Although the effect of working memory (WM) load on the magnitude of distractor interference has been studied extensively, a common characteristic in prior research is that the target and distractors belong to different objects. The present experiments investigate the effect of WM load on distractor interference when the relevant and irrelevant information is part of the same object. In two experiments, participants saw stimulus displays that consisted of a memory set followed by a Stroop color stimulus. The tasks were to respond to the color of the stimulus first and then to a memory probe. The principal manipulations were the relationship between the color and meaning of the Stroop stimulus (neutral vs. incongruent) and the level of WM load (high vs. low). The results show that WM load had little effect on the magnitude of Stroop interference. These results were consistent with previous research which shows that WM load plays a limited role in the efficiency of selective attention when the extent of attentional focus was held constant across different WM load conditions. They also emphasize the importance of stimulus structure in understanding selective attention in general, and distractor processing in particular.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1974. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Stroop interference through the colour-word task has been a popular means of studying selective attention since its introduction in 1935. Little effort has been made to adapting a non-verbal task for use with pre-school children. Cramer (1976) devised a colour-picture task where pictures characteristically associated with a particular colour (such as a picture of a banana and the colour yellow) were presented in incongruous colours (e.g., a blue banana). A series of studies was conducted with children aged between 3 and 8 years of age which investigated facets of this colour-picture task. Two methods of responding were compared - a verbal response, and a manual response that allowed younger children to participate (a card-sorting technique). In addition to the basic colour-picture task where children named colours and forms, another task was introduced where children 'prescribed' the correct colour of incorrectly-coloured pictures (Santostefano, 1978; Sebovà & Árochovà, 1986). Results showed that children consistently displayed increased latencies when colour-naming and colour-sorting characteristically and uncharacteristically-coloured pictures. Interference was frequently found for inappropriately-coloured but not appropriately-coloured pictures in form-naming/sorting tasks. The prescribing task proved difficult for children to complete and produced increased latencies and error rates. Performance of the naming colour-picture task was compared to classic Stroop colour-word procedures in children aged between 5 and 8. There were correlations between colour naming in the colour-picture and colour-word tasks for children aged 5 - 7. Performance in the prescribing task did not correlate. It is concluded that the tasks are good measures of selective attention but not necessarily direct equivalents of the colour-word task. An evaluation of the verbal and non-verbal methods is also given.

The study of metacognition is rooted in the observation of behaviors under states of uncertainty (e.g., Smith et al., 1995). Individuals who are more responsive to uncertainty tend to show greater interference effects in a Stroop color-word naming task compared to those who are less responsive to uncertainty (Washburn, Smith, & Taglialatela, 2005). Individual differences in Stroop interference also have been shown to reflect relative differences in response competition (Washburn, 1994) and rule-maintenance ability (Kane & Engle, 2003). Why would individuals who respond to uncertainty most adaptively be characterized by the worst attention-control skills? The current study was designed to measure the individual contribution of sensitivity to response competition and rule maintenance ability to the pre-established relationship between Stroop interference and uncertainty responsiveness. Though participants performed as expected in both tasks, the previously reported relationship between Stroop interference and uncertainty responsiveness was not observed.

Denna studie hade som syfte att undersöka om olika heuristiker belastar en individs kognitiva resurser olika mycket, och om det därmed kräver olika mycket av de kognitiva resurserna. För att undersöka detta genomfördes ett experiment med en oberoende mätning, där deltagare fick genomföra ett antal produktval samt ett strooptest. Genom ett tillfällighetsurval värvades 149 deltagare som medverkade i experimentet med 50, 52 och 47 deltagare i tre olika betingelser. Data från 99 deltagare användes i denna uppsats då enbart två av de tre betingelserna användes i denna uppsats. Detta på grund av att studien är en del av en större studie som resulterade i fyra uppsatser, där olika aspekter av experimentet analyserades i var uppsats. Resultatet visade att olika heuristiker belastade kognitiva resurser olika och var därmed olika krävande, men denna skillnad enbart verkar vara kortvarig då inga signifikanta skillnader kunde uppmätas på strooptestet.

