Gender Comparison of the Stroop Effect: Interference of Word Meaning on Ability to State Word’s Color
Photo of Researcher

Researched by Jacklyn B.
2005-06



PURPOSE

The first purpose of this experiment was to determine whether for seventh grade boys and girls, a word’s color would be harder to state when the meaning was a mismatched word.

The second purpose of this experiment was to see if the seventh grade boys would have more difficulty speaking the color of words with a mismatched meaning than the seventh grade girls.

I became interested in this idea when I was in my mom’s eighth grade classroom. I saw a list of words printed in colors that didn’t match the actual word. I tried to say the word’s color, but found it was very hard to do. I wondered, “If I try this on other people will they state the word, or the word’s color?”

The information gained from this experiment could inform students, and teachers who are interested in how the human’s brain prioritizes stimuli.




HYPOTHESIS

My first hypothesis was that for seventh grade boys and girls, a word’s printed color would be harder to state when the meaning was a mismatched color word.

My second hypothesis was that seventh grade boys would have more difficulty speaking the color of words with a mismatched than the seventh grade girls.

I based my first hypothesis on Bryanna Bruskland’s results from similar testing in 2003-2004. Her results indicated that the Stroop color affected both the seventh grade boys and girls.

I also based my second hypothesis on Bryanna Bruskland’s project when she tested to see whether or not boys would say the color faster than the girls would. Her results indicated that girls could say the color faster than the boys could.

 


EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:
•    Amount of words in test number 1 (32)
•    Amount of words in test number 2 (32)
•    Amount of words in test number 3 (32)
•    The colors of the words and the words in test number 1
•    The colors of the words and the words in test number 2
•    The colors of the words and the words in test number 3
•    The grade of the students (seventh)
•    Room tested in (Team 5 Activity Room)
•    The instructions
•    The example test
•    Color of paper (white)
•    The font type and size
•    Number of seventh grade boys (10)
•    Number of seventh grade girls (13)

The manipulated variable was the match and mismatch of the word’s color to the word’s meaning.

The responding variables were how fast it took the seventh grade students to state the word’s color and the number of errors

To measure the responding variable, I used a stopwatch to time how long it took the student to say the word list. I tallied the errors as they gave their responses.




MATERIALS

Quantity    Item Description
23    Permission Slips
23    Parent Slips
1    Matched Stimuli Test
1    Unrelated Stimuli Test
1    Mis-Matched Stimuli Test
1    Sample Test
1    Testing Room
1    Stop Watch
1    Data Sheet
69    Answer Sheets for Experimenter to tally errors




PROCEDURES

1.    Create Word Tests A, B, and C by writing all the colors on a piece of scrap paper and have a student randomly pick color from a coffee mug
2.    Make sure that the student picks the color four times
3.    Send out 23 permission slips to 10 girls and 13 boys
4.    Create the Test Order Table for Word Tests A, B, and C to avoid having subjects take the tests in the same order (Word Test A could interfere with Word Tests B and C)
5.    When signed permission slips are returned, randomly assign students to test groups 1, 2, and 3
6.    Select a time with the teachers of the students
7.    Test one student at a time in a quiet school area
8.    Tell the student the instructions and answer questions
9.    Give them the sample test and help them practice saying the color of the shape
10.    If the student does not pass this test and has more then 10 colors than the student can finish the test but the information should be destroyed
11.    Using the Test Order Table, give Word Test A, B, or C first
12.    Start timing when you say go
13.    Mark errors on the answer sheet as student says the colors
14.    When they are done saying the colors of the words record the time on the answer sheet
15.    Repeat steps 9 through 12 with the 2nd test from the Test Order Table
16.    Repeat steps 9 through 12 with the 3rd test from the Test Order Table
17.    Release student back to class
18.    Repeat steps 6 through 16 with the rest of the subjects




RESULTS

The first original purpose of this experiment was to determine whether for seventh grade boys and girls, a word’s color would be harder to state when the meaning was a mismatched word.

The second purpose of this experiment was to see if the seventh grade boys would have more difficulty speaking the color of words with a mismatched meaning than the seventh grade girls.

The results of the experiment showed that the girls and boys together performed better on the Matched Stimuli, then the Unrelated Stimuli, and then the Mis-Matched Stimuli.

The results for the word testing for the Matched Stimuli was that the overall average for errors was 0.1, the girl’s average was 0.1, and the boy’s average was 0.1 also. For the response time the overall average was 14.3 seconds, the girl’s average was 13.3 seconds, and the boy’s average was 15.7 seconds.

