A confluence of contexts: asymmetric versus global failures of selective attention to stroop dimensions

In 6 experiments probing selective attention through Stroop classification, 4 factors of context were manipulated: (a) psychophysical context, the distinctiveness of values along the color and word dimensions; (b) set size context, the number of stimulus values tested; (c) production context, the mode used to respond; and (d) covariate context, the correlation between the dimensions. The psychophysical and production contexts mainly caused an asymmetry in selective attention failure between colors and words, whereas the set size and covariate contexts contributed primarily to the average or global magnitudes of attentional disruption across dimensions. The results suggest that (a) Stroop dimensions are perceptually separable, (b) J.R. Stroop's (1935) classic findings arose from his particular combination of contexts, and (c) stimulus uncertainty and dimensional imbalance are the primary sources of task and congruity effects in the Stroop paradigm.