Tese (doutorado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Animal, 2018. / Submitted by Raquel Viana (raquelviana@bce.unb.br) on 2018-07-11T17:20:53Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2018_EdwardLeonelPradaSarmiento.pdf: 5855718 bytes, checksum: 1fb67334a1d0d617b3d8a73a1948c98b (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Raquel Viana (raquelviana@bce.unb.br) on 2018-07-14T19:20:33Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 2018_EdwardLeonelPradaSarmiento.pdf: 5855718 bytes, checksum: 1fb67334a1d0d617b3d8a73a1948c98b (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-07-14T19:20:33Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2018_EdwardLeonelPradaSarmiento.pdf: 5855718 bytes, checksum: 1fb67334a1d0d617b3d8a73a1948c98b (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-07-05 / O teste Stroop tem sido classicamente considerado como uma tarefa que consegue avaliar algumas das propriedades do controle cognitivo, especificamente quando é apresentada uma incongruência entre o nome da palavra e a cor da tinta, o que provoca uma resposta automática da leitura gerando um efeito perturbador conhecido como efeito de interferência na nomeação da cor. Utilizando como referência o princípio deste teste, diferentes versões têm introduzido variáveis de ordem afetiva, dando origem à versão do Stroop emocional, evidenciando a influência destas variáveis sobre os processos cognitivos. Partindo desta inter-relação entre emoção e cognição, o presente trabalho se propôs inicialmente a criar uma ferramenta composta por expressões faciais emocionais e palavras, reproduzindo características da tarefa Stroop emocional. Inicialmente, no estudo # 1 foi construído o protocolo de estímulos e adaptou-se a uma estrutura computadorizada, dando como resultado uma versão própria e em língua portuguesa, conhecida como Teste de Reconhecimento de Expressões Faciais com Conflito Emocional (TREFACE). No total foram avaliados 72 voluntários. No estudo # 2, foram avaliados 42 voluntários do ambiente universitário (25 mulheres, idade média 28.14±1.69 anos). Os resultados deste estudo revelaram que uma tarefa associada à leitura de palavras permite um melhor desempenho do que uma tarefa associada com o reconhecimento de faces. Também se identificou que na condição onde a palavra coincide com a imagem (condição congruente) há uma vantagem imediata quanto à taxa de acertos. Finalmente os dados quanto ao reconhecimento mostraram uma maior dificuldade quando a imagem não era congruente com a palavra. O estudo 3 teve como objetivo o mapeamento da atividade cortical por EEG durante a execução do teste TREFACE. Para tanto foram avaliados 30 estudantes universitários (15 mulheres, idade média 20.83±0.46 anos). Os resultados demonstraram uma reprodutibilidade dos dados comportamentais do estudo # 2. Adicionalmente, no que se refere ao tempo de reação, este foi maior para a leitura de palavras do que para o reconhecimento de faces. Observou-se também menor tempo de reação na condição congruente do que na condição incongruente e no reconhecimento incongruente identificou-se maior tempo de resposta. No que se refere aos resultados de EEG, foi observada uma maior atividade cerebral nas áreas frontotemporais e frontoparietais durante o monitoramento do conflito. Os padrões de atividade das ondas teta e alfa marcaram um tipo de atividade focada em regiões do hemisfério esquerdo, já para as frequências beta e gama a atividade se estendeu à maioria das regiões corticais. De forma geral, os resultados sugerem que o atributo emocional pode comprometer a capacidade de reconhecimento das faces, atingindo o funcionamento de mecanismos como o controle cognitivo e a regulação das emoções e revelando um mapa cortical especifico associado com as tarefas apresentadas pelo TREFACE. O presente trabalho contribui para a compreensão dos efeitos moduladores das emoções sobre as funções executivas além de se apresentar como um novo instrumento em língua portuguesa para avaliação da memória operacional emocional em indivíduos hígidos e, eventualmente, em diferentes patologias que acometem o funcionamento de áreas corticais relacionadas às funções executivas. / The Stroop test has been classically considered as a task that can evaluate some of the properties of cognitive control, specifically when an inconsistency between the word name and the color of the ink is presented, which causes an automatic reading response generating a disturbing effect known as interference effect in color naming. Using the principle of this test as a reference, different versions have introduced affective variables, giving rise to the emotional Stroop version, evidencing the influence of these variables on the cognitive processes. Based on the interrelationship between emotion and cognition, the present work initially proposed to create a tool composed of emotional facial expressions and words, reproducing characteristics of the emotional Stroop task. Initially, in study # 1, the stimulus protocol was constructed and adapted to a computerized structure, resulting in a Portuguese version, known as the Emotional Conflict Face Recognition Test (TREFACE). 72 volunteers were evaluated throughout the studies. In study # 2, 42 volunteers from the university environment (25 women, mean age 28.14 ± 1.69 years) were evaluated. The results of this study revealed that a task associated with word reading allows better performance than a task associated with face recognition. It was also identified that the condition in which the word coincides with the image (congruent condition) there is an immediate benefit as to the rate of correctness. Finally, the recognition data showed greater difficulty when the image was not congruent with the word. The objective of Study 3 was to map the cortical activity by EEG during the execution of the TREFACE test. In order to do that, 30 university students (15 women, mean age 20.83 ± 0.46 years) were evaluated. The results demonstrated a reproducibility of the behavioral data of study # 2. In addition, as regards reaction time, it was higher for word reading than for face recognition. Shorter reaction times were also observed in the congruent condition than in the incongruent condition; and in the incongruent recognition a longer response time was identified. Regarding EEG results, greater brain activity was observed in frontotemporal and frontoparietal areas during the conflict monitoring. The activity patterns of the theta and alpha waves marked an activity focused on regions of the left hemisphere, whereas for the beta and gamma frequencies the activity extended to most of the cortical regions. In general, the results suggest that the emotional attribute can compromise the facial recognition ability, reaching mechanisms such as cognitive control and the regulation of emotions and revealing a specific cortical map associated with the tasks presented by TREFACE. The present work contributes to the understanding of the modulatory effects of emotions on the executive functions as well as presenting as a new instrument in Portuguese language for the evaluation of emotional operational memory in healthy individuals and, possibly, in different pathologies that affect the functioning of cortical areas related to executive functions.

