the better psychologists will be able to analyze human behavior.
The stoop test has been used for many years to investigate how we process information. Laterality is one of the factors in which the stroop test can be used to investigate. Many researchers have examined laterality in the Stroop task. Dyer (1973) showed that presenting the word and the color separately to the left and right fixation did not alter the Stroop effect. Interference and facilitation were still factors (MacLeod, 1991). There are many instances of the left hemisphere showing more interference during this kind of testing. Aine and Harter (1984) studied this same effect and found that activity associated with interference occurs in the left hemisphere, effecting the response time and error-rate measured. Similar results were found in a study conducted by Posner, Walker, Friedrich, and Rafal; (Citedin, Macleod, 1991) they found that the left parietal and frontal lobe may be involved in disengaging attention. Many other variables such as gender, bilingual ness, even handedness have been proven to alter the Stroop effect.
This experiment investigated how visual field position and differing stimuli influenced the reaction time in naming ink colors. Based on the information above and past studies, these hypotheses were formulated. The time to name the in...
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...depending on monitor size and the distance of research participants from the monitor. This should be a constant in the experiment with each participant about 11 inches from the monitor and a standard size monitor. On the central presentation, the word axis is at 0 degrees relative to the fixation point. Display times are fixed at 150 msec to assure that laterally presented words are experienced in a single visual hemisphere.
With four words (red, blue, Green, and yellow) that are printed in a word-color congruent form or non-congruent form appearing at any of three positions (right, left, or center), there are 24 possible stimulus events. The reaction time type of stimuli is measured and recorded for each trial. After the experiment is completed the result must be printed out and analyzed.
Results
Participants responded to congruent and incongruent stimuli in three different visual fields. Means were calculated for each participant in each of the 6 conditions. Averages were calculated for the conditions and they can be found in Table 1. The data were subjected to a 3x2 repeated analysis of variance and one significant effect (F (2.98) =3.74; p
...ffect. This theory suggests that recognizing and naming colors is not an “automatic process”. The attention need to be shifted from word to recognition of color; and there is hesitancy to respond; whereas, reading a word is habitual. The brain automatically understands the meaning and the phonetics of the word. The habituation of the reading task does not require controlled attention. Hence it is easier to read a word than to recognize the color of the word. More than theorizing on the phenomenon of Stroop effect, there is application value to this study. The experimental data and observations in the current study are very vital that it can be applied in many situations where the correctness is important than the speed. This information has the widest application in selection of individuals in occupations requiring instance data processing and correct responses.
The effects of perceptual load on the occurrence of inattentional blindness were demonstrated clearly by experiment. In an experiment conducted by Finch and Lavie in 2007, participants were given identical series of central cross-targets with two arms of clearly different color (blue and green) and slightly different length. Participants were split in two groups, one performing an easy task (low load condition) and the other a harder task (high load condition). The group performing the easiest task only had to make color discrimination between the tw...
The left brain or the left cerebral hemisphere is the side of the brain that is logical. It controls speech, language and analyzes all incoming information Cherry (2013). These patients has the ability to recognize people names rather than faces Cherry (2013). The left hemisphere usually has preemptive control over the main stream of the body activity (Newman, Banks, & Baars (2003 pg. 838)). The Left cerebral hemisphere is superior to complex language and expres...
If a person is asked to identify the color of a rectangle, and is subsequently asked to read a randomly generated color name, it is well-known that a matching color name will be called out faster than a mismatching color name.
In majority of individuals, the left half of the brain takes charge of the academic activities. These academic activities break down into logic, words, numbers and reasoning (Gallagher, 1995). These abilities of the left brain are what make humans ...
The independent variables in this experiment are the time and the foils presented to the subject. The dependent variable is the discrimination index. The...
...ce for increased activity in visual areas or the fusiform gyrus, which is connected with color perception. These results have shown that spoken words result in co-activation of color processing areas, but not visual areas connected with the perceptual process of color. Sadly, the conclusions don’t reveal which perceptual or cognitive processes might cause the difference with people with synaesthesia and the controls.
Psychology can be broadly defined as the scientific and systematic study of people’s behavior and mental processes.
Humans have been studying eye movements for many years now. The first recorded person to publish studies that contributed to the field of eye tracking was Louis Émile Javal [1, 2] in 1878, roughly a century before computers started becoming commonly used. Javal observed human eye movement while reading and was the first to observe that eyes make a combination of rapid movements (which he called saccades) and short stops (which he called fixations). Javal conducted this experiment without the assistance of any instruments, using only his naked eye.
We hypothesized that the more an image is rotated, the longer the reaction time will be because of the additional mental processes that must take place in order to correctly complete the object recognition. We further hypothesized that the angle will overall have a greater impact on the 2-dimensional pictures than the letters. Additionally, we hypothesized that the combination of both the object type and the angle together will affect reaction time more significantly overall.
In the mental rotation task, subjects are pre- sented with pairs of 2-D or 3-D shapes, and asked whether they are mirrored or non- mirrored.
Nowadays, it is widely known that the right and left hemisphere have different functions. The two hemispheres are equally important in a daily life basis. Nevertheless, in the 1960’s this was not common knowledge. Even though today the importance of the brain hemispheres is common knowledge, people don’t usually know to whom attribute this findings. One of the people who contributed to form a more defined picture about the brain hemispheres and their respective functions was Roger Wolcott Sperry, with the split brain research. Roger Sperry did more contributions than the split brain research, but this is his most important and revolutionary research in the psychological field. Thanks to the split brain research, Sperry proved that the two hemispheres of the brain are important, they work together and whatever side of the brain is more capable of doing the task is the hemisphere that takes the lead.
Pratte, M. S., Rouder, J. N., Morey, R. D., & Feng, C. (2010). Exploring the differences in distributional properties between Stroop and Simon effects using delta plots. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 72(7), 2013-2025.
The right side of the brain is good at imaginative and expressive acts. Its work is to process information for instance recognizing faces, reading emotions, expressing emotions, images, color, and creativity, just to mention but a few (Cherry, 2012). Right brain thinkers retain more information from visual experiences. On the other hand, the left side of the brain has a number of functions, which involve language, logic, and analytical thinking. The left side of the brain processes information such as; language, logic, reasoning, numbers, and critical thinking (Cherry 2012). These brain functions affect the left side of the brain, and decision-making. Both sides of the brains enhance the learning and thinking process as the brains incorporated their functions. Both sides of the brain participate in a balanced manner during the lear...
McClelland, J. L., & Rumelhart, D. E. (1981). An interactive activation model of context effects in letter perception: I. An account of basic findings. Psychological review, 88(5), 375.