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The Stroop Effect

Lance L.
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Posted 12/12/07 - 03:01 PM: Subject: The Stroop Effect	#1
For all of you who dont know what the stroop effect, google it or check this link before reading the rest http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/java/ready.html or http://www.at-bristol.org.uk/Optical/StroopEffect... As we can see by taking the Stroop Effect test, our minds our tricked into reading words instead of just focusing on the ink colors, which is explained by neuropsychology. But this brings on alot of philosophical questions... How do words/language affect the way we live and see things? Can our senses be trusted?

Swordfishtrombone
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Posted 12/12/07 - 07:13 PM:	#2
Interesting experiment! I don't think the problem is whether or not we can trust our senses. The problem is that we're being asked to name, not to read, but reading is so innate to us (especially for these short, familiar words) that it pulls our attention away from the task. If you redo the test, but blur your eyes so that you cannot read the words, it suddenly becomes very easy.
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hyena in petticoat
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Posted 12/12/07 - 09:22 PM:	#3
Yeah, I don't think it's a about whether our senses can be trusted or not. I think it has more to do with the association we automatically make with words and the things they refer to when we have become all too familiar with them. It's like changing lifestyles or something, it takes time to adjust. Of course, the above it just my ideas on it, non expert thoughts by all means. Maybe they've got scientific explanations. Anyway, here's more about this.
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natutita
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Posted 02/19/08 - 05:29 AM:	#4
Hee That test was fun... Carry on, droogies...

if.isaac.then
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Posted 05/15/08 - 09:06 PM:	#5
Well, some suggest that language is dynamic insofar as signifiers are not necessarily tied to signified external objects. We can treat this dynamic quality as being the natural state of language. We can arrive at a point where each signifier is contingent, not upon some external reality, but, rather, a cognitive representation, a representation that may or may not be an accurate appraisal of the "situation out there". Generally, the same inhibitory mechanisms are at work when reading "RED" printed in blue ink, while pronouncing "blue", as are at work when your nose itches but you don't pick at for fear of being viewed as one who picks his or her nose in the the presence of others. So, we are interpreting the color of the word in linguistic terms, while trying to inhibit the liguistic structure of the stimulus. This is a cognitive acrobatic feat. People with damage to certain areas of the frontal cortex can not do it. WE are, at the same time, producing and inhibiting linguistic content. If we accept the idea that our linguistic representations of the world are often faulty and that our linguistic interpretations of the world can preclude "more objective" appraisals, we have to humble ourselves to the reality that our linguistic acrobatics, although allowing for amazing intra- and interpersonal communication, may, at times, interfere with our ability to make proper appraisals of the environment.
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Kelby
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Posted 07/21/08 - 12:20 AM:	#6
if.isaac.then wrote: If we accept the idea that our linguistic representations of the world are often faulty and that our linguistic interpretations of the world can preclude "more objective" appraisals, we have to humble ourselves to the reality that our linguistic acrobatics, although allowing for amazing intra- and interpersonal communication, may, at times, interfere with our ability to make proper appraisals of the environment. This is an interesting thought, however I have to ask: during what other scenarios does this phenomenon happen? During the stroop effect, we are, as you said, "interpreting the color of the word in linguistic terms, while trying to inhibit the linguistic structure of the stimulus." These "linguistic acrobatics" seem to be limited to this very scenario, and for such acrobatics to be duplicated, we would have to be presented with another experience where we would again have to interpret an aspect of a linguistic term while trying to inhibit our capacity to interpret linguistically. In what other scenario do we accomplish this little kung-fu trick? Do linguistic interpretations interfere with our ability to make "proper appraisals of the environment" if we are not presented with a linguistic structure? If I merely look at a tree, does my linguistic interpretations interfere with my ability to assess the tree? It seems that this intriguing function of the brain is limited to scenarios where two linguistic subjects are being interpreted, and would not be very debilitating during non-linguistically challenging circumstances.
Embodied Cognition: http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/embodcog.htm#H2

Cadrache
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Posted 07/21/08 - 04:01 PM:	#7
Patting your head and rubbing your stomach at the same time.

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