Home⇛Psychology and Education: A Multidisciplinary Journal⇛vol. 35 no. 1 (2025)

Effect of Stroop Interference on Cognitive Reaction Time among College Students in Lipa City

Kimberly Cathleen Guino | Gwyneth De Torres | Madelyn Mae Canlas | Maricris Palmes | Enrico Gabriel Lina | Beatriz R. Garcia | Dhesiree Braza | Allen Ervin Villapando | Jeremich Serafica | Noralyn Muria

Discipline: others in psychology

 

Abstract:

A growing consensus understands the Stroop Interference as a phenomenon involving conflict and cognitive control. Research shows that incongruent stimuli create a conflict when trying to focus on both elements. It was hypothesized that people would take longer to recognize mismatched colors compared to matched colors, which can significantly impact cognitive reaction times. This study examined the Effects of Stroop Interference on Cognitive Reaction Time Among College Students in Lipa City. The researchers used a within-subject design and convenience sampling method to select participants. The sample of the study consisted of 54 college students that had equal distribution of male and female who took the same condition, such as congruent and incongruent stimuli. The researchers used paired sample t-tests to see if there's a significant difference in cognitive reaction time. Results indicated that incongruent stimuli significantly delayed cognitive reaction times compared to congruent stimuli, emphasizing the competition between automatic processes (like reading) and controlled processes (such as color identification). Participants scored faster cognitive reaction time with congruent stimuli than with incongruent ones, suggesting that they were more inclined to focus on the word itself rather than its color. The implication of the study in the real world highlights that cognitive biases can impede decision-making, especially under pressure or when faced with conflicting information and underscores the importance of educational strategies to improve reading skills and attention in children. The study emphasizes the significance of these findings and recommends that future researchers explore the Stroop effect in various countries, particularly in Southeast Asian and Asian nations, as most existing research has primarily focused on Western concepts.



References:

