title: Single letter coloring and spatial cuing eliminates a semantic contribution to the Stroop effect.
abstract: Previous work has shown that the Stroop effect is reduced in size when a single letter is colored and spatially precued. The present experiment addresses a number of criticisms of this work by (1) providing a direct measure of semantic processing, (2) using a vocal response instead of a manual one, and (3) using a more appropriate baseline. A semantically based Stroop effect (slower color naming for color-associated words than for color-neutral words) is observed when all letters in the display are precued and appear in a homogeneous color. This Stroop effect is statistically eliminated when a single letter is precued and is the "odd man out" in terms of its color. Two explanations are considered. In one, single-letter coloring and cuing serve to curtail semantic processing. In the other, single-letter coloring and cuing help to keep the informational sources (i.e, color, word) separate and hence reduce interference, but semantic analysis is not curtailed. The latter account provides a more complete account of existing data.
authors.affiliation: University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
authors.forename: Laurie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Manwell
authors.forename: Martha Anne
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Derek
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Besner
mesh_terms: D003118:Color Perception; D003463:Cues; D006801:Humans; D011930:Reaction Time; D012660:Semantics; D013028:Space Perception