A sensory origin for color-word stroop effects in aging: simulating age-related changes in color-vision mimics age-related changes in Stroop.
An increase in Stroop effects with age can be interpreted as reflecting age-related reductions in selective attention, cognitive slowing, or color-vision. In the present study, 88 younger adults performed a Stroop test with two color-sets, saturated and desaturated, to simulate an age-related decrease in color perception. This color manipulation with younger adults was sufficient to lead to an increase in Stroop effects that mimics age-effects. We conclude that age-related changes in color perception can contribute to the differences in Stroop effects observed in aging. Finally, we suggest that the clinical applications of Stroop take this factor into account.
Department of Psychology, Centre for Research on Biological Communication Systems, University of Toronto Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. boaz.ben.david@utoronto.ca
Boaz M
BM
Ben-David
Bruce A
BA
Schneider
D000293:Adolescent; D000375:Aging; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D003118:Color Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008960:Models, Psychological; D010364:Pattern Recognition, Visual; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000502:physiology; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D057190:Stroop Test; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult