Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 9, 2026

The Emotional Stroop Task: Assessing Cognitive Performance under Exposure to Emotional Content
Published on: June 29, 2016
Effects of emotional state on lexical decision performance
1Department of Psychology, University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND 58202-8380, USA.
Abstract:
The effect of emotional state on lexical processing was investigated. Subjects were randomly assigned to either a happy or sad mood condition. Emotional state was then induced by listening to 8 min of classical music previously rated to induce happy or sad moods. Response times and error rates were analyzed in a lexical decision task involving sad words, happy words, and pseudowords. Results suggest that emotion aided the participants in responding to emotion-congruent stimuli. The sad group responded faster than the happy group to sad words and the happy group responded faster than the sad group to happy words. Results are discussed with regard to information processing and emotion.
Related Concept Videos
Decision Making
Automatic decision-making is fast, intuitive, and relies on gut feelings...
The Influence of Affect on Cognition
Cognitive Theories: Schachter-Singer Theory of Emotion
Physiological Arousal and Cognitive Labeling
According to this theory, when an individual experiences physiological...
Factors Affecting Perception
An illustrative example of a perceptual set is the scenario where an airline pilot told...
The Influence of Cognition on Affect
Traits and States