On the testing for the Unrelated Stimuli, the overall average for the number of errors was 0.7, the girl’s average was 0.3, and the boy’s average was 1.3. For the response time the overall average was 22 seconds, the girl’s average was 22.1 seconds, and the boy’s average was 21.9 seconds.

The testing for the Mis-Matched Stimuli, the overall average for the number of errors was 1.9, the girl’s average was 1.9, and the boy’s average was 1.9. For the response time the overall average was 28.3 seconds, the girl’s average was 28.7 seconds, and the boy’s average was 27.7 seconds.


See the table and graph below.




CONCLUSION

My first hypothesis was that for seventh grade boys and girls, a word’s printed color would be harder to state when the meaning was a mismatched color word.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted, because on the test called, “Matched Stimuli,” the average number of errors was 0.1 and the number of seconds was 14.3, but on the word test called, “Mis-matched Stimuli,” the average number of errors were 1.9 and the number of seconds was 28.3. That proves that when the meaning is a mismatched color word it will be more difficult for the student to state the printed color.

The second hypothesis was that seventh grade boys would have more difficulty speaking the color of words with a mismatched meaning than the seventh grade girls.
 
My results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected because on all the word tests, the boy’s seemed to get a better score than the girl’s. For example, on the word test named, “Mis-Matched Stimuli,” the boy’s took on average 27.7 seconds to tell me the printed color word, but the girl’s took on average 28.7 seconds. That shows that the boy’s were faster than the girl’s on telling me the printed color word, and the number of errors was about the same.

After thinking about the results of this experiment, I wonder if third graders, seventh graders, and eleventh graders would compare.

If I were to conduct this project again I would try to have many more subject than I had this time. I would try to have a more equal number of boys and girls, I would also use more words per test so that I can have more results to prove my purpose and my hypothesis.
 


RESEARCH REPORT

Introduction
At any one moment our senses are bombarded by dozens of stimuli – sights, sounds, smells, feelings, and tastes.  The brain has to ignore the less important stimuli and pay close attention to the most important ones.  What makes this tricky is that the importance of stimuli is constantly changing.  For example, the car in a neighboring lane on the freeway takes on greater importance if it begins to cross over into your lane!  Does the human brain always pay attention to the most important stimuli?  If you are driving a car and paying attention to traffic, what happens if a bumblebee lands on your face?  You don’t always have control over which stimulus your brain attends to.  Some stimuli seem to have a higher priority to your brain.  The Stroop Effect is an example of this involuntary ranking of stimuli.

Color
Color originates from light. Sunlight is white light until it hits an object and some wavelengths are absorbed. A rainbow shows that all the colors of the spectrum are present within white sunlight. Light is a form of electromagnetic energy, but visible light is not the only type of this energy. So are x-rays, ultraviolet light, infrared light, gamma rays, microwaves, etc.

Color Blindness
Color blindness is not a true form of blindness, but it is the way some humans see color. With this vision problem, people have difficulty identifying certain colors, such as red, green, blue, and yellow. Problems seeing Red-Green color is the most common type of color blindness. Blue-Yellow color deficiency is the less common type of color blindness. It is very rare that a colorblind person can only see in neutral colors, or in shades of gray. Color Blindness occurs when some of the cells in the retina don’t work properly. Most people with color blindness are born with it. Color blindness affects men more than women. Another way to get this disease is by illness or aging.

Stroop Effect
The Stroop Effect is how the color affects the person’s response to what the word means. The point of Stroop Effect tests is to prove that colors affect the response and contribute to the meaning in very powerful ways. Colors are basically building blocks of visual literacy. Visual Literacy is the most immediate and powerful element of different images that we see. An example of a Stroop Effect test is when you have a list of words that say possibly “red”, but the printed color of the word is “blue”. It is difficult to say the color of the word when your brain tries to focus on the real word.

Human Eye
Humans rely very much on their vision for clues about the world around them.  In ancient times gathering food and avoiding predators or other dangers depended on seeing things in the environment.  In the modern world stoplights and many other visual clues have life-and-death consequences.  The human eye is an organ of sight. We use vision in almost everything that we do. We use it for driving, reading, and work, and for a lot of recreational activities. The human eye is about 25millimeters in diameter. It is like a camera. The part of the eye that is responsible for eye color is called the Iris. It acts like the diaphragm of a camera. It dilates and constricts the pupil to allow more or less light to hit the Retina. The Central retina, also known as the reading part of the eye, is controlled by the Macula. The Macula is the most sensitive part of the retina.