  1. Adamson, K., & Prion, S. (2020). Two-by-two factorial design. Clinical Simulation In Nursing. https://www.nursingsimulation.org/article/S1876-1399(20)30052-9/fulltext
  2. Algom, D., Chajut, E.(2019) Reclaiming the Stroop effect back from control to input-driven attention and perception. https:/./s/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01683/full
  3. Brunetti, R., Indraccolo, A., Del Gatto, C., Farina, B., Imperatori, C., Fontana, E., Penso, J., Ardito, R. B., & Adenzato, M. (2021). EStroop: Implementation, standardization, and systematic comparison of a new Voice-Key version of the traditional Stroop task. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.663786
  4. Bush, G., Whalen, P. J., Shin, L. M., & Rauch, S. L. (2006). The counting Stroop: a cognitive interference task. Nature Protocols, 1(1), 230–233. https://doi.org/10.1038/nprot.2006.35
  5. Cahello, B. L. R., Cueto, K. C. R., & Halili, L. M. Road Traffic Noise and Its Repercussions on Working Adults’ Reaction Time. https://www.mijrd.com/papers/v3/i1/MIJRDV3I10007.pdf
  6. Caron, E. E., Reynolds, M. G., Ralph, B. C. W., Carriere, J. S. A., Besner, D., & Smilek, D. (2020). Does Posture Influence the Stroop Effect? Psychological Science, 31(11), 1452-1460. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620953842
  7. Charlotte Ruhl (2023). Stroop effect experiment in psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/stroop-effect.html
  8. Chen, Z., & Zou, L. (2021, October). The Stroop Effect Under the Interference of Language. In 2021 International Conference on Public Relations and Social Sciences (ICPRSS 2021) (pp. 432-435). Atlantis Press. DOI:10.2991/assehr.k.211020.195
  9. Chen, Z., & Zou, L. (2021). The Stroop effect under the interference of language. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research. https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.211020.195
  10. Cherry, K. (2024, November 13). How the Stroop Effect Works Naming a Color but Not the Word -verywellmind https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-stroop-effect-2795832
  11. D’Addario, P., & Donmez, B. (2019). The effect of cognitive distraction on perception-response time to unexpected abrupt and gradually onset roadway hazards. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 127, 177–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aap.2019.03.003
  12. Draheim, C., Mashburn, C. A., Martin, J. D., & Engle, R. W. (2019). Reaction time in differential and developmental research: A review and commentary on the problems and alternatives. Psychological Bulletin, 145(5), 508–535. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000192
  13. Farnsworth, B. (2024b, May 31). The Stroop Effect - How it Works and Why - iMotions. iMotions. https://imotions.com/blog/learning/research-fundamentals/the-stroop-effect/#the-applications-  and-implications-of-the-stroop-effect
  14. Flowers, J. H., Steinbaugh, A., Forbes, B., Talamahe’a, T., Vang, L., Baldini, D., & Hirst, R. (2023). 15 Construct Validity of the Stroop Interference task in Youth and the Contribution of Effort. Journal of    the    International    Neuropsychological    Society,    29(s1),    892-893.
  15. Forte, G., Troisi, G., Favieri, F., & Casagrande, M. (2024). Inhibition changes across the lifespan: experimental evidence from the Stroop task. BMC psychology, 12(1), 336. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-024-01844-0
  16. Gautam, Y. (2023). Comparison of stroop colour-word test among male and female students in a medical college of Nepal. Journal of Kathmandu Medical College, 12(1), 65–69.
  17. Gleichmann, N. (2020). Paired vs unpaired t-test: Differences, assumptions and hypotheses. Technology Networks.
  18. GMA Regional TV News. (2024, April 19). The need for strategies to heighten students’ attention span. Young Minds. https://www.gmanetwork.com/regionaltv/youngminds/101482/the-need-for- strategies-to-heighten-students-attention-span/story/
  19. Golzar, J., Noor, S., & Tajik, O. (2022). Convenience sampling. International Journal of Education & Language Studies, 1(2), 72-77.
  20. Grumal, Marvin & Author, Jemilyn & Mata, Nomelita. (2024). Republic of the Philippines Department of Education REGION IV-A CALABARZON Rev Effectivity LEVEL OF LEARNERS' ATTENTION IN THE CLASSROOM: BASIS FOR ENHANCED CLASSROOM INTERVENTION. 10.13140/RG.2.2.17566.55362.
  21. Gutuman, N. B. (2022). Roses are Red, Violets are Blue: Bakit sa Kulay Ika’y Nagpapaloko? Stodocu. https://www.studocu.com/ph/document/far-eastern-university-diliman/social-psychology/stroop-effect-manuscript/37921935
  22. Hasshim, N., Downes, M., Bate, S., & Parris, B. A. (2019). Response time distribution analysis of semantic and response interference in a manual response stroop task. Experimental Psychology, 66(3), 231–238. https://doi.org/10.1027/1618-3169/a000445
  23. Hershman, R., Beckmann, L., & Henik, A. (2022). Task and information conflicts in the numerical Stroop task. Psychophysiology, 59(9). https://doi.org/10.1111/psyp.14057
  24. Hershman, R., Dadon, G., Kiesel, A., & Henik, A. (2023). Resting Stroop task: Evidence of task conflict in trials with no required response. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13423-023-02354-7
  25. Hershman, R., Keha, E., Sapir, A., Weiss, E. M., Henik, A., & Kaufmann, L. (2024). Evidence for two types of task conflict in a color-digit Stroop task. Journal of cognition, 7(1), 54.
  26. Hershman, R., Levin, Y., Tzelgov, J., & Henik, A. (2020). Neutral stimuli and pupillometric task conflict. Psychological Research, 85(3), 1084–1092. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-020-01311-6 Hershman, R., Levin, Y., Tzelgov, J., & Henik, A. (2021). The contribution of meaning to the detection of task conflict. Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 74(9), 1553–1561. https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218211001331
  27. Ivy Panda (2024). Stroop Experiment: Congruent and Incongruent Words.https://ivypanda.com/essays/stroop-experiment-incongruent-and-incongruent-words/
  28. Kalantari, S., Rounds, J. D., Kan, J., Tripathi, V., & Cruz-Garza, J. G. (2021). Comparing physiological responses during cognitive tests in virtual environments vs. in identical real-world environments. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 10227. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-89297-y
  29. Kumar, A. P., Omprakash, A., Kuppusamy, M., KN, M., BWC, S., PV, V., & Ramaswamy, P. (2020). How does cognitive function measured by the reaction time and critical flicker fusion frequency correlate with the academic performance of students? BMC Medical Education, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-020-02416-7