Repressors, defined as individuals possessing an increased cortical sensitivity to anxiety-provoking stimuli combined with the tendency to avoid such stimuli, may be differentiated from low- and high-anxious individuals. This study investigated behavioral performance, electrophysiological reactivity (EEG), and cardiovascular reactivity (heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) in three major coping style groups (repressors, low-anxious, and high-anxious) during low and high stressful conditions. Conditions were rest, cognitive stress (computerized Stroop Interference Task, with and without negative emotional stimuli), and physiological stress (cool water vs. ice cold water left hand immersions). Participants were 49 healthy, right handed university undergraduate women, chosen with Weinberger et al.'s (1979) criteria according to their differentially extreme scores on the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale and the Spielberger Trait Anxiety Scale. Although mixed, findings supported the proposal that these three groups utilize differential attentional strategies and interpretive biases during both neutral and negative stimuli. In the word interference Stroop condition, reaction times (RTs) were longer for negative than neutral stimuli. Unexpected RT differences occurred in low and high error groups across the three coping styles. High error scoring repressors had longer RTs than low error/low-anxious; high-anxious/low error and high-anxious/high error groups did not differ. Repressors perceived the cold water as being less distressful and painful than the low- and high-anxious groups. No heart rate differences occurred. Diastolic and systolic blood pressure increased following cool and cold water immersion. Unexpectedly, the high-anxious group exhibited significantly lower diastolic blood pressure than the other groups, both at rest and following the stressors. EEG activation pattern differences were observed. During anticipation for cool immersion, in comparison to the high-anxious group, repressor and low-anxious groups showed less right parietal involvement suggestive of less arousal (Heller, 1993). During cool water immersion, frontal and parietal differences were observed across groups. During the Stroop Interference Task, repressors showed greater right frontal involvement than other groups. The data are most supportive of Eysenck and Derakshan's (1997) four-factor theory that proposes differential and attentional biases for these three groups. Suggestions for future research and practical applications in health fields are discussed. / Ph. D.