Reading
Reading is used for getting meaning from printed or written words. We can use reading for building or fixing things, enjoying stories, discovering other people’s beliefs, learning new things, and much more. People can read over a thousand words a day without looking at a book or reading a newspaper. The teaching of reading stresses skills such as word memory, vocabulary skills, and comprehension. The simplest way to learn how to read is to just read, especially when an adult reads to a younger child. It helps the child understand words when an adult is explaining what they mean.

Human Brain
The brain controls the human body. It is faster than any type of computer known. The human brain fills the upper half of the skull. The brain looks soft, spongy, and grayish-brown. When humans are grown their brain will weigh as much as three pounds. The right side of the brain helps you think about abstract things such as music. The left side of the brain helps you think about more analytical things like math.

Parts of the Human Brain
The largest part of the human brain is the Cerebrum. which makes up 85% of the brain’s weight. This is the thinking part of the brain. The right and left sides control the opposite side of the body. When people get serious head injuries often they end up in a coma. A coma is a way for the human brain to recover from the injury. There are five different stages of sleep and the brain is in charge of every single one of them.

Light
Without light humans wouldn’t see anything at all. Most light comes from the sun. Another way that we encounter light is through devices that produce light, such as incandescent bulbs, fluorescent bulbs, lasers, lightning bugs, and fire. Light is a form of electromagnetic energy, but light is not the only type of this energy. So is x-rays, and many more. Solar Radiation made up of electromagnetic energy that travels through space. The distance between the crests of waves is called wavelength. The shorter the wavelength the greater the energy of electromagnetic energy. Any type of energy can not be destroyed, but is changed and formed in to different types of energy. For example, when a green plant absorbs light the wavelengths that it absorbs is everything but green. When the light is reflected off of the plant, it turns out to be green because that is the color that the object rejects and is reflected to the eye. Since ancient Greece, people thought that light was made up of tiny particles. Some people think that they travel too fast, are too small to be seen, or our eyes see right through them.  Light travels in a straight line and it bounces off a mirror, or other reflective surfaces.

Summary
Visual clues help us deal with our world successfully. Visual stimuli are only one of many types that can be present at the same time. The brain has to sort through all the information it is receiving at any one time and pick the most important things to pay close attention to. When some of these stimuli are in disagreement (mis-matched) the brain has a harder time processing the information.
 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bailey, Gretchyn “Color Blindness,” November 3, 2005 http://www.allaboutvision.com/conditions/colordeficiency.htm

Bruskland, Bryanna “Effect of Word Meaning on Ability of 7th Graders to State a Word’s Color,” November 15, 2005- December 15, 2005 http://www.selah.k12.wa.us/SOAR/SciProj2004/BryannaB.html

Burmark, Lynell lynell@lynellburmark.org “Stroop Effect” November 18, 2005 Personal e-mail.

“Color of Learning,” November 17, 2005 http://www.oswego.edu/~mregan1/color_of_learning.htm

Farr, Roger “Reading,” November 17, 2005 <http://www.worldbookonline.com/wb/Article?id=ar460860&st=Reading>

Freudenrich, Craig “How Light Works,” October 27, 2005 http://science.howstuffworks.com/light.htm

Harp, Lisa “The Use of Color to Treat Learning Problems,” January 11, 2006 http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/articles/index.pl?noframes;read=1544

“How Do We Receive Images,” January 11, 2006 http://www.sightsavers.org.uk/html/eyeconditions/human_eye_seeing.htm

Miller, Kelly “How Does My Brain Work,” October 13, 2005 http://endoflifecare.tripod.com/kidsyoungadults/id24.html

Morton, J.L. "How the Eye Sees Color,” October 6, 2005 http://www.colormatters.com/seecolor.html

Pasadena Eye Associates “How Does the Human Eye Work,” October 27, 2005 http://www.pasadenaeye.com/faq/faq15/faq15_text.html
 
“The Brain,” November 10, 2005 <http://www.sirinet.net/~jgjohnso/brainpics.html>
 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for helping make my project possible:
•    My mom for helping me invent the idea of my project
•    My dad for helping me with my creativity
•    Mr. Newkirk for helping me understand my project when I was confused (which happened a lot)
•    Mrs. Viernes for also helping me with my experiment and taking the pictures while I was doing my experiment
•    Ms. Burmark for taking the time to help me with my Visual Literacy topic
•    All of my subjects for turning in their permission slips and helping me get the data for my project

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