  30. McIntosh, E. G. A (2020). Study of Cognitive Interference Using the Stroop Effect. https://www.ajhssr.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/T2043149151.pdf#page=2.58
  31. Ménétré E and Laganaro M (2019) Attentional Reorientation and Inhibition Adjustment in a Verbal Stroop Task: A Lifespan Approach to Interference and Sequential Congruency Effect. Front. Psychol. 10:2028. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02028
  32. Murat, Doğan, Şahin., Eren, Can, Aybek. (2019). Jamovi: An Easy to Use Statistical Software for the Social Scientists. International Journal of Assessment Tools in Education, 6(4):670-692. doi: 10.21449/IJATE.661803
  33. None, Dr., S., Sankar. (2022). Selecting a Within- or Between-Subject Design for Mediation: Validity, Causality, and Statistical Power. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 58(3):616-636. doi: 10.1080/00273171.2022.2077287
  34. Noor, S., Tajik, O., & Golzar, J. (2022). Simple random sampling. International Journal of Education & Language Studies, 1(2), 78-82. doi: 10.22034/ijels.2022.162982
  35. Odoi, B., Ankrah, S., Samita, S., & Al-Hassan, S. (2022) The Efficiency of Bartlett's Test using Different forms of Residuals for Testing Homogeneity of Variance in Single and Factorial Experiments-A Simulation Study., Volume 17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01323
  36. Palfi, B., Parris, B. A., Collins, A. F., & Dienes, Z. (2022). Strategies that reduce Stroop interference. Royal Society Open Science, 9(3), 202136.
  37. Pan, Y., Zhang, Z., Hu, X. et al. (2022) Revisiting congruency effects in the working memory Stroop task. Atten Percept Psychophys 84, 1635–1650. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-022-02494-3
  38. Parris, B. A., Hasshim, N., Ferrand, L., & Augustinova, M. (2023). Do task sets compete in the stroop task and other selective attention paradigms? Journal of Cognition, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.5334/joc.272
  39. Parris, B. A., Sharma, D., Weekes, B. S. H., Momenian, M., Augustinova, M., & Ferrand, L. (2019). Response modality and the Stroop task: Are there phonological Stroop effects with manual responses?. Experimental Psychology, 66(5), 361.
  40. Pickering, M. J., McLean, J. F., & Gambi, C. (2022). Interference in the shared-Stroop task: a comparison of self- and other-monitoring. Royal Society Open Science, 9(4). https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.220107
  41. Prével, A., Krebs, R. M., Kukkonen, N., & Braem, S. (2021). Selective reinforcement of conflict processing in the Stroop task. PloS one, 16(7), e0255430.
  42. Reigal, R. E., Barrero, S., Martín, I., Morales-Sánchez, V., Juárez-Ruiz de Mier, R., & Hernández-Mendo, A. (2019). Relationships between reaction time, selective attention, physical activity, and physical fitness in children. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 2278.
  43. Rezaei, M. (2019). Neuropsychological decomposing Stroop interference into different cognitive monitoring: An exploratory factor analysis. Basic and Clinical Neuroscience, 10(5), 475.
  44. Rothermund, K., Gollnick, N., & Giesen, C. G. (2022). Accounting for proportion congruency effects in the Stroop task in a confounded setup: Retrieval of stimulus-response episodes explains it all. Journal of Cognition, 5(1). doi: 10.5334/joc.232
  45. Ruhl, C. (2023). Stroop Effect Experiment in Psychology. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/stroop-effect.html
  46. Scaltritti, M., Job, R., & Sulpizio, S. (2022). Different types of semantic interference, same lapses of attention: Evidence from Stroop tasks. Memory & Cognition, 50(5), 898-910. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-021-01256-0
  47. Schneider, D. W. (2020). Alertness and cognitive control: Interactions in the spatial Stroop task. Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 82(5), 2257–2270. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-020-01993-5
  48. Siedlecki, S. L. (2020). Quasi-Experimental research designs. Clinical Nurse Specialist, 34(5), 198–202. https://doi.org/10.1097/nur.0000000000000540
  49. Sjoberg, E. A., Wilner, R. G., D’Souza, A., & Cole, G. G. (2023). The stroop task sex difference: evolved inhibition or color naming?. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 52(1), 315-323. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-022-02439-9
  50. Šömen, M. M., Peskar, M., Wollesen, B., Gramann, K., & Marusic, U. (2023). Does standing up enhance performance on the stroop task in healthy young Adults? A systematic review and meta-analysis. International journal of environmental research and public health, 20(3), 2319.https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20032319
  51. Sparshadeep, E. M., Ansuja, S., Kavana, G. V., & Oommen, A. A. (2021). Effect of Stroop color word interference on selective attention tasks among healthy young adults. National Journal of Physiology, Pharmacy and Pharmacology, 11(10), 1203-1203. https://www.njppp.com/fulltext/28-1630858497.pdf?1730226683
  52. Spinelli, G., & Lupker, S. J. (2020). Proactive control in the Stroop task: A conflict-frequency manipulation free of item-specific, contingency-learning, and color-word correlation confounds. Journal of Experimental Psychology Learning Memory and Cognition, 47(10), 1550–1562. https://doi.org/10.1037/xlm0000820
  53. Suzuki, K. (2021). Sequential congruency effects of reverse stroop interference on Event-Related potential components   for   Go-   and   Nogo-Stimuli.   Frontiers   in   Psychology,   12. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.678647
  54. Takahashi, S., & Grove, P. M. (2020). Use of Stroop Test for Sports Psychology Study: Cross-Over Design Research. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.614038
  55. Tong, J., Li, L., Bruns, P., & Röder, B. (2020). Crossmodal associations modulate multisensory spatial integration. Attention Perception & Psychophysics, 82(7), 3490–3506. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-020-02083-2
  56. Toth, A. J., Kowal, M., & Campbell, M. J. (2019). The color-word stroop task does not differentiate cognitive inhibition ability among esports gamers of varying expertise. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 2852. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02852

Tools


Copyright © 2026  KITE Digital Educational Solutions |  Exclusively distributed by CE-Logic