Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Experiment Videos

Training and Stroop-like interference: evidence for a continuum of automaticity.

C M MacLeod1, K Dunbar

  • 1Division of Life Sciences, University of Toronto, Scarborough, Ontario, Canada.

Journal of Experimental Psychology. Learning, Memory, and Cognition
|January 1, 1988
PubMed
Summary

Extensive practice in naming novel shapes in the Stroop task leads to automaticity, reversing interference patterns. This suggests training directly influences cognitive processes beyond simple speed.

Related Concept Videos

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Negative priming is not task bound: A consistent pattern across naming and categorization tasks.

Psychonomic bulletin & review·2013
Same author

Fluctuations in recall across successive test trials.

Memory & cognition·2013
Same author

Epidemic pneumococcal pneumonia; description of the epidemic.

American journal of hygiene·2010
Same author

Epidemic pneumococcal pneumonia; the influence of population characteristics and environment.

American journal of hygiene·2010
Same author

Epidemic pneumococcal pneumonia; pneumococcal carrier studies.

American journal of hygiene·2010
Same author

Epidemic pneumococcal pneumonia; the relationship of nonbacterial respiratory disease to pneumococcal pneumonia.

American journal of hygiene·2010

Area of Science:

  • Cognitive Psychology
  • Experimental Psychology
  • Neuroscience

Background:

  • The Stroop color-word task is a classic measure of selective attention and cognitive interference.
  • Understanding how practice affects performance and interference is crucial for cognitive models.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the impact of varying practice durations on performance and interference in a modified Stroop task.
  • To explore the relationship between training, automaticity, and interference patterns.

Main Methods:

  • Three experiments employed a Stroop analog task with four phases: color naming, shape naming training, color-in-shape naming, and shape-in-color naming.
  • Practice varied across experiments, ranging from 2 to 20 hours of training in novel shape naming.
  • Performance (naming speed) and interference were measured at different stages of the task.

Related Experiment Videos

Main Results:

  • With limited practice (2 hours), color naming was faster than shape naming, with interference only in the shape-in-color condition.
  • Increased practice (5 hours) led to faster shape naming and symmetrical interference in both color-in-shape and shape-in-color conditions, persisting long-term.
  • Extensive practice (20 hours) resulted in equal speed for color and shape naming, with interference shifting solely to the color-in-shape condition.

Conclusions:

  • The observed pattern of interference reversal with increased practice challenges simple speed-of-processing explanations.
  • The findings support a continuum of automaticity model, where extensive training directly enhances cognitive skill acquisition.
  • This research highlights the dynamic interplay between practice, automaticity, and interference in cognitive tasks.