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Stroop effect
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== Theories == There are several theories used to explain the Stroop effect, which are commonly known as "race models". This is based on the underlying notion that both relevant and irrelevant information are processed in parallel, but that they "race" to enter the single central processor during response selection.<ref name="Johnson 2004">{{cite book|last=Johnson|first=A|title=Attention: theory and practice|year=2004|publisher=Sage Publications|location=Thousand Oaks, Calif}}</ref> They are: === Processing speed === This theory, also called Relative Speed of Processing Theory, suggests there is a lag in the brain's ability to recognize the color of the word since the brain reads words faster than it recognizes colors.<ref>{{cite web|last=McMahon|first=M|title=What Is the Stroop Effec|url=http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-stroop-effect.htm|access-date=November 11, 2013}}</ref> This is based on the idea that word processing is significantly faster than color processing. In a condition where there is a conflict regarding words and colors (e.g., Stroop test), if the task is to report the color, the word information arrives at the decision-making stage before the color information which presents processing confusion. Conversely, if the task is to report the word, because color information lags after word information, a decision can be made ahead of the conflicting information.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Lamers|first=M.J.|title=Selective Attention And Response Set In The Stroop Task|journal=Memory & Cognition|year=2010|volume=38|issue=7|pages=893β904|doi=10.3758/mc.38.7.893|pmid=20921102|display-authors=etal|doi-access=free|hdl=2066/90123|hdl-access=free}}</ref> === Selective attention === The Selective Attention Theory suggests that color recognition, as opposed to reading a word, requires more attention. The brain needs to use more attention to recognize a color than to encode a word, so it takes a little longer.<ref name="McMahon" /> The responses lend much to the interference noted in the Stroop task. This may be a result of either an allocation of attention to the responses or to a greater inhibition of distractors that are not appropriate responses.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lamers |first1=M. J. M. |last2=Roelofs |first2=A. |last3=Rabeling-Keus |first3=I. |date=2010 |title=Selective attention and response set in the Stroop task |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.3758/MC.38.7.893 |journal=Memory & Cognition |volume=38 |issue=7 |pages=893β904 |doi=10.3758/MC.38.7.893 |pmid=20921102 |via=Springer Nature|hdl=2066/90123 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> === Automaticity === This theory is the most common theory of the Stroop effect.<ref name="McMahon">{{cite web|last=McMahon|first=M|title=What Is the Stroop Effect?|url=http://www.wisegeek.org/what-is-the-stroop-effect.htm|access-date=November 11, 2013}}</ref> {{Failed verification|date=October 2016}} It suggests that since recognizing colors is not an "automatic process" there is hesitancy to respond, whereas, in contrast, the brain automatically understands the meanings of words as a result of habitual reading. This idea is based on the premise that automatic reading does not need controlled attention, but still uses enough attentional resources to reduce the amount of attention accessible for color information processing.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Monahan|first=J.S|title=Coloring single Stroop elements: Reducing automaticity or slowing color processing|journal=Journal of General Psychology|year=2001|volume=128|issue=1|pages=98β112|doi=10.1080/00221300109598901|pmid=11277451|s2cid=1208183}}</ref> Stirling (1979) introduced the concept of response automaticity. He demonstrated that changing the responses from colored words to letters that were not part of the colored words increased reaction time while reducing Stroop interference.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Stirling|first=N|title=Stroop interference: An input and an output phenomenon|journal=Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology|year=1979|volume=31|pages=121β132|doi=10.1080/14640747908400712|s2cid=144956732}}</ref> === Parallel distributed processing === This theory suggests that as the brain analyzes information, different and specific pathways are developed for different tasks.<ref name=":0" /> Some pathways, such as reading, are stronger than others, therefore, it is the strength of the pathway and not the speed of the pathway that is important.<ref name="McMahon"/> In addition, automaticity is a function of the strength of each pathway, hence, when two pathways are activated simultaneously in the Stroop effect, interference occurs between the stronger (word reading) path and the weaker (color naming) path, more specifically when the pathway that leads to the response is the weaker pathway.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Cohen|first=J.D.|title=On The Control Of Automatic Processes: A Parallel Distributed Processing Account Of The Stroop Effect|journal=Psychological Review|year=1990|volume=97|issue=3|pages=332β361|doi=10.1037/0033-295x.97.3.332|pmid=2200075|display-authors=etal|citeseerx=10.1.1.321.3453}}</ref>
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