The Stroop effect is commonly demonstrated by measuring the time required to identify the colour of the ink (e.g. blue) in which a colour word (e.g. RED) is printed and illustrates a strong interference effect when the prepotent response of processing the word must be inhibited to respond correctly to the colour of the ink. Longer response latencies in colour-identification tasks involving emotional words versus neutral words, an effect dubbed the Emotional Stroop (ES), is often likened to the type of interference found in the Stroop task. However, research has suggested that the effect of attentional modulation in Stroop tasks may be very different from the kind of emotional interference found when comparing reaction times to emotional versus neutral words (McKenna & Sharma, 2004). Proportional congruency experiments using the Stroop task manipulate the amount of incongruity present in a block of trials (Logan & Zbrodoff, 1979), and demonstrate attentional modulation as a change in the size of the Stroop effect such that a greater amount of Stroop interference in a block is associated with a smaller Stroop effect. Manipulating the proportion of interference trials may inform understanding of the differences between Stroop colour-word interference and emotional-word interference. In three experiments, we manipulated the proportion of emotional words in a mixed-list design to study the effect of proportion manipulation on the ES. An enlarged ES was found in blocks of trials that contained more emotional interference; a finding contrary to attentional modulation seen for proportion manipulations of congruency in the Stroop task. The differences between the ES effect and the Stroop effect are discussed, including the role of response incongruity as one possible reason for the discrepancy. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / In three experiments, we investigated the role of proportionally more or less emotional interference on a colour naming task. Emotional interference in the form of emotional words was compared to response interference where participants see mismatched and matched colour words (e.g. the word ‘NIGHTMARE’ in green versus the word ‘BLUE’ in green). We expected participants to be able to learn which blocks contained more emotional word content and to adapt in order to reduce this slow-down effect. Instead, participants were especially slow on emotional words when they were in blocks that contained more emotional word interference. The possible importance of emotional stimuli to participants over the task demands of naming the colour of a word, as compared to other kinds of interference, is discussed.

This thesis concerns selective attention in the context of the Stroop task (identify the colour) and Reverse Stroop task (identify the word). When a person is asked to select and identify one dimension of a bidimensional stimulus (e. g. , the word RED printed in green) the typical finding is that the word influences colour identification (i. e. , the Stroop effect) but the colour does not influence word identification (i. e. , no Reverse Stroop effect). A major account of performance in these tasks posits that one dimension interferes with the other only when a translation occurs (e. g. , Roelofs, <i>Psychological Review, 2003</i>; Sugg & McDonald, <i>Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 1994</i>; Virzi & Egeth, <i>Memory & Cognition, 1985</i>). This translation assumption is implicit in virtually all work in the field. The first part of this thesis completely undermines the translation assumption. In a series of four experiments (two unique paradigms), I demonstrate that interference from the colour in a Reverse Stroop task occurs in the absence of a translation. The second part of this thesis contains two additional experiments designed to discriminate between translation effects and response conflict effects. The results of these experiments confirm that a translation was not required because no stimulus conflict effect, the most likely locus of a translation effect, was observed. However, response conflict effects were observed. The third part of this thesis implements a computational model based on the principle that the strength of association (Cohen, Dunbar, & McClelland, <i>Psychological Review, 1990</i>) between a specific stimulus and its response (Logan, </i>Psychological Review, 1988</i>) is important in determining the influence of the irrelevant dimension. This model has no translation mechanism. A final experiment was conducted to test this model; the model accounted for over 98% of the variance in RTs and 92% of the variance in interference and facilitation scores in both the Stroop and Reverse Stroop tasks independent of whether a translation was required.

This thesis concerns selective attention in the context of the Stroop task (identify the colour) and Reverse Stroop task (identify the word). When a person is asked to select and identify one dimension of a bidimensional stimulus (e. g. , the word RED printed in green) the typical finding is that the word influences colour identification (i. e. , the Stroop effect) but the colour does not influence word identification (i. e. , no Reverse Stroop effect). A major account of performance in these tasks posits that one dimension interferes with the other only when a translation occurs (e. g. , Roelofs, <i>Psychological Review, 2003</i>; Sugg & McDonald, <i>Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception & Performance, 1994</i>; Virzi & Egeth, <i>Memory & Cognition, 1985</i>). This translation assumption is implicit in virtually all work in the field. The first part of this thesis completely undermines the translation assumption. In a series of four experiments (two unique paradigms), I demonstrate that interference from the colour in a Reverse Stroop task occurs in the absence of a translation. The second part of this thesis contains two additional experiments designed to discriminate between translation effects and response conflict effects. The results of these experiments confirm that a translation was not required because no stimulus conflict effect, the most likely locus of a translation effect, was observed. However, response conflict effects were observed. The third part of this thesis implements a computational model based on the principle that the strength of association (Cohen, Dunbar, & McClelland, <i>Psychological Review, 1990</i>) between a specific stimulus and its response (Logan, </i>Psychological Review, 1988</i>) is important in determining the influence of the irrelevant dimension. This model has no translation mechanism. A final experiment was conducted to test this model; the model accounted for over 98% of the variance in RTs and 92% of the variance in interference and facilitation scores in both the Stroop and Reverse Stroop tasks independent of whether a translation was required.