Saturday 9 July 2011

Stroop test

1.  Time how long it takes for you to read the black words at a normal pace - this is the control time.
2.  Time yourself saying the colours of the coloured words, not the words themselves.  e.g. for 'Red' say "Blue". 
3.  If you take more than 10s longer than the control time you may have an attention deficit problem.

notes
If you make a mistake have another go at that word.  If you make more than a couple in total you are going too fast - start over and take enough care over it to get them all right.  If you have so many do-overs that you start to remember the sequence, change the order - row by row / column by column / left to right / right to left / down / up.

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15 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm not a believer in doing tests like these just once, so I did several for both the control and the actual one in order of attempts in seconds. I changed up how I read them too, and it did affect the speed in which I was able to complete it.

Black and White Control Test
12.1
12.0
10.1
11.8
10.6

Color Test
35.7
22.5
30.1
30.2
20.5

As you can see, for the actual Color Test, I had some wildly different results by as much as a 10-15 second shift.

This is what I noticed (and this might be the test's fault, it might be my brain)

Reading the colors up to down was much easier because colors repeated. It gave my brain a break, because I knew that I could simply repeat the similar color, and in fact, wouldn't even read the word or bother to look at it, just the color.

Whereas, reading it left to right, or right to left has no repeating colors.

Yet, reading it up to down and down to up, only the first column does not have repeating colors.

The issue here is that reading it up to down screws up the results.

You might want to stipulate reading it Only left to right or right to left, and that if you need to change it up, do the first and third row followed by the second and fourth, or zig zag your reading of it.

Onto the actual subject at hand, it would appear I have some sort of attention deficit issue (which I already knew from the Newman Object/Word test). The question is, what type of attention deficit is it, and what causes it?

Anonymous said...

I've made an updated Stroop color test table.

Updated Stroop Test Image

Here is another set of scores using both up/down left/right reading with my test instead:
29.2
25.7
33.6
32.9
29.8

The results weren't nearly as different as the first time I had done a set a five, and you would think I would do better the more I had been doing it too, right?

Anyway, maybe Stroop has a reason for his repeating colors, but my style of Stroop test is more steady is measuring my average response time.

In experiment #1, it was 27.8 seconds.

In experiment #2, it was 30.24.

That might not seem like a lot, but considering my average response time for the Control was 11.32 seconds, you can see why doing multiple sets of readings are so damn important, especially when someone like me gets a read time such as 10.6 seconds in the control, and 20.5 in the reading (just shy of the 10 second mark by 0.1).

Then in a different reading, I get 30+ seconds, far past the ten second mark.

You don't have to use my updated one, but it might be good to show as an alternative, or at least try data sets against each other.

Bella said...

I keep jumping ahead! I see the next three words in my peripheral vision and memorize them. The one I'm working on is hard, but the other ones, if there are two blues in a row, and a yellow, i do them quickly. I think I'm going to have to cover up the rest of the colors so I'm not tempted to do this. the first time I had about a 7-8 second difference, but I stopped the repeating process when I started cheating.

ResCogitans said...

TNP - cheers, i've updated the coloured one with yours; i agree that having the same colour in consecutive words gives your brain a rest rather than forcing another 'true' response. i had noted to myself that it wasn't the best setup, but i'm lazy and just took a pic i found on another site.

i gotta say it is very tempting to cheat in some way - such as remembering some of the sequence or defocusing your eyes so it is harder to see the words.

i'd say the question isn't just what causes it in some people but what difference a diagnosis of an ADD makes in someone - just give em some ritalin?

bella - would you say you have difficulty concentrating?

i'm an odd one i think in that i don't have trouble concentrating but do get bored easily - biggest peeve girlfriends have with me is that i'll flick channels on tv very often :)

Anonymous said...

That is odd. Maybe I didn't see a purpose in cheating to begin with, as there was nothing to win, you know? I already knew I had some sort of attention deficit issue, so I wasn't trying to tilt the table in some way.

I was just trying to do the test as quick as possible, and the results with my updated color chart were fairly solid.

Bella said...

bella - would you say you have difficulty concentrating?

No, with me it is a hyper-focusing on stuff that distracts from the main event. My boyfriends get pissed because I'll forget we were searching for a specific program or forget OUR plan. I'll get engrossed in something.

In group therapy, I'll not be able to leave a topic in my head until I express it. Like you, it's hard to let go of my own agenda, but I'm not sure it's a matter of boredom. I feel self-centered in that my own road rules. I'll need to snap out of my track. I've noticed people aren't pleased. It's as if I haven't kept up with the thread. It's also why people are baffled by my "ditziness" but then impressed with my insight.

But I'll admit I do think I sometimes discount the upcoming topics. (Which, to me, says I may be predicting I'll be bored with them...so idk.)

Being aware of all this takes me out of the present.

Haven said...
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Haven said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Haven said...

Very Interesting. My results were as follows:

# B&W Color Updated

(Left to Right/Top to Bottom)
1 10.19 16.34 17.88
2 10.54 17.11 15.78

(Right to Left/Bottom to Top)
3 11.17 15.85 18.09
4 11.17 18.3 16.83


(Top to Bottom/Left to Right)
5 11.03 17.53 16.41
6 11.1 13.62 16.76


I also found that doing it in certain orders was easier with the original color test. i was more consistent with Notable's version.

Anonymous said...

Jesus Christ, those are some low numbers (compared to mine).

I wonder if this can help me score some amphetamines? :D

ResCogitans said...

doing it a few times i averaged 4s longer for the colours - typically 20s compared to 16s.

TNP i think that the test for ADHD is essentially to prescribe ritalin; if you have ADHD you calm down, and if you don't they act like amphetamines. sounds like maybe you should try some :)

Anonymous said...

My mind is definitely all over the place, and I am easily distracted, and I clearly have a much more difficult time with this stroop test than either you or Haven.

I do wonder how Ritalin would affect me. I mean, yes, I probably have a type of attention deficit, but is it a classic type, or is it tied to my pathology? And if it is tied to my pathology, would Ritalin react the same way with my brain? I'm not exactly going to go to a psychiatrist and claim I have ADHD and add in a caveat about me being a sociopath :P That would be incredibly self-defeating...

ResCogitans said...

i'm sure your friendly neighbourhood drug dealer can sort you out - or failing that it's prob easyish to get of the internet...

notme said...

My score - black and white - 11.
Colors - 31. (I did it once).

Holy shit.

Anonymous said...

notme! We can be ADHD buddies! ^_^

How have you been?