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The Effect of Response-Code on Stroop Interference and Facilitation
Eldad Keha1,2, Yoel Sheinenson1, Avishai Henik3
1Department of Psychology, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (2006)
|July 8, 2026
Summary
Response code mapping significantly impacts manual Stroop task performance. On-screen cues and word-based labels increase interference, while response labels generally improve performance by reducing cognitive load.
Area of Science:
- Cognitive Psychology
- Human-Computer Interaction
Background:
- The manual Stroop task is widely used to study cognitive control.
- Limited research exists on how different manual response code mappings affect performance within this task modality.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the influence of various manual response-code mappings on Stroop interference and facilitation.
- To compare the effects of keyboard-based versus screen-based response codes.
- To examine the impact of stimulus type (color vs. word) as response codes.
Main Methods:
- 158 participants completed a color-word Stroop task.
- Five response-code conditions were used: color-keys, word-keys, color-cues, word-cues, and no-label.
- Interference and facilitation were measured across conditions.
Main Results:
- Stroop interference was significantly greater with screen-based cues (color-cues, word-cues) compared to keyboard-based cues (color-keys, word-keys).
- Word-based codes (word-keys, word-cues) yielded greater interference than color-based codes.
- The no-label condition exhibited the highest interference, suggesting response labels aid performance.
- No significant differences in facilitation were observed across groups.
Conclusions:
- Response-code mapping is a critical design factor in manual Stroop tasks.
- On-screen cues may increase display competition, while keyboard cues offer more stable mapping support.
- Verbal mediation and translational models are supported by the findings regarding word codes.
- Response labels reduce internal cognitive demands, improving performance in manual Stroop tasks.
